Lynn DeVault, center, resigned Friday from the Cleveland Municipal Airport Authority. Posing for a farewell photo are members LeRoy Rymer, left, chairman Lou Patten, Verrill Norwood and Stephen Wright, who was named to replace Ms. DeVault.
Lynn DeVault
Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland watches Friday as Stephen Wright sign the oath of office. The mayor selected Wright, of Wright Brothers Construction Co. in Charleston, to replace Lynn DeVault who resigned after 10 years.
One of the five original board members of the Cleveland Municipal Airport Authority resigned on Friday after driving the process of building Cleveland Regional Jetport. Lynn DeVault led the board through every stage from site selection until now when the general aviation airport is well on its way to becoming a self-sustaining community asset.
Cleveland Mayor Tom Rowland selected Lynn DeVault to lead the five-member board established by the City Council in 2004. The other members were Lou Patten, Jim Sharp, Mike McCoy and LeRoy Rymer Jr. Sharp resigned in 2007. He was replaced by Verril Norwood.
The mayor proclaimed Sept. 19 as “Lynn DeVault Day” as a small token of appreciation.
“Lynn, this day is very special because you are a special person,” Mayor Rowland said. “I could not include all the things I would like to say in the proclamation.”
Stephen D. Wright of Wright Brothers Construction in Charleston joined Mr. Rymer, Mr. McCoy, Mr. Norwood and Mr. Patten. Mr. Patten was elected Friday to a second year as chairman. He succeeded Ms. DeVault who chaired the board for the first eight years of its existence.
The mayor described Ms. DeVault as an enthusiastic and hard-working member of the airport authority who exercised “tremendous leadership in bringing the jetport to fruition. Through her knowledge and hard work, we now have a beautiful, productive jetport to support our industries as well as bring new economic development to the area.”
Ms. DeVault is the second of the original members to resign. Mr. Sharp, a highly-respected developer left the board Sept. 24, 2007 after the land acquisition phase. As chief negotiator, Mr. Sharp took the lead in securing land options and price agreements with property owners in the land acquisition phase of building the new airport. Mayor Rowland appointed Verrill Norwood to fill the vacant seat because of his engineering background. His first meeting was Oct. 19, 2007.
The mayor selected Ms. DeVault because of her past experience on a similar airport construction project in another state.
She said, “It has been a great opportunity. We’ve had a great authority the whole way. Jim Sharp did his appointed duty to acquire all the land and I feel like I’ve done my appointed duty which was to get the doors open.” Ms. DeVault said she was very happy that Mr. Wright was named as her successor “because he actually knows something about airplanes and operations, which I know absolutely nothing about. I feel like this is a good time for me to retire from this position. I’m always here to help and look forward to flying in and out of there for a longtime to come.”
In addition to Mr. Wright’s knowledge of airplanes and operations, he is knowledgeable about airport construction. Wright Brothers Construction won bids for the first two construction phases and a major subcontractor on the third and final phase.