Ownership changes at Latrobe restaurant
Rumors of the possible demise of the landmark Jimmie Monzo's Blue Angel Restaurant & Lounge at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township apparently were exaggerated.
On Tuesday, the airport authority unanimously approved a change in ownership from Patricia Monzo to her cousin by marriage, Linda A. Monzo, of Latrobe, who is married to airport manager Gabe Monzo. Patricia Monzo, the daughter of the restaurant's late founder, Jimmie Monzo, is retiring Aug. 30.
According to officials, Patricia "Patty" Monzo has been affiliated in some capacity with the restaurant since it opened at the airport in 1977. Linda Monzo will assume terms of the existing lease agreement for the restaurant that does not expire until 2012.
The authority's acting solicitor, Donald Snyder of McDonald Snyder & Williams in Latrobe, reported yesterday that after studying the matter, the law firm determined that the airport manager's wife operating the only restaurant on airport property does not violate state ethics guidelines and "is not a conflict of interest."
Rumors of the possible closure or change of hands in restaurant ownership have been floating through the community for weeks because of the pending retirement of Patricia Monzo, whose official title was corporate secretary-treasurer.
Airport Executive Director Gene Lakin defended the transfer.
"Obviously, we want to see a good restaurant here. It's been no secret that business has been down for some time and she (Patricia) was planning to leave," Lakin said.
"If someone is willing to come in and improve the restaurant and assume the terms of the existing lease ... then I'm all for it," Lakin said.
Lakin added that authority member John Finfrock wrote letters to several restaurateurs and chains and there was no response.
"No one else was interested," he said.
Lakin noted that the restaurant's business soured months before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks due to the sagging economy. The terrorist attacks almost two years ago only worsened the business atmosphere in airports, he said.
"It's not just restaurants that have been impacted at airports ... it's everything including rental car and gift shop business," Lakin said.
Under its lease with the airport authority, the restaurant currently pays the authority some $1,650 a month rent, plus about $2,500 a month in utilities. Terms of the lease, actually ratified in 1995, were amended in 1999 after the opening of the new terminal building.
The lease contains an option renewal provision every five years and a provision that the rental fee can be increased to a percent equivalent to the annual increase in the consumer price index, or CPI. The authority opted not to increase any terminal rental rates per the CPI this year because of the still-lagging economy, Lakin said.
The matter will be reviewed again in January, he said.
In other business, the authority awarded a $195,999 contract to WACOR Electronic Systems Inc., of East Petersburg, Lancaster County, for the purchase of 27 closed-circuit video cameras that will be installed at various locations around the airport property for security purposes. Airport security personnel will monitor the images produced from the cameras.
Grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and PennDOT Bureau of Aviation will pay 95 percent of the costs of the added security system. The closed-circuit cameras are being purchased through the state Department of General Services cooperative purchasing program.
The system is expected to be online by the end of the year, according to airport officials.
