EUTAW-After going back and forth on a contract that would operate the Eutaw Airport, it appears the city of Eutaw has completely lost its airport tenant.

According to one Eutaw city councilman, the city of Greensboro will get the privilege, instead.

Eutaw Mayor Raymond Steele said city attorney Mike Smith was going to read the changes made to the lease agreement contract with Five Stop LLC, the company that planned to lease the Eutaw Airport.

Smith read off a litany of changes made to a contract between the city and Five Stop, including changing the length of the agreement, deleting a late fee charge, and deleting a clause the required the property to be kept clean, among other things.

Before the council could make a decision on the contract, though, council member Lew Bostick – who supported bringing Five Stop to Eutaw – said there was no reason to continue.

“We’ve lost the agreement to Greensboro,” Bostick said.

According to the councilman, the back-and-forth of contract negotiations hurt the city’s chance to land Five Stop. He also said the council should have tried to encourage the proposed tenant more to come to Eutaw.

Others at the meeting didn’t agree.

Steele said the changes made to the agreement would be “setting up” Eutaw for problems in the future. He also said while he was mayor, he just wasn’t going to give it away.

“We would have given him total exclusive rights to the airport and all he was going to do was fix some leaks for us, about $18,000 worth over the years,” Steele said.

He said he wasn’t going to lock up the airport long-term because the city still has plans to secure grants that would improve the facilities at the airport. He also said the agreement would eliminated the city’s control over the entire airport.

Mayor John Owens of Greensboro did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment on Five Stop or their potential move to Greensboro.