Delivery of a report to the Helena Regional Airport Authority on the airport's negotiations with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana on a lease for a new office building will be delayed while city and county commissioners consider the airport's rules for disposal of property, the airport manager said Tuesday.

"They (the city and county commissions) would like to get them approved, and we will probably not bring that final report forward until those rules have gone up for approval," Ron Mercer told the airport authority board.

State law says the airport's laws for disposal of property must mirror those of the county, and must be approved by the local governing bodies. The airport crafted its disposal rules in 2003 and sent them to the city and county, but the rules were never formally approved by either commission.

Waiting for elected officials to approve the disposal rules will likely delay the airport's report, which is being prepared after a letter from two Helena city commissioners questioned the negotiation process and whether the airport acted appropriately in signing a 40-year lease for 9 acres of property for a new Blue Cross building.

City attorney David Nielsen said the city commission won't see the rules until the first meeting of October at the earliest.

Deputy county attorney K. Paul Stahl said it will be more than a week at the earliest before the rules will go before the county commission.

"What will go on the agenda will be the rules from 2003," Stahl said, but lawyers from the city, county and airport will vet those rules first to ensure there are no "blatant errors."

Even though the airport authority is delaying its report on the Blue Cross deal for the rules to be considered, Stahl said consideration by the county has nothing to do with the insurer.

"This has to do with how government is supposed to operate," he said.

Mercer said it's unclear whether the delaying of the report will affect the Blue Cross deal: "I don't know yet. We think it's appropriate to get those (rules) approved before we get that report out."

Blue Cross and the airport agreed to have a lease in place and signed by Dec. 15, with payments beginning on Jan. 1. Blue Cross, which will initially pay around $240,000 annually for the land, hopes to break ground in early spring.

Reporter John Harrington: 447-4080 or john.harrington@helenair.com