Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-09-07 Minutes• MINUTES OF THE AIRPORT BOARD MEETING September 7, 2000 • • MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick McKinney, Don Lyall, Frank Burggraf MEMBERS ABSENT: Truman Smith, Charles Wallace STAFF PRESENT: Frou Gallagher -Fayetteville Government Channel; Terry Collier - tenant; K.R. Schossow-Wings Avionics, Inc.; Robert Smith -Arkansas Democrat Gazette; Don Harris -FAA (Southwest Region -Fort Worth); John Kalagias-Arkansas Air Museum, Charlie Alison -The Morning News McKINNEY: ITEM #1, Call to Order. Reminded everyone of the Pilots Club Fly -In Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, September 9th from 8 to 11, and invited everyone to attend. LITTLE: ITEM #2, Approval of the August 3, 2000 minutes. A motion to approve the minutes as written was made by Mr. Lyall and was seconded by Mr. Burggraf. The motion carried. ITEM #3, Approval of the August 24, 2000 minutes of the Special Called meeting. A motion to approve the minutes as written was made by Mr. McKinney and seconded by Mr. Burggraf The motion carried. ITEM #4, Old Business. a. Re-establishment of 3/4 mile minimums on Localizer 16. Reported Dale and she had visited the FAA office in Fort Worth and had met with Ed Agnew, Don Harris and Charlie Kettler. We discovered the area that we all keep stumbling on is the Airport Layout Plan. There seems to be some question as to the data Garver used. The Garver study which was presented in May 1999, completed in 1998, was compiled from 1997 data. It shows quite a few obstructions which the airport worked hard to remove. We may have to re-establish heights so there may be more surveying work to do. Charlie Kettler is working with Garver to put the information in the FAA database. The FAA may grant a "Modification To Standards" on the mountain and highway. The level of traffic on Highway 71 was discussed. -1- HARRIS: Answering Mr. McKinney, the Modification is an option they are looking into and indicated that they were working on the project one step at a time. LITTLE: HARRIS: LITTLE: Answering Mr. Lyall, Garver used aerial GPS for the survey, which has a plus or minus of 6". It is a fairly new technology. The FAA is in the process of seeing if the aerial GPS is an acceptable surveying technique for determining the height of the obstructions. She related the City has used this technology and it is fairly accurate. Charlie Kettler said they should have a profile drawing by next week which will show the Garver data and then they will compare it to the Airport Layout Plan. Stated he is on a committee that will determine what surveying sources are acceptable. This is a Flight Standards issue, FAA out of Oklahoma City, and its not just an issue here, it's a nationwide issue that has to be resolved.. b. Update: Land Use Plan. Dale visited with Barnard and Dunkleberg in Tulsa. They expect to have some preliminary data to us in the next few weeks. We won't have the completed document by the October meeting. We need this information to show where the road will be to our prospective businesses. We have asked them to identify anything that we need to do in order for the eastside to be developed. McKINNEY: ITEM #5, New Business: HARRIS: a Introduction of Don Harris, FAA Southwest Region Project Manager. Currently you have funds remaining from when the airport had airline service, and some funds from 1999 when you had lower airline activity. The new aviation act "AIR 21" is legislation which will give a significant increase in funding to the type of airports like Fayetteville is now, general aviation airports. It should be approved some time next month. What you do with your money will put you in a good position. Said he was comfortable with where the airport is right now. Under the new bill there are now entitlements funds for general aviation airports. The FAA always like to see increased sponsor participation and he is confident Drake Field is working in the right direction to make it happen. Answering Mr. McKinney, the tower is an (FAA) Air Traffic problem, and is probably under evaluation now. The airport needs to keep in the back of your minds to consider funding part of the tower in the future. McKINNEY: Thanked Mr. Harris for coming. MOSS: b. Presentation of the Airport's Year 2001 Submitted Budget. Explained to the Airport Board the steps in generating the budget and getting it approved by the City Council. The City's Budget Department determines what they believe to be a realistic budget for each division/department and that is called a Target Budget. Each department then complies information to calculate what they believe they will need to operate their department for the next year. All items are broken down into categories and account numbers with details of why the item is needed. If the department's estimated budget runs over the Target Budget then those items are put on Target Overrun forms and you must justify why they are needed. The budget goes back to the Budget Department and through a review process. It then is reviewed by the Mayor and if there are any problems, they may call the Department Director in to go over the budget. The Budget Department presents the City's proposed budget to the City Council. They hold a public meeting for comments. The budget then goes back before the City Council for consideration to be adopted. LITTLE: By State Law the budget must be approved by January 1s`. MOSS: Last year the airport had a very aggressive budget for this year, plus there were some Target Overruns for this year's budget that weren't approved. Each year if there is any money left over from the previous year's budget, you can make a request to the Budget Department to roll forward that money into the next year's budget. Some funds were rolled forward from last year to this year's budget. Our revenues should show an increase next year with the completion of the new T -Hangars. The interest returns will go down next year as funds will have been removed this year for the construction of the three T -Hangars. We were told the insurance costs for the buildings on the field will be Tess next year, but they should go up as we are adding three buildings. Although the airport is not still collecting PFC's (Passenger Facility Charge) the Airport still has PFC funds that were collected when we had airline service. Those funds are to be applied to specific airport projects that were previously approved by the FAA. We went through an PFC amendment process last year to remove some of the projects from the plan that were no longer needed since the airport no longer has airline service. The PFC plan will need to be amended again to apply the funds to other projects. This time the FAA may not require the airport to go through the costly amendment process. The motor pool charges show an increase because we were told it was time to trade out one of the vehicles. The Target Overruns also include some airport personnel costs. We have sent a letter to the Budget Department to • review any cuts they make with our staff, as we don't want to jeopardize the cost of running the airport. • • LITTLE: Answering Mr. Burggraf, the decision for vehicle replacement is made by the Fleet Supervisor, based upon trade-in value. MOSS: LITTLE: Answering Mr. McKinney, only one car is assigned to the airport. We tumed in one car last year to cut down on motor pool charges. Number 4 on the Target Overruns is for promotional items to be handed out and brochures on the airport. Items, such as pencils or note pads, with our name and phone number on them are good visual marketing aids. There was not enough funds in next year's budget cover Dale's marketing trips, so Number 5 Target Overrun is for Travel and Training expenses. We have included $10,000 for the Air Museum for repairs. Their sprinkler system will probably have to be replaced. Last year the airport's budget for the Air Museum was reduced to $3,000, but with all of their air conditioning and sprinkler problems, the airport has had to absorb those costs within our budget. The cost of maintaining the airport has risen. There have been numerous repair cost for hangar door repairs. The museum's sprinkle system has been mal -functioning and we have been told it is best to replace the system. The museum's water bill is running about $236, which probably relates to the sprinkler system problems. LYALL: Suggested bringing up the airport's budget at the joint meeting with the City Council. McKINNEY: Stated they were fortunate to have such a good staff, and the airport needed one good source of income which would help the budget. LITTLE: A motion to recommend approval of the airport's budget to the City Council was made by Mr. Lyall and seconded by Mr. Burggraf. Answering Mr. McKinney, Steve Davis the City's Budget Director had made it very clear that all budget reports must be reviewed by them before it is released. It takes about two hours to produce the report the Airport Board wants and Budget will release it quarterly. Said she had visited with Mr. Wallace and had reached an agreement on the format to use. The previous report was an Accounting report and Brenda had found some differences. McKINNEY: The motion carried. -4- • • • LITTLE: c. Insurance Requirements in the Airport's Minimum Standards. This year the Airport's Minimum Standards were updated. Originally, because of requests, staff had considered reducing the insurance requirements, but staff, and the Airport Board, agreed to not make changes to them. Stated that not all of the airport's tenants were adhering to the insurance requirements in the Airport's Minimum Standards, and asked the Board if they wanted to change the requirements or see that they were enforced. Also the Minimum Standards does not address the appearance of the airfield. It is addressed in some of the individual leases. Mentioned there are campers, boats and cars on the airport, and asked if the Board wanted her to do something about them, stating she had received comments from tenants about the appearance of the field. Answering Mr. Lyall, she didn't think any of the tenants had the proper Hangar's Keepers Insurance. McKINNEY: Said that if you cleaned house that might stir up a can of worms. Stated the Hangar's Keepers Insurance was expensive to keep up. He mentioned that on page 20 of the Minimum Standards, the local service provider's combination of activities could be adjusted from time -to -time to commensurate the airport usage for primary liability. It should be consistent throughout for the other coverages. Maybe Jim Bell and Ken (Schossow) could tell the Board what the average value of planes they work on, and what the grand total, at any one time, would be in their hangar. If you had three or four Pipers you would not exceed the value of a Citation. SCHOSSOW: Stated that you would need to figure what your average was when full all of the time, and look at it on the high side. Otherwise you are going to be under -insured. LITTLE: Said the document doesn't say who would have the authority to make the decision of the insurance requirement. Responding to Mr. Burggrafs suggestion of letting the City Attorney make the decision, she said the City Attorney wouldn't do it. His opinion is that administrative matters are delegated to the department heads, and if they err in that, then he will represent them in court. Asked if the Board wanted to wait until all five Board members were there to discuss making changes? McKINNEY: Said he would like this brought up at the next meeting and suggested taking the sentence from page 20 that allows for adjustment by activity and making it on an up-and-down scale, and also giving authority, after consultation, to the Airport Manager to determine the insurance requirement. The Hangar's Keepers insurance only pertains to businesses on the field, not the T -Hangar tenants. T -Hangar tenants are suppose to have their own planes insured. -5- • • • McKINNEY: LITTLE: McKINNEY: LITTLE: SCHOSSOW: FREDERICK: ITEM #6, Other Business. a. Staff Work: T -Hangar Construction has begun on the west hangar. The middle hangar with the modified unit will go up next. There has been some questions about drainage from aircraft being washed. There will be another outdoor spigot on T - Hangar "F". A real estate sign, up to 32 ` sq. ft., is exempt from the City Ordinance. We are going to use that to advertise hangar space and will affix it to the fence along the highway. Asked if Charlie Caldwell (tenant for modified hangar unit) had gone to see the Mayor? Said she didn't know. The bill had not been submitted to her. The amount the Airport Board recommended was $1,800. b. Staff Work: Contract for the Construction of Ernest Lancaster Drive Extension. Part of the funding is from a grant and it is waiting for the Mayor's signature, then we can proceed with the project. c. Staff Work: Lease with Wings Air, Inc. The lease was approved by the City Council on September 5`h. Bids are already out and we are anticipating approval within the next ten days. The tank is on order and should be operational in four to five weeks. He expressed appreciation of the Board's willingness to work with him to see it happen and that all regulations were met. "Fairness" had kept coming up throughout the process and he thought this had been done in a very fair manner. Stated he didn't think they would be disappointed. d. Staff Work: Marketing Stated August had been busy. He had been out on the road every week visiting in Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Texas and had made twenty-two direct contacts with aviation related businesses. Now we are doing follow-up calls. People are coming to look at the airport that are interested in relocating or starting up a new business on the airport. There have been several phone calls back -and -forth with prospective businesses. We are now talking with a large firm that employs several people. We have given them a Letter of Agreement and we are now down to negotiating a Lease Agreement. LITTLE: FREDERICK: LITTLE: COLLIER: LITTLE: FREDERICK: McKINNEY: FREDERICK: MOSS: Said that if the drive was already completed we might already have a business signed up. One possible tenant won't start until the drive is underway, but we may not have to have the road finished for them to begin. Another possible tenant may come Saturday to the fly -in to look over the airport. One of the unanticipated benefits is the referrals, the secondary visits. Mentioned they probably would not have picked out the cabinet shop in Sulphur Springs, Texas to visit without having had the referral. Their visit was made in conjunction with the trip to visit the FAA. Asked about the farm road outside of the fence (on the eastside of the airport), and is the fence the property line? He asked where Lancaster Road would be, outside or inside the fence? There is a little bit of a problem with the location of the road We will displace that road which is on airport property. Lancaster Drive will be on the outside of the airport fencing. We will work with the people to give them access to their property. The drive will allow for the development of corporate hangars in the areas shown on the Airport Layout Plan (the ALP was displayed). The fence will be relocated. People using the drive to corporate hangars will have land access on one side and air access on the other side of their facility. The City's property line is actually in the middle of the farm road and then as you move north the City's property line is east of the farm road. We won't cut off access to the trailer house. Said he appreciated the good news about the developments in marketing. Commented on some of the visits to aviation business, finding the businesses, and the interesting people he had met. He told of a business way out in the country in Oklahoma that builds wood props for aircraft all over the world. He then told of another business that builds the glass lense that goes over the indicator panel in aircraft. Their business is way out in the country by Hot Spnngs. e. Staff Work: On Bid Specification and Advertisement for painting of Hangars. Painting the two green hangars on the west side of the airport will improve the appearance of the airfield. The estimated cost is about $10,000 each. • • • LITTLE: Said she was working on the specs and they should be ready in the next few weeks. f. Staff Work: FAA Airport Certification Inspection. The airport has a Limited 139 Certificate. Bob Hutchins, the FAA inspector was here Tuesday and Wednesday to conduct the airport's annual inspection. He didn't find any major problems, but he did want the area at the south end of the airport mowed, and he wanted two lights turned downward. He visited with the Tower Manager, and an ARFF fire drill was conducted. We should have his report by the end of September. FREDERICK: The area at the south end was one of the areas that had been deleted from the mowing program as a cost savings measure. LITTLE: g. Joint Retreat with the Fayetteville City Council and Fayetteville Municipal Airport Board on September 26th at 5:00 p.m. The joint meeting will be in Room #326 at the City Administration Building. The video is progressing and its focus is the airport's value to the community. It is modeled after the APA's video. Terry Collier flew the plane for our aerial photography. The video will serve a dual purpose, a presentation to the City Council, and also be used in the marketing efforts. The City Council's Agenda Session starts at 4:30 and the Joint Meeting will follow their Agenda Session. A light supper will be provided. LYALL: Stated he would be out of town. h. Arkansas Airport Operators Association (AAOA) 7`h Annual Conference in Eureka Springs on September 17`h, 18`h, and 19". Said Dale, Brenda and she planned to attend and this would be her first state conference. SCHOSSOW: Stated he had attended last year as a corporate member and it was a great opportunity to meet and promote the airport. LITTLE: i. Area Fly-In's and Air Shows. Announced the Fly -In at Drake Field on September 9, and had flyers about events at other airports taking place on September 15`h, September 30`h, and October 21s`. McKINNEY: Announced that Chuck Chadwick's (attorney for Fayetteville Air Service) father had passed away on Tuesday night. Stated he had picked up a newsletter from the Spirit of St. Louis Airport and -8- • • • • • FREDERICK: BURGGRAF: McKINNEY: LITTLE: KALAGIAS: LITTLE: KALAGIAS: McKINNEY: LITTLE: they had an article about building a golf course on their airport. They had incorporated a golf course and noise abatement as part of their water drainage project. They were able to get investors to build the golf course. Mentioned Frank's university class had designed a golf course for Drake Field. Asked about the Air Force locating one of their (temporary MLS) approaches on the airfield? Said he had the Warrant Officer's name, and he just needed to call him. The forestry service has had so many fires that they haven't been able to do the work on the airport project. We had asked the firemen to come back with their proposal in October because we thought we would know more about the forestry service's needs by then. Said they were already are working on next year's Air Fest. Said he was going to visit some of the other Fly -Ins and Air Shows to try to get more air show type participation at Air Fest. He asked if there were any commercial plans for the grass area just south of the helicopters, in the area where the library is planned? Explained that the plans for commercial development develops when we find an interest. Then we work with the tenant to find a place to best suit them. Said he would like to get funds from the City's Parks Department and put in a version of an airpark where families could come. Mentioned that the children's (aviation) space camp that OU had held here was successful, and he thought we had enough talent around here to put one on that would be less expensive. Stated the Museum needed a good benefactor. Suggested the Museum contact the Raven Foundation. They are always looking for good causes. She said they are associated with Pace Industries. eeti adjourned Don Lyall, Secretary Minutes prepared by Lo -e Powers -9- 7Pj-°J .R�. 7, ''Fa`°.,a w o 0 2 m n�'n...:_. x„ o g o .00484 • • • FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2000 V ` 'HE MORNU4p_NEWS A3, Ming: lie didirt, . leb how-''h'e 'might exercise 011. J.T.WAMPLER /THE MORNING NEWS Sue Hale of Hot Springs performs pre-flight checks Thursday on a plane for her husband, John, at Drake Field in Fayetteville.The Hales say they fre- quently use Drake Field because of its convenience. Airport's operational revenue expected to rise in coming year Charlie Alison The Morning News Although the Fayetteville Municipal Air- port has submitted a preliminary budget request that anticipates spending in the deficit again this year, operational revenue is expected to rise during the corning year after bottoming out during the past year. Members of the Fayetteville Airport Board approved the preliminary numbers Thursday during their monthly meeting and recom- mended them on to the city's budget depart- ment for more review. The budget anticipates a deficit of about $168,600, but that number could be significant- ly changed if capital expenditures for 2000 — which make up more than half the budgeted expenses — are not as heavy as expected. Drake Field, which had been the region's commercial airport prior to the opening of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport at Highfill, had to slash spending and cut staff after the commercial airliners moved to the new airport two years ago. Brenda Moss, financial coordinator for the airport, told the airport board that the expen- ditures are probably not as bad as they look because of the capital money that will be rolled forward from 2000. "This bottom line probably shouldn't even be on there," she said, referring to the deficit. So much of the budget still needs to be hashed out, she said, that the figure could change before the city budget is approved near the end of the year: Even if that budget estimate turned out to Please see AIRPORT, Page A2 • • • PPGt Two - r\oRi%iv& &)a s AIBoard hears from project manager From Page A I be correct, the airport still has a reserve balance of :more: than $3.5 million to coverthe deficit. Tho, the .board heard news from:Don Harris, the Federal Aviation Administration's regional project manager, that 1e lotion pending in Congress Would `Increase spending for general -aviation municipal air- ports. ``(The appropriation bill) gives us a significant amount.of increasefQRaatype of airport that Dr�aff nt tatissiiied," he told' the 1' ' "Ifs ink you're f ah'excellea. iiiC on� to use what's available.". :Harris said that the bill, if approved, would help keep Municipalairports financially liealthy by keeping their infra- structure safe. "1 want:to assure that what you do =w_ ithyouir . money is going, to leave you in a good position;toattract business," he said. "You're sitting good," Harris said. "I'm comfortable with where we're at right now" Dale Frederick, the former airport manager who's now in charge of marketing Drake, said he had been visiting air - related businesses . around the region, letting them know what the prospects are for Drake Field. He and Alett Little, Fayet- teville director of economic development, are working on a lease- with . a -good-sized comps-, rix but they're waiting. to make sure than Lancaster, Drive gets extended on the east side of the field. "If we already had the road down," said Little, "we would have them here. They won't start until that road is started." A contract with Harris Davis Construction was approved by the Fayetteville City Council on Tuesday, so work on the exten- sion should begin soon. Little pointed across the air- field to new hangars under con- struction, too, saying that the city still has a waiting list for .those hangars as they open. Out on the field, an Air Force plane practiced touch-and-go approaches. Back on the budget, Frank Btu'ggraf pointed out that the budget could` easily change for the better if the field were to land even a single tenant. "You only need one change in the budget," he said, "and we're in the black. This is won- derful." The airport's proposed budg- et, which surpasses the city's target in a couple of operational categories, will go back to the budget division for review and eventually to the City Council for approval. r'