Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-05-26 MinutesMINUTES OF THE SPECIAL CALLED AIRPORT BOARD MEETING • May 26, 2004 MEMBERS ATTENDING: Charles Wallace, Otto Loewer, Frank Sperandeo, Dave Bowman, Bob Nickle, David Hollman, Janice Stanesic STAFF PRESENT: Ray Boudreaux, James Nicholson, Louise Powers OTHERS PRESENT: Neal Bilbe-Fayetteville Open Channel, Frank Burggraf-Airport Board Historian, Dan Craft -Morning News, Sean Bolen and Robbie Furgeson-TV 5 News, Adam Wallworth-NW Ark. Times, Judy Hammond -Arkansas Air Museum ITEM #1: Welcome. C. Wallace welcomed those attending the Special Called Meeting of the Fayetteville Airport Board. The agenda only has one item to be discussed. He stated that before they got into the agenda he would like to announce that our Airport Board Vice Chairman Otto Loewer received the Communicator of the Year Award at noon at the APAX Public Relations Awards. • ITEM #2: United States Postal Service Lease Aereement. C. Wallace related the Airport Board had talked at the Strategic Planning Meeting several months ago about expanding the airport presence and discussed that the Greenland Postal Service was seeking a new location. The item was on the Board's Agenda at the last meeting. Several Board members wanted additional information and asked Bob Nickle to review the contract and have Bob Nickle to report back to Charles Wallace. Bob said the contract needed further consideration C. Wallace said there are also other things to be considered ---the people that are affected: People of Greenland People of Fayetteville Mayor of Fayetteville Mayor of Greenland C. Wallace speaking to the media, expressed appreciation of their interest even if the Board does not make a decision today. He asked the Board to think about: What value the Post Office would have to the airport? What value the Post Office would have to the county? What value the Post Office would have to the airport's revenues? • C. Wallace announced the Board would take a short recess to look at the terminal space involved. After the meeting was re -started, C. Wallace asked the Board to consider: • How the Post Office would fit into the community. O. Loewer said he had two space issues: Inside the terminal, and Outside space to accommodate the Post Office R. Boudreaux spoke of the parking spaces, saying the contract does not specify which eleven spaces and we have plenty of parking. D. Bowman asked the location for the drop box? R. Boudreaux said this is all very preliminary, although they have prepared several drawing proposals for the inside of the building. He said the entryway to the airport off the highway was discussed, and had told them we had plans for a four lane entry in our Five Year CIP, but it is not a requirement in their lease. B. Nickle wanted to know if we would control were the drop box would go? R. Boudreaux said it would be placed where it would be easily accessed by the driver. At their current location for the driver to use it, he has to cross into the oncoming traffic lane. He also related that anyone that receives their mail at their home in Greenland is on a Fayetteville mail route. The Greenland Post Office is used just for postal boxes or for mailing parcels. O. Loewer expressed concerns about liability. Saying with the estimated 200 arrivals per • day to the Post Office, traffic would increase in the highway turn lanes and would we be taking on any liability for people turning into the airport, or people at the airport? He also wondered about any security requirements around a federal office and wanted to make sure if any security issues came up later, the tenant would be responsible for them. R. Boudreaux stated the City Attorney had reviewed the contract and found it okay. Their lease has a whole section on security. B. Nickle reminded the Board that after the Oklahoma City bombing the local federal building removed all parking spaces along the street in front of their building on Mountain Street. C. Wallace asked the Board to think what we can do for the community and to look at what this would do for the airport. O. Loewer said it links to Transportation at some point in time and would encourage other businesses, or related businesses, to locate at the airport. Air transportation might eventually be linked to this Post Office. R. Boudreaux said the Postal Distribution Center for Northwest Arkansas is nearby to the east of us and currently all the postmarks read "NORTHWEST AR P&DF 72701". C. Wallace asked what would be any advantages? Saying he had heard at the last meeting that it would increase activity at the airport. D. Bowman said in the long term it would bring people to the Post Office, which would overflow to the restaurant and they would see airplanes and would be more aware of activities at the airport. F. Sperandeo suggested a gated door from the Post Office to the restaurant that would be open during the Post Office hours. If you dropped off a letter you wouldn't have to go outside, possibly in the rain, to get back to the • restaurant and possibly we could get an ATM. He suggested using the entry drive by the fuel farm and then their customers could park north of the terminal and exit the regular exit, and have the drop box north of the terminal, too. 2 R. Boudreaux said he had tried to get an ATM, but it depends on the level of traffic. O. Loewer • said if the Post Office was already here, he could see that a door would encourage a level of community. C. Wallace stated he wasn't hearing anything negative or detrimental about the Post Office locating at the airport. B. Nickle stated he thought the airport's liability needed to be considered and with more traffic, the parking lot will need more maintenance, it will have to be re -surfaced eventually, more building maintenance, more maintenance to restrooms. F. Sperandeo asked about snow removal, would the maintenance guys who are already busy have time to do the extra work? R. Boudreaux said we already do snow removal. The Board discussed the length of the lease. The prime time would be ten years with a rate increase after the first five years, then with every option. If they outgrew the facility and wanted to leave before the ten years were over they would be obligated for the rent for ten years, and it was answered yes. J. Stanesic asked what if the airport wanted the space back for airport expansion before the thirty years is over? O. Loewer said that we need to make sure that whatever we would want to do outside the building, or if we wanted to expand to the north, if wouldn't be impacted by the Post Office being in the terminal. C. Wallace asked B. Nickle to walk them through the important part of the lease. B. Nickle said beside the length of the lease, the first ten years are okay, but the last twenty years with it • being a full service lease, we are paying for all maintenance and all utilities with the space. If you were renting a space downtown for full service, you could expect the expense would be $2.50 to $3.50 per sq. ft. per year. We are paying these same expenses already, but with additional workers and customers, utilities and maintenance will be more. When you subtract $3.00 from the the$10.00, then that is not the same as the $19,000 annual bottom line. O. Loewer said he would be more comfortable if they could break out the space rental from the service space, have the area separately metered, put in a separate air conditioning. We don't know the energy picture twenty years from now. B. Nickle the utilities are typically passed on to the tenant when you see multiple tenants. O. Loewer stated when you have different types of tenants, they each have different expectations of heat or air and of janitorial service. The Postal Service may have different standards for janitorial needs than what we are providing in the building now, mopping everyday instead of every three days. C. Wallace asked if it was possible to get more scientific for better projections. F. Sperandeo asked if you couldn't build in a cost factor for janitorial service. C. Wallace said he saw two things that needed more time: Relationship factor, our Mayor wants to deal with the relationship with Greenland, we're not trying to steal Greenland's Post Office Homework --the financial impact to us • O. Loewer said he had just one other factor, he didn't believe in subsidzing the Post Office. Our rent needs to be comparable to other rental in the same place, somewhere along the line someone else may come along and may complain they were treated differently. He asked if we could find the going rental rate for other Post Offices in northwest Arkansas. B. Nickle said it K I -i would be different for south Fayetteville than on Joyce Street, also in free-standing Post Offices • they pay their own janitorial. R. Boudreaux explained the person he had been dealing with at the Postal Service Real Estate Office in Dallas is retiring day -after -tomorrow, so he woould be working with someone different. B. Nickle said if we could just break the items out in the rent and increase as needed. O. Loewer said we need to understand what we as a Board are doing, we want to minimize the tax cost to our citizens. We, as a Board, want the subsidy by the City to be zero. The Board is trying to be accountable and good stewards of the property owned by us all. C. Wallace stated he was ready to hear a motion. A motion was made by Bob Nickle to table this lease because they did not have enough information to move forward. The motion was seconded by Frank Sperandeo. The motion carried. C. Wallace asked that a list of the items be prepared from the tape. J. Stanesic asked if armed guards would ever be required (for the Post Office), then we need to make sure we would not be required to furnish them. O. Loewer asked how it would affect the airport businesses if the Post Office sometime required cars couldn't be parked close to the Post Office and would have to block off a number of parking spaces? Again, liability was stressed by B. Nickle and asked to have that question put before the • City Attorney. The Board reviewed the items previously discussed: liability to airport, janitorial, maintenance, security, parking, break out separate costs in the lease, and installing a separate heat and air system with a separate meter. B. Nickle said he didn't have a problem with paying for an air conditioner (and heat) to get them off our HVAC system. C. Wallace reiterated the item had been tabled until more information is obtained about the items on the list, the relationship between our Mayor and the Mayor of Greenland is determined and they talk to their constituents, and public relations need to be taken care of before this is a done deal. Meeting adjourned at 3:50 p.m. • DZ%e Bowman, C! Date