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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-12-02 Minutes• • • • • MINUTES OF THE AIRPORT BOARD MEETING December 2, 2004 MEMBERS PRESENT: Charles Wallace, Dave Bowman, Frank Sperandeo, Otto Loewer, Bob Nickle, David Holtman, Janice Stanesic MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Ray Boudreaux, James Nicholson, Louise Powers OTHERS PRESENT: Wayne Jones -McClelland Engineering, Rick McKinney -tenant, Dan Craft -Morning News, Drew Terry -NW Arkansas Times, Terry Collier -tenant, Jason Consul - Lighting Electric, Inc. ITEM # 1: Welcome. Chairman Charles Wallace Chairman Wallace welcomed all those attending by television and in person. ITEM #2: Agenda Review. A. Review by the Chairman. B. Comments from the Public. None. ITEM #4: Receiving of Reports. A. Charles Wallace, Chairman. Reflecting that over the year the Board had many Strategic Planning Meetings and had worked to bring life to the airport and have continued to develop a wide range of aviation on the field. He mentioned he had heard from downtown that the hangar rent at the airport is too cheap, and that we rent them just for storage. Out of seventy- three T -Hangars we found one hangar with two boats and no plane, and one hangar with "junk". Ray talked with those tenants, one is in the process of buying another plane, and the other does have a plane in Illinois, and is working on the paperwork to get his plane here. Chairman Wallace said he wanted the public to know we are trying to be responsible with their trust. B. Ray Boudreaux, Director In reviewing his report in the agenda he said he will cover some of the highlights. The T -Hangar drain repair was delayed because of rain. The Plane Good Restaurant is doing well, and encouraged everyone to come visit them. The US Post Office in the terminal is nearly complete. He said he had met with Professor Loewer regarding a project for her students, to work on a re -design of the terminal building. She has accepted the re -design as a class project for next semester. We are working on developing an email list and encouraged everyone to send their email address. The Riverdance performers will be leaving out of the terminal on Tuesday. Six companies picked up bid packages for the T -Hangar re -wiring project and nobody submitted bids. We will re -bid the project in a couple of weeks. Rick McKinney reported that work has begun on the Air Show, which will be on June 17-19, 2005 (Fathers Day weekend). 1 • • • C. James Nicholson, Financial Coordinator In reviewing his report in the agenda, called attention to the tower chart, saying the aircraft operations are up 5% over 2003. The operations have slowed and that is also reflected in the fuel sales. He commented regards fuel, saying, our fuel prices are not the lowest in the area, but they are close to the lowest. He noted Siloam Springs had raised their price and we are just six cents above their price. B. Nickle asked for a copy of the October report (no meeting in November) so they could compare month-to-month. Director Boudreaux commented that for the last four months the operations and sales had been flat due to bad weather and the cost of fuel. J. Nicholson reported there had been a 70% increase in the price of fuel since the beginning of the year. He said Troy, FBO Supervisor, had been monitoring the fuel barrel price in an effort to make our fuel purchases where it would keep our fuel price as low as possible. J. Nicholson stated the numbers in the Financial Report in the agenda are for October, it was too early in December to have all the information for November. Chairman Wallace' commented the projected deficit is down from the last report they had, it is about the same as for the end of 2003 J. Nicholson further explaining the report said they didn't do a fuel price adjustment last month as everyone's price was high. Also, they did not purchase a load of avgas in November. He said they were trying to minimize the capital projects for 2005. Ray is working hard towards a zero deficit. O. Loewer commented some serious decisions need to be made in the next few years regarding the airport. Chairman Wallace said the cost of the tower had been reduced, and they were looking at everything to reduce the costs. B. Nickle commenting on the proposed sprinkler work for the Air Museum, saying we don't want that to affect the historic guidelines. R. McKinney said it is the dry type and they were happy to have it as it does protect artifacts. Director Boudreaux said he hoped to get some help on that project from the State. D. Louise Powers, T -Hangar Report. Stated all T -Hangars and storage units are rented except one hangar and we expect to hear from a possible tenant today. On the waiting list there are 6 names on the twin hangar list, 9 on the single hangar list and 12 on the storage unit list. In the FBO hangar, there have been ten monthly tenants and three part-time tenants. E. Construction Report. W. Jones reported work continues on the taxiway extension. Weather permitting next week they will be working on the grading along the edges and installing the light cans. Work on the new T -Hangar has started, foundations are in and they are working on the cap where the steel is bolted down. The design raised the level up and will slope out so water runs away from the hangar. The steel is not here, but the contractor will be ready to install it next week. Work has begun on the Airport's Master Plan with a three hour meeting yesterday to discuss the scope of work with airport planners Barnard and Dunkleburg Consulting, Ray, and himself. They do work throughout the mid -west to the west coast. They have done work for the airport before. The work will involve about a ten month time frame and will lay out improvement plans for the airport in the next five years, ten years and twenty years. Director Boudreaux said they will bring the scope of work before the Board in January and it would be a good opportunity for the Board to meet the consultants. W. Jones said they would be holding meetings with tenants so they can have an opportunity for input on the future improvements for the airport. Answering Ray, the U. of A. Hangar is not complete, the electric is not closed out, some work is needed on the light switches and the rolling door. • • • R. McKinney referenced the October Board Meeting when the airport had planned to close the runway for two days for taxiway construction. On those days all the local airports were closed due to weather, and twelve airplanes were diverted to Drake rather than going to Fort Smith. W. Jones said the airport did remain open and the tower worked with the contractors, notifying the contractors when a plane was arriving. The tower told the pilots there was a drop off next to the runway and they could land and take off at their own risk. It was a minor inconvenience to the contractor, but they were able to work around the arrivals. J. Nickolson reported the contractor went way beyond the call of duty, each time they moved their equipment and men completely off the runway. F. Maintenance Report. Director Boudreaux noted several of staff's maintenance projects. Yesterday staff worked on getting the electric back on to one of the T -Hangars. The tenant had several things plugged in and burned a wire. The last mowing was completed for the year, it had been delayed because of the wet weather. Lights on the east side that were burning are now out, three fixtures will have to be replaced. Snow equipment has been readied. Roof leaks in the terminal were repaired. Wash -outs along the runway have been repaired (FAA won't allow drop-offs of more than 3"). Investigation regarding the east field perimeter gate found water freezing on the lens, causing the controls to not work and the alarm to go off. Plans are underway to prevent that problem through installation of a rain hood. Staff has installed a new toilet kit in the men's restroom on the east side. They worked on repairs on the HAVC in this building. We are still working towards getting the Highway 71 entrance light working. Wayne has stayed after all the contractors, and they found the telephone company cut the wire when running service to the new hangars and it will be repaired. He said the lights on Lancaster Drive will be repaired this month. F. Sperandeo called attention to the handful of screws he had picked up on the T -Hangar ramp and asked that weekly sweeping be added to maintenance's duties, saying there are about 500 screws in front of T - Hangar A. Director Boudreaux thought these were old screws, and they had been left on the roof by the contractor. F. Sperendeo suggested the screws may be coming out of the roof and washing down. ITEM #3: Minutes of the October 14, 2004 meeting. A motion to approve the minutes was made by Frank Sprerandeo. David Hollman seconded the motion. The motion carried. ITEM #6: Old Business. A. T -Hangar Lighting Project. Chairman Wallace stated F. Sperandeo has a guest today and will introduce him. F. Spreandeo said Jason Consul was here to discuss the bid. F. Sperandeo said he had received complaints from tenants in T -Hangars A, B, C, and D wanting the electric upgraded, that there wasn't enough power in the T -Hangars, and that circuit breakers are tripped. Since the airport received an estimate of $45,000.00 for the work, F. Spreandeo opted to get an objective estimate for the work from a local contractor. His proposal was $28,000.00 for all four hangars. According to member F. Sperandeo, Jason is an electrical contractor, licensed in Fayetteville, and worked on the U. of A. hangar. He then asked Jason explain why he refused to bid on the job. Chairman Wallace stated this project went out to bid, based on specifications that came from engineering, those specifications were the basis of the bids, and no one submitted a bid, and 3 • • • • staff has asked to re -bid. Director Boudreaux explained six companies had picked up specs and afterwards he had contracted some those companies and they said they could not do the job for under $80,000, another said for $144,000. Based on the engineer's estimate we didn't require the prevailing wage rate, which the contractor's verbal estimates would have been over the amount requiring the prevailing wage rates. The specifications were prepared by an electrical engineer, a former tenant and owner of Upchurch Electric. Chairman Wallace allowed Mr. Consul five minutes to present his information, cautioning all in attendance, that we aren't going to be able to solve the problem here today. Chairman Wallace further advised that these projects are subject to the city's purchasing regulations. J. Consul said he owns and operates an electrical business in Fayetteville, and that F. Spreandeo contacted him, asking him to look at the project. J. Consul prepared a proposal , & provided it to F. Sperandeo. After the project went out for bids, and J. Consul reviewed the "specs", stating concern the estimate was inflated, and that it could be done better & less expensively. The explosion proof devices, in his opinion, were not needed and impractical. J. Consul also indicated a dislike for the bonding requirements, saying he liked to do bigger jobs, and that bonds complicate smaller projects (wasn't cost effective). Also, he liked to be in control of his work, and that if he was going to have to stop, call, and then wait for aircraft to be moved from the hangar, more time would be consumed. Answering Chairman Wallace, he said yes, that doing the project as the specs stated, would have cost considerably more to do the job. Chairman Wallace said to meet City standards we have to do things others don't think are needed. He asked W. Jones if the design met or exceeded existing code requirements. W. Jones referenced the Southern Standard Building Code of 1999, the International Building Code (adopted by the state in 2000), and the National Electric Code. These codes specify unique conditions when involving construction or renovation of an electrical system when in close proximity to aircraft and fuel tanks. We worked with several electrical engineers that are responsible for health, welfare and safety of the public. W. Jones stated that it met the code, and, in his opinion, is not inflated. After a question from F. Sperandeo regarding re -wiring and "add-on", W. Jones said this is a renovation of electric system in a public building, and that it is a safety issue. The existing panel board in the building is not adequately sized to handle installation of the new equipment. F. Sperandeo asked if they could review code requirements with the code enforcement people at City Hall in order to maximize efficiency. Chairman Wallace said we can't solve this today, but the difference in costs from Wayne's and Jason's plans is a legitimate concern. As a City airport we have to follow Wayne's plans unless we can find a better way. Chairman Wallace asked if a meeting could be set with Director Boudreaux, Wayne, Frank and Hugh (Brewer) and anyone else on the Board, that would like to sort this out with the meeting time to be decided later. Director Boudreaux said we have very high standards, people that live here expect those high standards to be maintained. He requested the project to be re -bid, and offer deductive alternatives, like light fixtures after a meeting is held on the subject. Chairman Wallace suggested tabling the item until the January meeting. 4 • • A motion to table the re -wiring project until the January meeting was made by Bob • Nickle. The motion was seconded by Dave Bowman. The motion carried. B. Update on the Draft RFP for an FBO. Chairman Wallace said the Board had worked on this through three Strategic Planning sessions. The next step, would be putting the RFP out for bids. It involves out -sourcing some services that are presently provided by City Airport staff, the front door fuel lineman. A contract FBO could provide a nationwide marketing program, would improve/increase services provided (not saying our services provided are not good), and it would improve/enhance the image of Drake Field, the Gateway to Fayetteville. There will be some re -definition of jobs and staff resulting in increases in the FBO staff, operations, and revenues. He said he had worked with the tenants on the airport, and that the idea is not accepted by all businesses on the airfield. The Board feels that the overall result will be better for the Airport. The Board understands the small businesses on the field have done a good job and we don't want to do something to be detrimental to them. There has been some anxiety that it would cause higher fuel costs. The Board has carefully constructed a Request for a Proposal, saying what we want and what we don't want, and it will protect the businesses on the field. The tenants would not be under the FBO. The FBO would report to the City staff, then the Airport Board, and then the City Council. We won't lose control of the airport. The RFP has to go through the City's process, be advertised, distributed, and then a proposal can be made. He then read the most recent changes in the RFP which would protect airfield businesses. He also stated the self -serve facility would still be operated by the City. The east side tenants would not be under the FBO. The tenants can still call for a fuel truck. A motion to forward the Request for Proposal for the FBO to the City's Purchasing Office to follow procedures to advertise was made by Dave Bowman. The motion was seconded by Frank Sperandeo. The motion carried. B. Nickle explained there is a City Committee that will review the proposals. A member of the Airport Board can be on the committee. Director Boudreaux said the Selection Committee can make a choice, then it would be presented to the Airport Board, who could make a recommendation to the City Council for approval. When we get the proposals back we may ask for presentations. ITEM #7: New Business A. Airport Board Annual Report to City Council. Chairman Wallace reminded the Board of the Council Meeting next Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. where the Airport Board will make its Annual Report. Director Boudreaux explained they will give the Board ten minutes. B. Lease with Bridge Builder, Inc (Bill Keating) to lease the sound barrier for equipment storage. Director Boudreaux explained the sound barrier is not used and is full of junk. They can use the back gate by the sound barrier to bring in their heavy equipment and would be responsible for clean up on a regular basis of debris caused by the equipment. W. Jones answering a question, said the access road along the east side of the apron has been used to haul in materials for projects under controlled conditions, and wasn't sure how it is stressed for daily usage. B. Nickle indicated it was inexpensive outdoor storage. He has contractors calling all the time for storage space. It is not easy to find, it has to be zoned industrial, fenced, but they can only pay so much. Director Boudreaux said Bill will fence the 5 • • • • area and clean it out, and we will give him two months free rent for doing that. Chairman Wallace said he didn't want to rent it and then have people say it's cheap rent. O. Loewer thought it was bad to rent for lower amount, and then at the renewal, raise it 25%. The figures should be closer together and if he fenced it he would probably want to renew. A motion to send the lease through the City's Contract Review process with the following provisions: Bridge Builders will rent the sound barrier provided they use the back gate for the heavy equipment, clean up any debris regularly caused by the equipment, using the terms and conditions on the Lease Data Sheet, rent for one year only, with no automatic renewal, (rent- $250.00 per month), with two months rent free to clean out junk and fencing the sound barrier. The motion was made by Janice Stanesic and was seconded by David Holtman. The motion carried. ITEM #8: Other Business. Items from the Staff. Director Boudreaux announced the Chairman would be retiring from his position on the Airport Board and invited everyone to the January meeting. Four people applied for the Airport Board, Rick Baily, Audrey Bernath, Dr. Vaugh DeCoster, and Dwight Talburt. The position is a pilot's position and all except Ms. Bernath filled out on the form that they were pilots. The Council's Selection Committee will have interviews on Monday, December 13th, starting at 4:00 p.m. Chairman Wallace said the Board cannot direct the Council, but they have always listened to the Board. Director Boudreaux invited everyone to view the airport's new website. It is pilot friendly and attractive. He held up a copy of the title page. Troy Bates is the webmaster. The following is how to reach the website: www.flv-fyv.com A. Items from the Public. T. Collier said someone had mentioned we should have FYV printed somewhere on the airfield. Director Boudreaux said someone had suggested it be painted on the roof. B. Items from the Airport Board. D. Bowman mentioned looking at page 8 in the Fly Low magazine. Seven new pilots received flight training scholarships ranging from $750 to $2,000, some matching scholarships. T. Collier said Chris in the tower is one of those. F. Sperandeo said the Piper Club, of which he is a member, also awarded four scholarships in July for $1,000 each to young ladies and gentlemen. Meeting Adjourned at 3:50 p.m. e PIS 1 ave Bow n, Secretary 6 z -9-455" Date