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Home My WebLink About2013-11-14 - Agendas - Final • Director Ray Boudreaux Taye evl e Chairman Bob Nickle am Financial Coordinator les Nicholson .nKawsas Vice Chair Mike Gibbs Administrative Assistant Lauren Treat Secretary Joshua Mahony Member Rick Bailey Member Bill Corley Member Ken Haxel Member Marty Burggraf AGENDA Fayetteville Executive Airport Board Meeting 1 :30 p.m., Thursday. November 14, 2013 Terminal Conference Room, 4500 S. School Avenue City of Fayetteville, Arkansas As a courtesy please turn off all cel!phones and pagers 1. Welcome. Chairman. 2. Approval of the Airport Board Minutes of the October 10, 2013 meeting. 3. Receiving of Reports. A. Director Boudreaux, Aviation Director. B. Financial Coordinator James Nicholson, Budget Report. C. Administrative Assistant Lauren Treat, T Hangar Report. D. Wayne Jones, McClelland Engineers, Construction Report. E. Museum Executive Director Warren Jones, Museum report. F. Marketing Committee Report, Bill Corley. . 4. Old Business. A. T Hangar Rent Increase. 5. New Business. 6. Other Business. A. Items from the Public. B. Items from the Airport Board. _ 7. Meeting adjourned. NOTE: Next Airport Board Meeting: December 12, 2013 Strategic Planning Meeting: . . . 4500 SOUTH SCHOOL AVENUE, SUITE F • 'AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING • FAYETTEMLLE AR 72701 .. _479.718.7642 • 479.718.7646 FAX • www.accessfayetteville.org/govemment/aviabon . .. . . . .. _ _ . airyort_economic_development@ci.fayetteville.acus FAYETTEVILLE EXECUTIVE AIRPORT BOARD MINUTES October 10, 2013 MEMBERS PRESENT: Bob Nickle, Josh Mahony, Bill Corley, Mike Gibbs, Rick Bailey, Marty Burggraf MEMBERS ABSENT: Ken Haxel OTHERS PRESENT: Rick McKinney-tenant; Jeffry Gates-Arkansas A&M Museum, Wayne Jones-MCE; Joel Walsh-NWA Times; Warren Jones-Arkansas A&M Museum; James Nicholson-Financial Coordinator; Lauren Treat-Administrative Assistant; Mike Bowman-Tower; Craig Young-Tenant ITEM #1 : Welcome. Chairman Nickle. ITEM #2: Approval of the Airport Board Minutes of the October 10, 2013 meeting. Gibbs pointed out that a sentence in the minutes should be changed from "a Board Members" to "Board Members". A motion to approve the minutes with the proposed change was made by Josh Mahony, and seconded by Bill Corley. The motion carried. ITEM #3 : Receiving of Reports. A. Director Boudreaux, Aviation Director. Boudreaux said the contract tower program is good through the month of October. The Sequester Law adds another percentage cut for FY2014, so the money available for contract tower program may be reduced. He said no one knows what will happen yet. Regarding the Million Air DLA contract transfer, Boudreaux said the airport still has not received any money from DFAS or Million Air. Nicholson is in contact with a representative at MA and he was informed that a check should be in the mail . Gibbs commented that this will be an auditing nightmare. Bailey commended Nicholson for putting up with this accounting mess. Boudreaux said the government shut down could potentially affect things, as well — the airport administration is just waiting to see what will happen. Boudreaux reported this has been a good quarter for airport activity. He said during the A&M game weekend, the FBO sold every drop of AvGas & Jet Fuel. He said luckily the FBO did not have to turn anyone down for fuel, though it came close. Boudreaux said Loomacres responded to Richard Middleton's answers regarding our Wildlife Hazard Assessment inspection which were deemed unsatisfactory. The correct answers should be to the FAA soon. Boudreaux noted the great success of Bikes, Blues, and Barbeque — the Museum made over $ 12,000 ( 1/3 of the overall profit.) The Commemorative Air Force took home $24,000. The British Acrobatic Team trained at Drake Field this month. They were invited by the Walton family to practice at Bentonville, but they received too many complaints, so they went to Fayetteville. Boudreaux said the team really enjoyed practicing at Drake Field. Boudreaux quickly discussed the U of A charter and details regarding the upcoming home football game. He briefly reported on the apron rehab project. Boudreaux said he is in touch with Paul Burns and he is currently amassing entitlement funds to get the apron repaired/rebuilt in the 2015 AIP funding cycle. There are other projects listed on Drake Field' s 5 Year Plan such as widening taxiways, straightening out Bravo on the end, a runway extension project, etc. Boudreaux said that Morgan Lomax (CSR) put in her resignation, but she agreed to stay through the last home game day. He continued to briefly discuss a few other employee changes. He mentioned that everyone should consider getting an AvFuel credit card. That saves the airport administration office from having to pay the credit card fee, as well as saving cardholders 10 cents a gallon. B. Financial Coordinator James Nicholson, Budget Report. September was a good month. The football games made a big difference with 40,000 gallons of fuel sold in the last month. Operations are slightly ahead. Nicholson said he predicts we might end up just above 36,000 in operations. Overall, fuel sales are slightly behind but we are pretty close (he predicts 365,000 gallons by end of year.) Nicholson said we aren't quite meeting our target margins but we did a little better than last month. This is in part because retail sales, military sales, contract fuel sales, etc. are all calculated slightly differently. The FBO sold so much contract fuel in September which made a significant difference in the calculations. Nicholson said our fuel price is only a few cents higher than other FBO' s prices. Gibbs asked about market adjustments. Boudreaux said the airport administration previously tried to do that but the other FBO's in the area are determined to have lower prices than us. So, no matter what we set our price at, they set it a little bit lower. Nickle pointed out that the City of Springdale approved a million dollar renovation to their airport. Boudreaux said the renovation at Drake Field came from the airport's own savings account. Nickle said to remember that unlike Drake Field, some airports have subsidies from the City. Boudreaux said it is good thing that we are self- sufficient when applying for grants, especially from the State Aeronautics Commission. Discussion of pricing followed. Nickle said the two lowest fuel prices on the list of airports are not really in our ballpark — they are a completely different kind of operation. Corley said even though we are a different kind of operation, they are still our competitors. Bailey, Mahony, and Corley agreed that Drake Field' s tenants do fill up their tanks at those other airports and bring it back. Corley said a regression analysis on T Hangar rentals would be beneficial. Gibbs said we need to find items that we could put together a list and monitor such as economic situation, T Hangar prices, etc. anything that affects fuel prices. Nicholson said the cash balance is a little below the 500K mark due to the hangar project. He pointed out that if we take out our startup costs and compare our expenses to revenues, we are about a thousand dollars ahead, so we are actually making it okay. Gibbs requested that Huntsville is added to the fuel pricing sheet. Gibbs asked if McKinney had any ideas to help with our fuel pricing. McKinney said if we stay in the competitive arena for price, more people will fly in here. Drake Field already has the tower for safety so if we had the low fuel prices too, we would see more traffic. McKinney agreed that it would be a good idea to do the regression analysis. Boudreaux said the Board should hold a strategic planning meeting before he and Nickle leave their positions. C. Administrative Assistant, Lauren Treat, T-Hangar Report. Reported all hangars are full with four rented for storage. D. Wayne Jones, McClelland Engineers, Construction Report. Wayne said the contractor has not been on site for the last few days because the team is waiting on the door frames. The architect was on vacation the last week, too. The door frames are welded door frames so they must all be in before the drywall can go up. Wayne said there are several other submittals they are waiting on, as well. E. Museum Executive Director Warren Jones, Museum Report. Dave Powell from Summit Aviation visited the Museum and paid to get the ErCoupe running. He flew it up to Bentonville for their "house warming" event last Saturday. Warren hoped to take the Stinson as well, but the weather was unfavorable. Warren said Patrick Carter (NFlight Technology) is currently in Connecticut doing water survival training. Next year, he will participate in . a world-wide flight sponsored by Pilatus and the Amelia Earhart foundation. Carter will fly with Amelia Earhart's granddaughter. Air Traffic Controllers were at the Museum on Monday night for a fundraiser called "Vector for the Cure." Warren said he is still booking events at the museum and there are a few weddings coming up. Warren said nearly 3,000 people visited the Museum during the three days of BB&BBQ, which is a third of the annual visitor count. The guys from the Commemorative Air Force verbally committed to returning next year. Warren said he hopes the event name will be officially changed to "Bikes, Blues, Barbeque & Bombers." Nicholson added that just before the event, he posted a picture on the BB&BBQ Facebook page. They shared the photo, which resulted in many new shares as well as over 90 new likes to the Museum's Facebook page. F. Marketing Committee Chairman Bill Corley, Marketing Report. Corley said he put together a list of things that he think are issues to get us to a place to where we can do some more tactical/results driven marketing. He said the marketing committee needs to meet soon; everyone who is interested may attend. Lindsley Smith should also attend, if possible. Treat will coordinate the marketing meeting along with the strategic planning meeting. ITEM t14: Old Business, A. T Hangar Rent Increase Mahony said most of the feedback he received regarding a rent increase has been negative. Discussion followed about when the Board typically considers raising the rent. THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS Fay e rLvl le AVIATION DIVISION 4500 5 School Ave, Ste F Fayetteville, A0. 72701 P (479) 718-7642 NSA DIRECTOR' S MONTHLY REPORT OCTOBER, 2013 FAYETTEVILLE EXECUTIVE AIRPORT, DRAKE FIELD November 4, 2013 • NEW CSR ON THE JOB: We hired Janessa Hamm as the new Customer Service Representative for the airport. Janessa recently moved to Fayetteville from Phoenix where she worked as a CSR for Cutter Aviation at Sky Harbor Airport. Cutter Aviation is a very large FBO that serves airports all over the country. She comes to us with all the skills and experience so we expect her to get up to speed quickly. She will work the front desk from 11 : 00 until 7 :00 daily. • AIRPORT ACTIVITY: Flight operations were up year over year with the most significant increase in military operations. We believe this to be due to the new Federal fiscal year beginning October 1St. Fuel sales were strong for the month. We are now just 1 .6% below last year at 308,497 gallons sold. If we finish strong, we will match last year' s sales as there are just 5 ,000 gallons to make up. • FY 2013 TOWER OPERATIONS : The Contract Tower Association published the FY 2013 Tower Count and ranked them by State. Fiscal Year numbers are used by the FAA for the record when computing the tower funding cost benefit analysis. Our Tower is the third busiest in the State of Arkansas behind Little Rock and XNA. We were fourth in FY 2012 behind Fort Smith. Fort Smith had a decrease year over year while we had an 8% increase. Of the four NWA airports, Springdale and Drake Field recorded growth, Rogers and XNA recorded a decrease. In the nation we are 409 out of 515 airports. (See the attached report) • FAA ANNOUNCES CONTRACT TOWERS TO REMAIN OPEN THROUGH FY2013 : There is nothing but uncertainty looming after the end of the year. Many factors will come into play as the FAA determines where to get savings to comply with the Sequestration Law. There is still no budget and the CR ends mid January so even if the Sequestration Law is overturned, without a budget, there are no guarantees. We visited with Congressman Womack' s staff and asked them to watch out for the contract towers during budget negotiations. The Congressman is in support of the Contract Tower program. All of the Aviation affiliated professional associations are supporting the Contract Tower Program but they also support the AIP program and do not want AIP reduced to pay for Contract Towers. FAA may have very little choice in the matter. Continue to stand by for news. • CORPORATE HANGAR IMPROVEMENT PROJECT FOR NFLIGHT Telecommunications Device for the Deaf TDD (479) 521-1316 113 West Mountain - Fayetteville, AR 72701 THE CITY OF FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS TECHNOLOGY: The contractor is back to work and making good progress. Two days to hang the sheetrock. Mudding and taping next. • CITY IT DEPARTMENT PROJECT: The project is complete including the fiber optic line under the runway from the east side to the Terminal Building. • FAA WILDLIFE HAZARD ASSESSMENT: Loomacres has provide the required changes to Roger Middleton, our FAA inspector. Roger has said that he will review as soon as he can get to it. • HANGARS FOR RENT: We are full with 3 rented for storage and working with a new tenant for a hangar. • ARKANSAS AIR AND MILITARY MUSEUM: I rented the White Hangar for my 70th birthday party in October. Warren has several receptions booked for the fall. The annual meeting will be held December 8, 2013 from 1 :00 until 3 :00pm. The annual meeting is required by the By Laws for the election of Board Members. The Board Members then elect their officers at the annual meeting or as soon thereafter as a meeting of the Board can be held. • FBO CHANGEOVER UPDATE : We are now receiving payments from Million Air as soon as they are able to confirm the sales. We confirm the sales then they confirm the sales, then they send us the payment. Million Air still owes us approximately $30,000.00. Since the first payments were made to Million Air in error, Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has held all payments until the system is able to make payments to the City of Fayetteville. I have talked with the DLA POC and she tells me that she is working the problem hard and expects a fix soon. DFAS is currently holding approximately $30,000.00 due to the City. We recently found out after receiving the first few payment reports that we must apply for the FET from the IRS as the DLA does not repay the tax that we have already paid on the delivery of the fuel because the military does not pay FET. FET is $ .244 per gallon so it is a big number. We have applied to the IRS for permission to file for the rebate. • U OF A CHARTER SEASON UPDATE : We have served the 757 for four away football games and everyone is satisfied with the service and professionalism of our crew. We have one more to go. Home games this season did not generate the traffic we were hoping for. May be next year the team will have matured and will have more wins than losses. The better the Razorbacks do, the better we do during home game weekends. Respectfully Submitted, Ray M. Boudreaux, Director Telecommunications Device for the Deaf TDD (479) 521-1316 113 West Mountain - Fayetteville, AR 72701 1 JUrport- Progreim Report TO: . . Board T14RU: Boudreaux, Director FROM: James Nicholson, Financial Coordinator DATE: November -14, 2013, IOpetationsCumulative 002in 2w w 2w00002MID" 2M 2M ZOZ629 Z9M Z214 I= Z138 ZSO 4,M9 50 4.14 AW 40 k4M Z747 Z629 ZM Z254 Z763 Z687 9M I= M 8A 9.6111 11000 [EC 1(R �� ICI • �� I Vit ' �� 60 ZOM A3531 Z8681 Z5131 Z6761 Z951 I ZOMM 2ZW 2UM 2UM TUN 21,%0 AM Z73916' i 125 Z998 I 132D 1 Z649 1 Mm! 2UM AM rA JD 30,1741 31,401 ZLS—M 1;954 Z3791 13921 FE 1 31 23M a WE Estimated YE Total: Operations 5.500 slow 4.500 A 4.000 3.000 NOV DEC JAN FEB him APR MAY AIN Al. AUG SEP oar OPEPATIONS 87vyMVE1*3NTHWWMGE Merritt Average Annual Comparison 4.500 4474 4.000 IL 3AW Z784 Zs" Z461 1 1.500 1 1,00=0 ■ Local Fuel Prices: Fuel prices within 50 miles of FYV as of 11 /13/13 Nerd FBO Name Jet FS 100LL FS t00L.L SS 91 MoGas AS Jet $ =I $ tuos5 H34 Kinstvile M zdci - - 4.95 NC NC NC TQH Cily of TWWMh Podi sellser4 4.99 5.40 NC NC SLG City of Sitcl= S rql 5.41 5.65 5.15 NC NC NC FSM TAC Air 5-86 6-58 6-05 0.01 NC NC VBT Sw ffd Aviation 5.90 6.15 5.95 NC NC NC ASG Pirtnade Air Services 5.90 6.15 5.65 NC NC 0.05 ROG Beaver Lake Aviation 5.91 6.32 NC NC XNA RequdJetCerftr 5.95 6.90 NC NG M of F @e 6.25 6.55 5.70 4.70 0.07 0.02 1 NC Fuel Prices: National 11/13/13 Source: GlobalAir.com Aviation Fuel Current US Fuel Prices Current Fuel Prices & Averages by Region Nmllw¢SIPJOUnlam N¢s Eng�d Gm4d Lams 55 _ 64 $ 9 EaSb3M S . Zp Umbel Sg , Dd Q� 5M:2 Shen V.scac satlham Alaska S 6 . Q1 O 7ayeevi le ARKANSAS FAYETTEVILLE EXECUTIVE AIRPORT OPERATING SUMMARY MONTH ENDING 10/31/2013 AIRPORT BOARD OPERATING ACTIVITIES - ADMIN 6 MAINT 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2013 Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD REVENUE Rents & Leases 527,962 511,800 536,243 508,492 423,743 414,148 Aviation Fuel 114,865 119,500 157,525 18,091 18,091 18,091 Miscellaneous 11,869 11,900 8,586 2,900 2,417 7,447 Operational Transfers - FEMA Reimbursement 15,857 - - - - - NON-OPERATING INCOME Sales Tax Revenue 29,733 26,000 25,449 25,600 21,333 17,279 Non-Op Miscellaneous (100) - - - 2,673 INCOME RECEIVED FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 700,186 669,200 727,803 555,083 465,584 459,638 EXPENSES Personnel 331,465 341,673 319,057 348,876 285,648 254,025 Materials 8 Supplies 12,990 22.545 21,315 22,155 18,463 13,116 Aviation Fuel Purchases 81,584 90,328 105,924 93,888 25,424 25.424 Services 8 Charges 200,230 231,896 225,510 226.122 188,435 186,339 Cost Allocation to General Fund 7,915 7,915 7,915 7,915 6,596 6,597 Maintenance 48,137 64,490 50,859 66,057 55,048 46,766 Interest on West GA Hangars Loan (accrued monthly) 13,237 - 6,328 6,328 5.862 4,985 4,885 INCOME USED FOR OPERATING ACTIVITIES 695,557 765.175 736,909 770.875 584,498 537,152 NET INCOME FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES - GAIN I (LOSS) 4,629 (95,975) (9,105) (215,792) (118,914) (77,514) OPERATING 6 CAPITAL - FBO OPS 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2013 Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD REVENUE Rents 8 Lasses 25,000 20.833 14,523 Aviation Fuel 1,643,867 1,369.889 1 ,037,944 DLA Fuel Sales - Liability to MA (8,768) FBO Accessory Revenue (sales) 6,083 5.069 25,935 INCOME RECEIVED FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES - - - 1,674,950 1,395,792 1,069,633 EXPENSES Personnel 180,901 150,751 123,824 Materials 8 Supplies 8,923 7,436 10,599 Aviation Fuel Purchases 1,321,296 1 ,101,080 756,956 Services 8 Charges 139,451 116.209 44,008 Cost Albcation to General Fund 16,667 13,889 - Mcintenance 13,541 11.284 11,380 Capital Investment Proj 51301 (FBO Startup costs) 98,437 98,437 90,637 INCOME USED FOR OPERATING ACTIVITIES - - - 1,779,216 1,499,086 1,037,404 NET INCOME FROM FBO ACTIVITIES - GAIN I (LOSS) - - - (104,266) (103,295) 32,229 INVESTING ACTIVITIES 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2013 Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD NON-OPERATING INCOME Interest on Investments 5,098 7,800 4,041 4,200 3,500 1,656 Other - Unrealized Gain (Loss) on investments - - (753) - - - CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS EXPENSE 07039 AND #38 Correct Runway 16 Safety Area Deficiency Phase III 391,775 - - - - 10022 AIP #39 Wildlife Hazard Assessment 33,205 - 10028 Airport Fuel Farm Repair (512) a 11017 Airport Security Improvements 128.693 51,095 51,078 - � - 11019 Airport Slomiwater Protection Plan Update 2,500 - - - u - 11023 AIP #40 Pavement Rehab 8 Re-Marking 252,069 - 12002 Hangar Rehab - 4248 S School - 263,250 262,623 - m - 12011 Executive Hangar Once Addition 32,504 26,473 274,870 x 160,769 12012 AIP #41 Pavement Rehab 8 Re-Marking Phase II - 147,252 117,176 - - 13024 Airport Ground Service Equipment Acquisition - - 18,025 17,273 USED FOR INVESTING ACTIVITIES 802,631 486,301 454,061 288,695 176,386 FINANCING ACTIVITIES 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2013 Actual Budget Actual Budget Budget YTD Actual YTD LOANS Payments on Loan Principal (accrued) 28,030 15,530 15,530 15,530 12,941 12,941 One-time Paydown on Hangar Loan 305,626 - - GRANTS STATE / FEDERAL Due/Recelved from State Grants on Fed Projects 195,779 34,417 27,156 - - Due/Received from AIP #38 Correct RW 16 RSA Phase Ill 372,186 - - - - Due/Received from AIP #39 Wildlife Hazard Assessment 51 ,343 - - - Due/Recelved from Dept Aero - Fuel Farm Repair - - Due/Recelved from Dept Aero - Airport Security Improvements - 144,000 143,816 - 0 - Oue/Recelved from AIP #40 Pavement Rehab 8 Re-marking 239,465 - - - - Due/Recelved from Dept Aero - 80/20 Hangar Rehab - 210,600 210,098 - to - Due/Recelved from AIP #41 Pavement Rehab 8 Re-marking Phase II - 105.741 104,828 - x Due/Received from Dept Aero - 80/20 Executive Hangar Office Addition - - - 254,224 128,615 NET INCOME FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES 525,118 479,228 470,368 238,694 115,674 AIRPORT CASH BALANCE 616,222 513,174 623,423 253,364 517,426 CURRENT ENCUMBRANCES (CAPITAL) NICE TASK ORDER #9 - Plans, Specs, Proj Admin, Exec Hangar Office Addition 6,031 5,983 Centerpoinl Contractors Inc - Construction, Exec Hangar Office Addition 256,675 134,590 Hangar Loan Principal 201,886 188,945 APPROVED GRANTS (Not yet accrued) - CAPITAL PROJECTS State Grants on Federal Projects - - State Grant - Exec Hangar Office Addition 254,224 112,207 AIRPORT CASH MINUS LIABILITIES 42,995 300.114 -a v w In " z 0 0 z > ;u -1 0 O oomN mvcD cnmD - 3 C m o U) ;:L 3 O z 0 CD mc (7m m 0 nvm To CD. g c mmm 3 U3 :rM @ Q NSD y m y o 9 m m < r CD C mm � rm o� ' zm < a ,OOF w c c r mem W CD T o m m m c n m r3 to toino) � � mD o � v� — N N N O y A T N X 0 0 O l O 0 O W W co J N � co A o O M (O N V O N V O O UI A OO (n <o OOo y m O O O O) O O O to D o r cn v Do 0 0 � 0 0 o N 0 0 0 0 O W N d OD m G) O N A_ T 00 W O A o O O m O O O 0) N n 3 3 3 3 c 3 .0 M N N N (30 N N .Oi N O 7 7 7 O 3 = a d cn yi d O 0 m 3 3 y CD CDw CD Ci CD m 3 3 m CD CL v 0 o � N N J O O N N N O 0 CL N CL IL i N' WAo,, n ne Fayetteville's Airport Board To Continue Hangar Rent Discussion By Joel Walsh Friday, October 11 , 2013 FAYETTEVILLE — Airport Board members will wait until next month to decide whether to raise T-hangar rent for 81 tenants a Drake Field. Pilots who store airplanes in a 1 ,050-square-foot hangar have paid the city $160 per month since 2009. Rates for 1 ,392- square-foot and 1 ,440-square-foot hangars have been $190 and $195 per month, respectively, for four years, according to Ray Boudreaux, airport director. All rates would increase by $15 next year if the board uses a formula based on changes to the Consumer Price Index. Three of the Airport Board's seven members said Thursday they think an increase is justified. "I don't want to have to pay any more for a hangar here than absolutely necessary," said Rex Bailey, one of several pilots on the board. "But that hangar I've got here right now is still less than half of what I was paying in Chicago when I had my airplane up there." Mike Gibbs said the airport helped tenants by not raising rates in a down economy two years ago. "Now we need you guys to help out," Gibbs said. A $15 increase would give the airport's $771 ,000 operating budget a nearly $15,000 boost next year. "That's nothing to sneeze at; Gibbs said. "That would help us out in a lot of different ways." Boudreaux said personnel costs and the price of fuel and routine maintenance have increased in the past four years. Last month, the airport's fund balance dropped below $500,000 — a threshold board members have tried not to cross. Boudreaux reported at Thursday's meeting the Federal Aviation Administration's budget for air traffic control towers will likely be cut in 2014. The FAA has traditionally paid 100 percent of the cost of operating Drake Field's tower. Two tenants who spoke at Thursday's meeting said they understood the cost of running the airport has increased. "Our costs have gone up as aircraft operators and owners," said Craig Young, who has rented a hangar at Drake Field for eight years. Young said rent — and fuel prices, especially — make a difference in people's ability to own an airplane. According to a report submitted Thursday, the price of jet fuel in Fayetteville, at $6. 18 per gallon, was at least 23 cents per gallon more than seven other airports in Northwest Arkansas. Full-service, 100-octane, low-lead gasoline, at $6.53 per gallon, was the third most expensive, behind the Fort Smith Regional and Northwest Arkansas Regional airports. Board members agreed to meet later this year to discuss fuel prices.