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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-11-14 Airport Commission MinutesMINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION November 14, 2024 — 6:00 P.M. AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING FINAL Members Present: Warren Bishop, Judy Pfohl, Ryan Story, Chris Lawrence, Hellecktra Orozco (via Zoom), Members Absent: Staff Present: Michael Tharp, Jennifer Schwickerath Others Present: Carl Byers, Travis Strait, Adam Thompson, Matt Wolford RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: - None DETERMINE QUORUM A quorum was determined at 6:00 pm and Lawrence called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Pfohl stated she had forwarded an edit to Tharp and moved to approve the minutes with the edit. Seconded by Bishop. Motion carried 5-0. PUBLIC COMMENT None ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION ! ACTION a. Airport Construction Projects: i. FAA grant projects 1. Runway 12/30 Displaced Threshold/Relocation — Tharp stated that they had notified FAA to schedule the flight check on the REILs but they hadn't heard back from them to confirm a date. Tharp stated the contractor had been out to the work on the intersection markers for the runway. Tharp stated there was a little bit of cleanup and punch list items the contractor would need to take care of. 2. Solar Power Project — Tharp stated that they had a great turnout for the ribbon cutting. Tharp noted they had the Mayor, members of the City management team, City Manager's office, and other department heads. Tharp stated that they also had staff members from the 3 federal legislator offices and one state representative. Tharp also stated that there had been an early preview story run by KCRG, Tharp stated. he was thankful of the help provided by Shannon McMahon City Communications Coordinator and Sarah Gardner, Climate Action Coordinator to put the event together. Tharp stated that they still had a couple of steps with MidAmerican Airport Commission November 14, 2024 Page 2of 5 that would take some time to complete. Tharp stated MidAmerican had 2 weeks to perform a witness test, which was a test where a 3rd party comes out and examines the system and clears it as operating as expected. Then following the test, MidAmerican has another 2 weeks to replace the current meter with a bidirectional meter which is what is needed to get credit for the energy the array produces. Lawrence asked questions about the timeline to which Tharp responded. 3. Terminal Building — Tharp stated that since the last meeting the FAA announced the awards and Iowa City wasn't on the list. Tharp stated that this was year 4 out 5 for the program and based on how FAA was awarding funds from the program, he didn't feel it was worth the effort to submit a future application for an "all or nothing" type ask. Tharp stated that now they can discuss other options like doing fundraising or other capital campaigns but also to look at the existing building with the expectation of having it for another 10 to 20 years and performing what things can be done to upgrade and maintain the building. Wolford asked about plans that Tharp had previously mentioned and Tharp responded. Tharp stated that he currently had a placeholder in the CIP program for HVAC upgrades but if there would be a longer list of things to do like furniture and carpets and other interior projects. 4. 5 Year Engineering/Consultant Request for Qualifications — Tharp stated they had 4 firms submit responses. Tharp stated that after a review they all were firms that submitted responsive statements and that he was planning to forward them all to the Commission for final interviews. Tharp stated that in the past the Commission interview process was 30 minutes per group that was broken up to be 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for question and answer from the Commission. Tharp stated the plan was that would be the front end of the December meeting. Lawrence stated that he agreed with Tharp in that it was important to have all members of the Commission available for the meeting so he asked everyone to confirm they could attend the December 12th meeting. Tharp stated that he would deliver the formal letters to the firms tomorrow. 5. FAA FY26 AIP Pre -Application — Tharp stated that he had the pre - application packet for the Commission. Tharp noted that the project list consisted of the remaining runway maintenance work and then move on the 2nd phase of solar, and finish with the apron expansion. Tharp noted that the list also included a state project for the replacement of the fuel cabinets because they were 30+ years old. Bishop asked about a runway extension project. Tharp noted that if members refreshed their memory on the Airport Master plan, there was a project to add around 200 feet to the runway 7 so that both ends of the runway would have the above 5000 feet of landing distance. Tharp noted that similar to what theyjust did with Runway 30, this was one-way pavement so it would be a displaced threshold for Runway 7. Tharp asked if everyone was ok with the CIP program Airport Commission November 14, 2024 Page 3 of 5 he would submit the program to FAA for comment. Members agreed by consensus to submit the draft. Tharp also stated that the project list was lower priority so it was likely they would need to build up funds from the entitlement program to fund these. ii. Iowa DOT grant projects — Tharp stated they didn't have any open state projects and they would anticipate the next grant application period in April. b. Airport "Operations" L Budget — 1. FY26 Budget — Tharp stated that he and Lawrence had met with the City Manager for their budget meeting and it went well. Tharp stated that there was really no comments as far as the budget went. Tharp stated he was expecting some questions about the fund balance but guessed with a $20,000 surplus as shown in the budget that helped ease those concerns. Tharp stated that other than the need for that surplus to be a reality at the end of the year he didn't have any other comments. Pfohl asked if the increased helicopter traffic was helping. Tharp and Wolford responded. Tharp stated that they were seeing the increased traffic due to the university helipad being inaccessible due to elevator repairs. Orozco asked about the surplus, and Tharp stated that it was the product of the recent rate increases. ii. Management — 1. T-Hangar Lease Language -- Tharp stated that he and Lawrence had talked about this outside of the Commission meeting and that Tharp believed they had a lease agreement draft nearly ready. Tharp stated that with the upcoming RFQ interviews he thought it would be good to hold this to January and Lawrence agreed. He stated then the Commission could review the draft, and send it to tenants for comments/awareness before it was formally adopted. 2. Grass Landing Ops — Tharp stated that he did meet with a representative from the Flight Standards District Office and he drove them around to give them a visual of what the airport was asking for. Tharp stated it was back in the hands of the FAA and that he didn't know when they would be giving him an answer or what requirements they might add to any permissions. 3. Events — Tharp stated that he had been in contact with the Summer of the Arts for the calendar of drive-in movies. Tharp said he had also been given a list of autocross dates but hadn't reviewed them to know if there was any conflicts yet but didn't expect there to be any. c. FBO 1 Flight Training Reports i. Jet Air -- Wolford stated that flight training was still active and that he had just returned from a conference in Miami. Wolford stated that as far as the industry went it seemed people were being optimistic. Wolford said the shop had been busy and that Wolford was weighing the decision of how many new mechanics could he hire given the new maintenance classes that were being operated by Kirkwood. Wolford noted that they were adjusting to the increase of helicopters using the airport due to the university work. Wolford noted that they really didn't have a good place where the helicopters and Airport Commission November 14, 2024 Page Oaf 5 ambulances could go and be close to the terminal. Pfohl asked about getting the Ambulance building power washed or cleaned up. Members discussed getting the building repainted. d. Commission MembersReports — Lawrence mentioned that the automated weather service was out of service. Lawrence asked Tharp if he had any other info on it. Tharp responded that he didn't know why it wasn't operating correctly, but that the live broadcast over radio, and the phone number were working as expected. Tharp stated they had experienced a partial power outage that impacted a lot of computer technology at the airport. Tharp noted that the FAA was expected to, send someone to the airport on Monday to help restore it. e. Staff Report — Tharp stated that he was expected to take winter vacation between December 23 and January 3rl SET NEXT REG ULAR MEETING — Next meeting December 12, 2024, 6:00pm 01111MUS Bishop moved to adjourn, seconded by Lawrence. Motion carried 5-0, Meeting adjourned at 6:40 pm. CHAIRPERSON DATE Airport Commission November 14, 2024 Page 5 of 5 Airport Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2023-2024 TERM s N CDa a N a W a A o V1 o C91 cti O c� o 00 © fD O s a w_w W M_ W e_ Ca 3 � I_-' W � � NAirY` NAME EXP. N N N N '0 N A N '+a N 4�h is ,A � iv 0% fat 4�h 1 N � IV J�b � N Warren 06/30126 Bishop X OIE X X O/E O/E X X X X X X X Christopher 06130/25 X X OIE X X X OIE OIE OIE X X OIE X Lawrence Hellecktra 06/30/28 X O/E X X O/E X O/E X X OIE X OIE X Orozco Judy Pfohl 06/30126 X X X X X OIE X X X X X X X Ryan Story 06/30/27 X X X X X X X X OIE X X X X Key: X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting O = Absent O/E = Absent/Excused NM = Not a member at this time XIS = Present for subcommittee meeting O/S = Absent, not a member of the subcommittee