HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-09-11 Airport Commission MinutesMINUTES FINAL
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
September 11, 2025 — 6:00 P.M.
AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING
Members Present: Hellecktra Orozco, Judy Pfohl, Chris Lawrence, Warren Bishop
Members Absent: Ryan Story
Staff Present: Michael Tharp, Jennifer Schwickerath, Sarah Gardner
Others Present: Adam Thompson, Matt Wolford, Marty Boller, Robert Miklo, David
Woodruff, Meg George
RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL:
None
DETERMINE QUORUM
A quorum was determined at 6:03 pm and Bishop called the meeting to order.
Lawrence nominated Pfohl to serve as Acting Secretary, seconded by Bishop, Motion carried 4-0
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Pfohl stated she reviewed the minutes and had a couple of minor changes she gave Tharp.
Lawrence moved to accept the minutes as amended, seconded by Pfohl. Motion carried (4-0
Story Absent)
PUBLIC COMMENT - None
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION I ACTION
a. Terminal Building Historic Preservation and Modernization — Tharp stated give
everyone background information, 5 years ago, Congress passed the Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law which was signed and within that program there were dollars that
could be applied for by airports to construct terminal buildings. Tharp stated that
they were unsuccessful in getting grant funds and that those programs were ending.
Due to those conversations there was a group that took interest in placing the
terminal building on the National Register and they were attending the meeting
tonight to talk with the Commission about the process and if that designation was
made, how that would affect the airport. Tharp introduced Marty Boller who
introduced the rest of the attendees from the Friends of Historic Preservation. Boller
introduced the rest of the members and then Robert Miklo spoke about the group's
history and previous work. Boller described the building and the architect of the
building Henry Fisk and the background of Fisk as an architect in Iowa City. Boller
stated that they believed Fisk to be the first registered architect in Iowa City and
Johnson County. Boller continued to describe the buildings that Fisk designed.
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September 11, 2025
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Boller stated that the building was one of the pieces most similar to the original
building and recent projects to maintain the building helped to maintain the historic
look. Woodruff stated that they wanted to be partners with the airport in helping to
find architects and companies that would continue to help preserve the building in
future projects. Boller noted that there are programs that help to provide funding for
projects that can help the airport to manage the building. Bishop talked about the
airport challenges with the building where the footprint for a terminal building is
constrained. Bishop stated that he worked as a part time flight instructor and noted
the HVAC systems were outdated and the building had other space issues. Pfohl
stated that they had multiple flight instructors sharing office space which impacted
training. Lawrence stated that the issues the airport has are economic and that this
is a gateway to the city. Lawrence stated that grants are difficult to find and that
when they did their space needs study and reviewed options for rehabilitating the
building versus building new they chose to pursue the build new option due to the
costs. Lawrence referenced the Ottumwa terminal building as a building that felt
welcoming and was "wowed" when he saw it. Lawrence stated he wasn't opposed
to having the building on the register and that if it opened the door to other options
for funding he'd like to know about that. Miklo stated that if the building was on the
register and the Commission wanted to demolish it or do something that would harm
the historic nature, there would need to be some coordination with the State Historic
Preservation Office. Tharp stated the FAA considers the building a historically
significant building and any effort so any use of federal money would already be
required to go through a process that Miklo described. Tharp stated that this is going
to be an ongoing process and that right now the Airport Commission didn't need to
take a position on the process if they didn't want to. Tharp stated that the state
general aviation vertical infrastructure program had a $300,000 cap on new
construction and $150,000 on rehabilitation projects. Tharp stated that the FAA
priority scoring for terminal buildings is so low that without a program like they just
saw, the chances of getting federal money to do something is nearly zero. Tharp
also stated that the FAA also has rules on what portions of terminal buildings are
eligible for funding and that many portions of the existing building wouldn't be eligible
for grant funds. Miklo described some of those ways historic preservation projects
is through tax credits. Tharp stated that since they are a government body, using
tax credits requires more work to be able to utilize. Lawrence noted that anything
they do to the building would be detrimental to airport business as they have no other
locations to put people while work was ongoing. Tharp noted that the preservation
work would continue and they would keep in communication. When the information
was ready to be submitted they could bring that awareness back to the Commission
and the Commission could then make a choice whether to support the placement
request or not. Tharp stated that he and Thompson had been having conversations
under the assumption that the terminal building was going to be around for a while
and what improvements could be done to make the building better suited for airport
operations. Thompson stated that he put together a plan with some a la carte type
options and described those options like looking at the HVAC system or going bigger
and doing a full rehabilitation and master plan for an expansion. Thompson
mentioned -that going to an electrical based system could be utilized to capture some
of the energy supported by the solar array. Members discussed what the next steps
should be and what the focus would take. Bishop asked if they need a motion and
Tharp responded that at this point he just need a consensus and he believed that
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September 11, 2026
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the Commission was saying they would move forward with the HVAC system
improvement options. Thompson stated that they would expect this to be a state
grant application project as early as next year.
b. Airport Construction Projects:
i. FAA grant projects —
1. Runway 12130 Displaced Threshold — Tharp stated they are still
waiting for the manufacturer to get information on the permanent
fixtures for the temporary lights that have been installed. Tharp
noted that while they were doing the inspection for this project they
noticed a couple of panels that had cracked in the newly paved
areas. Tharp stated that the contractor was notified so they can plan
the replacement. Lawrence asked about the repairs and Tharp
stated they would be a replacement and that they would have a
runway closure at some point for it.
2. Runway 7/25 & 12130 Pavement Maintenance — Tharp stated that
Thompson had prepared a draft work order for the project and that
they were still waiting for the project go -letter from the FAA.
Lawrence asked about the lifespan of concrete. Tharp stated the
design life is 20 years but the practical life is near 40 years.
ii. Iowa DOT grant projects
1. T-hangar Building — Tharp stated that this was on hold until next
spring and they would reapply for the project next spring. Tharp
stated they would know what the last FAA allocation from BIL was
so that would help finalize numbers
2. Wildlife Mitigation Study — Tharp stated the USDA guys were
collecting their data.
c. Airport "Operations
i. Budget -- Tharp noted that the budget committee was Chair, Secretary, and
himself. Tharp stated that he had done a preliminary budget writeup and he
was already showing a surplus. Tharp noted there were a couple of hangars
that would be undergoing a CPI inflator. Tharp noted for the last budget
year, they had a budget that was submitted with a surplus of about $4000
dollars and the last report showed a surplus of $10,000. Tharp stated he
believed the city was going to release the budget system on October 1st
iiii. Management —
1. Ground lease with McGrath Holdings LLC --
a. Public Hearing — Bishop opened the hearing at 7:12pm.
Tharp stated that this lot was originally part of the Dreusicke
Toyota dealership agreement and that before Dreusicke sold
the dealership this agreement expired. Tharp noted that
McGrath wanted to update the sign and he offered the same
agreement they had with Dreusicke and McGrath responded
they didn't want the sign that badly. Tharp stated they then
settled on the trade of being able to use the sign for the cost
of the ground maintenance. Bishop closed the public
hearing at 7:14pm
b. Consider a resolution ##A25-14 approving a ground lease with
McGrath — Orozco moved the resolution, seconded by
Lawrence. Motion carried 4-0 (Story Absent)
Airport Commission
September 11, 2025
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iii. Events -
1, Young Eagles (Aug 16th) - Tharp stated they had about 45 kids get
rides and that they did have a way for kids to be on a wait list for
rides for no-shows. Tharp noted that the event ended a little early
due to the heat, but that all the kids who were there got a ride.
2. Pancake Breakfast (Aug 24) - Tharp stated that the breakfast was
absolutely phenomenal and that the weather was some of the best
it's ever been. Tharp stated that they're looking at doing something
a little different with the car locations because people will still show
up as late as after 10am and getting them through the crowd is
problematic. Tharp noted the typical partners were there. Lawrence
said he flew out that morning and there was a lot of people that were
on the ramp looking at aircraft. Tharp noted they used to have Civil
Air Patrol helping but then they stopped participating. Wolford noted
he believed it was due to a lack of volunteers overall in the local
group.
3. Autooross (Sept 14, Oct 19) — Tharp stated that this weekend was
a weekend for the group to be active. Tharp stated he was out on
the pavement recently and said it was getting to be pretty bad and
didn't know how many more years the group would be using the
airport.
4. Climate Fest (Sept 22) — Tharp stated they were also planning for
Climate Fest and that Sarah Gardner, Climate Action Coordinator
for the city was there to also tell them a bit more about the plans.
Gardner shared plans for the day stated they would have some
activities in the viewing area and they were working with Public
Space One. Gardner stated that in the conference room they would
have an art exhibit and tours of the solar array. There was also
going to be some activities in the viewing area.
d. FBO / Flight Training Reports
i. Jet Air — Wolford stated that he didn't have a lot to update but they've been
extremely busy. Wolford noted they've been active with survey aircraft
staying here. Pfohl asked about the door proposal and Wolford responded
that he was still working with some manufacturers to choose an option.
e. Commission Members' Reports -- Orozco asked for clarification on plans for phase
2 of the solar array. Tharp stated they ended the planning of that project to use the
money for the hangar construction. Orozco also asked about the display jet and
Tharp stated that he was still reaching out to veterans groups to let folks know the
Airport had plans for the jet.
f. Staff Report — Tharp stated that the City Managers Office had offered to have a
representative come to city boards and commission meetings to discuss the
upcoming vote on the local option sales tax if members were interested. Tharp
described the proposed use of the funds and members discussed if they needed to
have a conversation. Members declined the offer. Tharp reminded folks about the
open meetings training scheduled for Terry Trueblood and that they would have
food.
SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING — Set the next meeting for October 9, 2025.
ADJOURN — Pfohl moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:40pm.
carried (4- S ory Absent)
Airport Commission
September 11, 2025
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Seconded by Orozco. Motion
Zge -5 — / 0-- n q
CHAIRPERSON DATE
Airport Commission
September 11, 2026
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Airport Commission
ATTENDANCE RECORD
2024-2025
TERM
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Warren
06/30/26
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
O/E
X/E
X
X
X
Bishop
Christopher
06/30/29
X
O/E
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Lawrence
cktr a
06/30/28
X
O/E
X
X
O/E
O/E
X
O/E
X
X
X/E
X
X
Oroz
Ornzcn
Judy Pfohl
06/30/26
X
X
X
X
O/E
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Ryan Story
06/30/27
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
OIE
OIE
Key:
X = Present
X/E = Present for Part of Meeting
0 = 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