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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-16-2014 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 1 MINUTES FINAL IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION JANUARY 16, 2014—6:00 P.M. AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING Members Present: Jose Assouline, Minnetta Gardinier, Paul Hofmeyer, Howard Horan, Chris Ogren Staff Present: Sue Dulek, Michael Tharp Others Present: Matt Wolford, David Hughes, Steve Eaton RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: (to become effective only after separate Council action): None. CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Horan called the meeting to order at 6:06 P.M. ADJOURN TO EXECUTIVE SESSION: Hofmeyer moved to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss strategy with Counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation (Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(c); seconded by Ogren. Motion carried 5-0. The Commission went into Executive session at 6:06pm and exited at 6:27pm, APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES: Chairperson Horan began the discussion with minutes of the December 19, 2013, meeting. Ogren moved to approve the December 19, 2013, minutes as presented, seconded by Hofmeyer. Motion carried 5-0. Next the minutes of the January 7, 2014, meeting were reviewed. Tharp noted that Members received these minutes prior to this evening's meeting. Hofmeyer moved to approve the minutes as presented; seconded by Horan. Motion carried 5-0. Third, Tharp noted that he did not have time to prepare the minutes of the January 14, 2014, meeting and asked that they be deferred to next month's meeting for review. Assouline moved to defer the minutes as discussed; seconded by Horan. Motion carried 5-0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION: None. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 2 a. Airport Commerce Park— Dulek noted that Jeff Edberg emailed her today, stating that he would not be able to attend this evening's meeting. She added that there has been a bit of a development as they were to close tomorrow on Lot #9, but the buyer needs to make some changes to the transaction. Dulek further explained these, noting that a developer will now be buying the lot, not Gary Harapat, and will deed the property to Harapat once he builds the building. These changes need to go back through City Council review, according to Dulek. Also of note, Dulek stated that Edberg has another interested party in one of the remaining lots. b. Fly Iowa—Tharp stated that the group met on January 7 and had a productive discussion regarding the day's activities. He shared that there will be a 90- minute air show, with some miscellaneous fly-by aircraft throughout the day. The Children's Museum is ready to be part of the activities, as well. Horan stated that he believes plans are progressing just fine at this point. Questions were asked about fundraising, and Tharp stated that letters are starting to go out at this point. Gardinier stated that she received a reply on the Barnstormers, and there will be a group of three planes coming in that day. Tharp stated that he has been receiving inquiries on souvenirs and that type of thing, and has some vendor information on this. Ogren asked if the next Fly Iowa meeting will be the first Tuesday in February. Tharp stated that it would be—February 4t. c. FAA Obstruction Mitigation—Tharp stated that the FAA has issued an Engineering Memorandum, basically discussing the obstructions in approaches, specifically the 20-to-1 surface of the approach. He further explained how this is measured. The FAA has notified the Airport, via this report, that they have a few obstructions. Members asked questions of Tharp regarding this report, noting the trees and poles that have been called out as obstructions. Tharp stated that this requires them to put together a mitigation plan addressing the FAA's findings. He then further explained the FAA's timeframe on responding to these findings. Members further questioned Tharp regarding the categories of high- risk, etc., and how the Airport will have to respond to these findings. Tharp explained what can happen if these findings are not dealt with and how the Airport could start to lose some of its functionality. Horan noted that they have had 'obstruction mitigation' on the agenda for many, many meetings, and he questions why all of a sudden this has become an issue. Tharp noted that this is something that has come from the top down. He added that the 'obstruction mitigation'that has been on the agenda has been in reference to runway 7/25 and those projects. Members discussed how this overall obstruction mitigation might be addressed, As the discussion continued, Members questioned some of the more critical issues in the report—84, 81 and 42, and how they might need to address the removal of the trees noted as obstructions. Ogren asked if there was any FAA money to help pay for the needed consult in this situation. Tharp responded that he has not been able to find any, and that he has even attempted to work with current projects to cover this. Ogren stated that this appears to be an unfunded mandate from the FAA. Gardinier asked for some further clarification on the total number of objects that are more than 11-feet in height. Members agreed that there are seven of these. Hofmeyer laid out what he sees in the chart, such as the medium risk being Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 3 objects from 3 to less than 11-feet. He reviewed what the report states for a compliance plan. Tharp noted that whomever the Commission selects later in the agenda for their engineering services should then start surveying and come back with a recommendation on how to proceed with the obstruction mitigation issues. Tharp suggested the Commission give Chairperson Horan the approval to start such a survey once they have the necessary information. Gardinier asked Dulek for some clarification on other types of tree obstruction issues, such as on City right-of-way. Dulek noted that this is a different matter, as the tree and the property are both private in regards to the Airport's obstruction issues. Hofmeyer moved to authorize Chairperson Horan to authorize a survey for the obstruction mitigation issues as soon as possible; seconded by Ogren. Motion carried 5-0. Gardinier asked when the 30-day timeframe will be. Tharp noted that he received this from Kansas City on the 9 . Members continued to discuss this, and Dulek noted that it would be 30 days after notification. d. FAA/IDOT Projects: AECOM/David Hughes i. Runway 7/25 Parallel Taxiway—Hughes noted that with winter weather, this project is shut down. ii. Roofing Rehabilitation—Shop drawings have been reviewed here, but the project is also shut down until spring. iii. Obstruction Mitigation— Hughes noted that they finally got the contractor and the property owner in touch and the light poles should be lowered in the next few weeks. iv. 2014 IDOT Grant Projects— 1. Taxiway B rehabilitation and overlay— Hughes noted that they have sent the contracts out for signatures from the various contractors. So far they have received only one contract back, but the rest are due by the end of this week. Once received they will come to the Airport for signature. 2. Taxiway B lighting—Shop drawings will be done this winter, according to Hughes, and with spring weather the project will begin. 3. North T-hangar pavement maintenance—None. e. Airport"Operations"— i. Strategic Plan —Implementation— 1. FY2013 Annual Report—Tharp noted that he added some new pictures to the report. He asked Horan if he had any aerial shots that he could share. Tharp stated that he did receive Ogren's comments and that he has incorporated them into the report. As for getting the report to the City Council, Tharp noted that they missed their one opportunity, but that the next meeting will be February 18th and they can plan to get the report into the packet for this meeting. ii. Budget—Tharp briefly explained the 'invoice summary' that he now has with the new accounting system. Behind this is the more detailed data, further explaining what is in the summary. iii. Management—Tharp stated that next month will be evaluation time. Horan asked that Tharp send out to everyone the form used in previous years for this. Then Members can forward their comments to Chairperson Horan for completing the evaluation. f. FBO/ Flight Training Reports— Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 4 i. Jet Air–Matt Wolford with Jet Air spoke to the group next. He shared the monthly maintenance reports, briefly highlighting some of the items that staff has completed. He noted that they are still having coyote problems at the Airport, and typically use a truck to drive after them, in order to scare them away. Tharp stated that he has been speaking with both the State Wildlife office and Animal Control about this. In the next few weeks he plans to have a meeting with Animal Control and some others to see how they might better control this problem. Members continued to discuss with Wolford what other wildlife problems they have had. Wolford then spoke to an issue they have had with the self-serve pumps and the blowing snow and ice. They put a box around the readers to help keep the reader free from ice and debris. Looking at January, Wolford noted that they have had a lot of snow plowing. He and Tharp also noted a brief problem with a contractor cutting a sewer pipe. Both stated that this was quickly repaired. Wolford noted that they lost several lights on the taxiway after the City used some endloaders to get the snow pushed out of the way. Members spoke to this issue, questioning how often they lose these runway lights and how they can minimize the loss. Ogren stated that a patron of the Airport mentioned to her that they noticed lights on on an unused portion of the taxiway, and she questioned the safety of this. Wolford and Tharp noted that a couple of nights all of the lights were on, but that this had been some testing. Tharp added that this was some time ago that this happened. Tharp and Wolford then showed the Commission what the lights currently look like when on at night. Wolford stated that Jet Air has been keeping busy with flights and the shop. Some of their larger projects have been completed, so now they are able to move at a better pace. Wolford then responded to Member questions. ii. Iowa Flight Training– None. g. Subcommittee Reports - i. For January— Infrastructure (Gardinier, Hofmeyer, Tharp)– None. ii. For February–Budget– None. h. Commission Members' Reports–Assouline shared that on a recent trip he had to take four different planes before he got home, on the way back from Australia. Hofmeyer shared that he took a Delta flight to Tampa recently. He stated that he also flew with his kids up to northern Iowa this past Sunday. Ogren stated that she saw where Tom Schnell is going to be on '20/20' this coming Friday. Assouline stated that he saw the video, and Gardinier stated that the story was also in Iowa Now recently. Members briefly talked about the subject of pilot fatigue and how Schnell's research is looking at this. Staff Report–Tharp noted that he will be out of the office next Thursday. j. Airport 5-Year Engineering Services Selection– Horan began the discussion by moving that they hire AECOM for their 5-year engineering services, and Assouline seconded. Ogren noted that she had seconded this motion previously, but that not everyone was in agreement at that time. She questioned Assouline's seconding when he appeared critical of AECOM in the past. He stated that he was not being critical, but that when they had the concrete problem, he wanted to be sure the problem was addressed. He added that after listening to other Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 5 groups, he is not sure that they could have done anything different. The bottom line here, he added, is that Metro Paving is at fault for the problem, not AECOM. Assouline stated that with AECOM and David Hughes' experience with the Airport, he believes it makes sense to contract with them again. Gardinier stated that she does not support a contract with AECOM, partly because of the issues with Metro and that she believes these issues could have been brought up sooner. She also feels that AECOM's workload is perhaps too much and the level of attention is not quite what it was. She believes there are some chronic issues that have arisen over the years with the work that has been done. Gardinier added that with the direction the Airport is headed, she believes they need to look at someone else. Hofmeyer agreed with Gardinier, stating that he believes AECOM has done well in the past, but that perhaps they do need to find someone new. Assouline stated that he believes AECOM has accomplished exactly what they were asked to accomplish. Horan agreed, stating that he would like to know what Gardinier means by "chronic" issues in her comments. She stated that one of the things is water drainage. She added that she also believes there is some benefit to having some diversity of people looking at the Airport and what could possibly be done with it. Horan asked her which company she would pick, and Gardinier responded that McClure had a much better presentation and appeared to be an accomplished firm. Members continued to voice their opinions on this matter and which engineering firm they believe shares their vision for the Airport. Assouline again voiced why he believes they should contract with AECOM again for another five years. Gardinier added that the large projects, such as the runways and taxiways, have been rebuilt. She believes they are at a point of transitioning to someone else as they move forward with other types of projects. Discussion continued, with Members questioning how they should proceed here. Tharp responded to concerns with projects that are already in the works for this spring and how that would be handled if they did not resign with AECOM. The obstruction mitigation issues were used as an example, and Members continued to discuss which firm they believe could address these issues the best. Horan stated that he has found that having an experienced engineer onboard has been very helpful over the years. He believes that AECOM and Hughes have proven themselves. Hofmeyer added that he believes any of the presenters could do the job. Members did agree that the Master Plan for the Airport should be the driving force behind meeting the goals and objectives. Tharp then reviewed what the current five-year plan is for the Airport: apron extension, obstruction mitigation, possibility of a snow equipment building, taxiway for 12/30, and the extension road. Members continued to voice their opinions, stating that the Master Plan contract should be with a different consultant than the engineering firm selected here. Horan moved to hire AECOM for the Airport's 5-year Engineering Services contract; seconded by Assouline. Motion carried 3-2; Gardinier and Hofmeyer in the negative. k. Airport Master Plan Consultant Services Selection—The discussion then turned to the Airport Master Plan. Hofmeyer moved to select Coffman for the Airport Master Plan Consultant services selection; seconded by Gardinier. Motion failed 1-4; Hofmeyer in the positive. The conversation continued, with Ogren stating that she thought Bolton & Menk had a good presentation. She Airport Commission January 16, 2014 Page 6 noted that they have agreed they want fresh, new ideas for the Master Plan, and she believes it's between Bolton & Menk and Coffman. Horan stated that he believes Coffman would be good as they are planners only. Gardinier stated that Coffman is not her first choice for this contract. She noted that most of their contracts have been out west, not in the Midwest. Tharp responded to Members' questions concerning the master plan process and what they need to consider in making this selection. Several noted that Bolton & Menk would be more local than Coffman. Tharp added that "sustainability" was mentioned by Bolton & Menk, something the City Council has set forth as a priority. When asked by Horan, Tharp stated that he would go with Bolton & Menk. Gardinier moved to select Bolton & Menk for the Master Plan Consultant Services; seconded by Hofmeyer. Motion carried 4-1; Horan in the negative. SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING FOR: The next Fly Iowa subcommittee meeting is February 4, 2014, at 5:30 P.M. The next regular meeting will be Thursday, February 20, 2014, at 6:00 P.M. at the Airport Terminal building. Tharp reminded Members that they may need to call a special meeting to discuss taxiway issues. ADJOURN: Horan made the motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:19 P.M.; seconded by Hofmeyer. Motion carried 5-0. -41 t,' /IS / CHAIRPERSON DATE Airport Commission January 16,2014 Page 7 Airport Commission ATTENDANCE RECORD 2014 TERM o o o o 0 o o > -' - o o j m 03 `D CD O O ` ` N N Na -• NAME EXP. 8 8 o ro N oo V CO7t � O V f0 A O W W W W W W W W W W W W W W A A 03/01/14X X X X O/E X X X X X X X XXXX Howard Horan Minnetta 03/01/15 0/ X O/E X X X O/E X X X X X XXXX Gardinier E Jose Assouline 03/02/16 X X X O/E O/E X X X 0/ O/E 0/ O/E X X 0/ X E E E Chris Ogren 03/01/14 X X X X X X X X X X X X XXXX Paul Hofineyer 03/01/17 X X X X X X O/E X X X 0/ X XXXX E Key: X = Present X/E = Present for Part of Meeting 0 = Absent O/E =Absent/Excused NM = Not a Member at this time