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:
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January 16,2014
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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
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January 16,2014
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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—
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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
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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
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January 16, 2014
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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