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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-02-1996 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY MAY 2, 1996 - 5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY TRANSIT FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: Howard Horan, Pat Foster, Richard Blum, Rick Mascari STAFF PRESENT: Anne Burnside, Eleanor Dilkes, Ron O 'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Horan called the meeting to order at 5:48 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the April 11, 1996, meeting were approved as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Blum made a motion to approve the bills. Foster seconded the motion and it was approved 4 - 0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: No items were discussed. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Master Plan Study - Darren, from McClure Engineering, and Karen Countryman, presented information on the Master Plan brochure. How the brochure would be used as a marketing tool and what should be included in the brochure was discussed. Blum said the ALP should include a key to make it easier to read. O'Neil suggested the brochure could include the list of capital improvement projects and a time frame for completion. Countryman asked the Commission what airport name to use for the brochure. O 'Neil said that at the December 1995 Commission meeting, the Commission voted to change the name from the Iowa City Municipal Airport to the Iowa City Industrial Air Park. The revised preliminary ALP will be sent to the FAA on Tuesday. O'Neil said that one of the revisions may eliminate having to build a culvert for Willow Creek. This could save somewhere between one to two million dollars. Foster made a motion for a resolution to set a public hearing on June 13 , 1996, for the Airport Master Plan. Mascari seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0. b. West Corporate hangar building - O'Neil said the bid opening was delayed until May 10 at 2 :30 p.m. because of changes recommended at the pre-bid conference. He suggested the Commission meet at 3 : 00 p.m. on May 10 to review and discuss the bids. If there is an acceptable bid, this will be a item at the City Council work session on May 20 and the Council meeting on May 21. Once the bids are in, Horan will meet with potential tenants to discuss rent amounts needed to build the hangar. The rent will be determined by the cost to build the hangar. c. Snow removal policy - Mascari presented information that his subcommittee had developed. He said the main change from the current plan is to begin plowing snow within an hour after any amount of accumulation. He would like to see a policy that has as it' s main goal to keep the active runway in no worse than wet conditions. Blum said he talked with the FSDO in Kansas City and they emphasized the Snow Removal Circular is an advisory document. It is to be used as a guideline only. Blum suggested that from a liability standpoint, it may be best to have a policy that says " The Commission will remove the snow to the best of our ability at our earliest possible convenience. " Burnside discussed a recent court case that dealt with a city' s immunity from prosecution from liability if it followed it's snow removal policy. Blum said the policy should be as simple as possible and left to the discretion of the Airport Manager. Mascari suggested having a private contractor on standby to keep any snow from accumulating. He said only one runway would have to be plowed. Horan said a dollar amount should be determined to provide this increased level of service. The Council would have to approve a budget amendment. Blum said they would have to determine if the increased costs involved justify keeping the runways plowed at night during a snowstorm. Mascari suggested that any accumulation, as long as the ground is covered, should be plowed. O'Neil said it is not very productive or cost effective to attempt to plow 1/4 inch of snow. The Commission directed O'Neil to develop costs of hiring additional help for snow removal. This could be off-duty Public Works employees using Airport equipment or private contractors. CHAIRPERSON' S REPORT: Horan said he, Blum, Foster and O'Neil attended the Iowa Aviation Conference in Ames on April 26. He thought several of the sessions were interesting and beneficial. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: Blum suggested that the Commission apply to the IDOT to host "Fly Iowa" in the year 2001. Iowa City hosted the first state sponsored "Fly-Iowa" in 1991. Approximately 10, 000 people attended the 1 day event. Blum requested this be on the agenda at the next meeting. Mascari said AOPA has a program to develop community involvement in promoting general aviation. He said he knows of some people who are interested in starting a support group. Foster suggested Mascari invite those people to the next Commission meeting. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: O'Neil reminded Mascari he should meet with the J.C' s sometime in June to finalize plans and schedules for the 4th of July fireworks. The person from Ealing Drive that wanted to install a radio antenna will be allowed to install the antenna up to a height of 48 ' . This is the maximum height to stay under the 20: 1 approach slope. He wanted to install an antenna that was 67 ' . Anything over 48 ' would be an obstruction and would not be permitted. The Fire Department conducted an inspection of the Airport Terminal. Most of the violations were drop cords being used by Iowa City Flying Service. O'Neil sent a memo to ICFS requesting the violations be corrected before the reinspection on May 12 . O'Neil said he sent a memo to ICFS, explaining that they needed to remove several vehicles that are being stored at the Airport. Some are licensed and some are not. Any vehicles not used regularly in their business will have to be removed. A May 15 deadline was given. The DTN radar service contract expires at the end of June. DTN will automatically renew it unless there is written notice given by the Commission. The Equipment Division will go out for bids in May for a broom that mounts on the plow truck. O'Neil said he contacted Jones from ICFS concerning the fact that the windbreak trees around his fuel tanks are all dying. O'Neil said he had concern that this might indicate a fuel leak. Jones said he had contacted Pleasant Valley Nursery and they said it could just be winter kill. Jones assured O'Neil that he was checking the monitoring wells and there is no sign of leakage. The Commission directed O'Neil to include a copy of the latest tank monitoring report in the next Commission packet. SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular meeting is scheduled for June 13 , 1996, at 5:45 p.m. EXECUTIVE SESSION: At 7: 15 p.m. , Blum made a motion to go into closed session under Section 21. 5 of the Iowa Open Meetings Law to discuss pending litigation. Mascari seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Hicks being absent. At 7: 53 p.m. , Foster made a motion to adjourn the closed session. Blum seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Hicks being absent. ADJOURNMENT: Foster moved to adjourn the meeting. Blum seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned at 7 : 56 p.m. Howard Horan, Chairperson