HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-15-2003 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes MINUTES
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
TUESDAY,JULY 15,2003—5:45 P.M.
IOWA CITY AIRPORT TERMINAL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Baron Thrower, Michelle Robnett,Alan Ellis, Randy Hartwig, Rick
Mascari
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Dulek,Ron O'Neil
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairperson Ellis called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
The minutes of the June 12,2003,Commission meeting were approved as submitted. Ellis said
he would like an agenda item that would allow for unfinished business to be discussed. O'Neil
said he would include that on the next agenda. Mascari said he thought that unfinished business
should be included in the Chairperson's report.
AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES:
Ellis asked what Commercial Towel does? O'Neil said some restroom supplies are bought from
Commercial Towel and they also supply the rugs inside the doors in the Terminal Building.
Mascari said he wanted to verity that the Chambers Electric bill was part of the Building D rehab
project. Mascari made a motion to pay the bills. Hartwig seconded the motion.The motion
passed 5 -0.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION—ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA:
No items were presented.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION:
a. Aviation Commerce Park(ACP)—Tracy Overton, from Iowa Realty,gave his monthly
report. He said he spoke with Michael Hodges, from Airport Business Solutions,concerning
advertising. Overton said the Commission should discuss what would be needed to connect
lots# 1 —#4 to the taxiway systems. He said it would be good to have that information in
the event that there is an aviation-related business interested in the ACP.
Overton said that in speaking with Hodges,they discussed a company called Airport
Property Specialists. He said they are a company that specializes in airport properties.
Overton said that it may be possible to have a joint marketing effort with that company and
he is trying to contact the appropriate person in their office.
Overton presented some information to the Commission on what it would cost to advertise in
national magazines. In one of the magazines suggested by Hodges,the ads would cost
anywhere from$1800 per month to$3800.00 per month. Another publication charged
$4200 per month. Overton said he does not think the price of the national ads would be cost
effective. He said he thought it would be more effective to do more local advertising. He
said it may be possible to have a Chamber Business PM hosted by the Commission for the
ACP. Ellis said Jet Air is going to be hosting a PM this fall. There is a waiting list of one to
two years to host a PM.
Ellis asked if the Council should be involved with helping to fund advertising? Mascari
wanted to know if O'Neil knew of any funding source for advertising money? O'Neil said
he didn't have any funding source, but since the Commission and Council have a joint
agreement with Overton,the Commission may want to discuss advertising with the Council.
Mascari said he thought they should take out three$1800 ads,running them every other
month.
Robnett said maybe they could advertise regionally, instead of nationally. She said that is
usually less expensive. Overton said the national ads he looked at were advertising
buildings,not undeveloped land. Overton said historically, local advertising has been more
effective than national as far a land is concerned.
Overton said he would suggest the Commission wait until they receive their report from
ABS to decide on advertising. He said ABS might have some views on how the
Commission should advertise. Overton said he would follow up with Airport Property
Specialists.
Thrower asked Overton what he would estimate Iowa Realty has spent on advertising?
Overton said it would be difficult to estimate because the ACP is advertised with their other
commercial property. He said he would guess it to be$5000 or$6000 over the last two
years. Thrower asked Ellis if it was reasonable that Iowa Realty provide an accounting of
what they have spent on advertising? Ellis said that when the contract was negotiated,Iowa
Realty said that they would probably spend about$5000. The contract did not require an
accounting of the advertising. He said it would not be fair to require it at this time.
Thrower made a motion to formally require Iowa Realty to provide an accounting of what
has been spent on advertising and lay out a plan for additional advertising funds. Mascari
seconded the motion. Ellis said he did not think Thrower could make a motion at this point
because it was not on the agenda. Mascari said he would like to make a motion to put the
marketing issue on the agenda for the next meeting. Ellis said it would be more appropriate
for Mascari to bring this up under Commission members' items.
After some discussion, it was decided to bring up the issue later in the meeting. Thrower
said he would withdraw his motion. Overton said an offer had been received and he would
share the offer with the Commission if it moved forward.
b. Hangar#31 lease—Ellis said there was a subcommittee that reviewed the lease with the
tenant and was to make a recommendation to the Commission. O'Neil circulated a lease that
the subcommittee made final changes to. O'Neil said it was almost identical to the lease he
had included in the packet. Robnett asked Dulek if she had reviewed the lease. Dulek said
she had not been asked to review the lease. She reviewed the liability and insurance but she
has not reviewed the entire lease. O'Neil said the tenant wanted a five-year lease. Dulek
reminded the Commission that a public hearing is needed if it is more than three years.
Ellis said that ABS said a five-year lease is acceptable,as long as there is some mechanism
available to review the rent after three years. He said the lease ABS reviewed is not the lease
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negotiated by the subcommittee. He thought another subcommittee should look at the lease
and the comments supplied by ABS.
Mascari made a motion to accept the lease circulated by O'Neil at the meeting,with the
exception of making it a three-year lease,with a two-year extension. He said the
subcommittee had spent a lot of time and he thought it was a fair lease. Robnett seconded
the motion. She said a permanent subcommittee should be appointed to review leases.
Dulek asked what the option would include? Mascari said the option would continue the
lease on with the same terms. Dulek said it would have to be voted on again at the end of the
first three years. O'Neil suggested he contact the tenant and discuss the length of the lease.
If the tenant wants a five-year lease,O'Neil will publish the public hearing notice for the
August meeting. Mascari said he would withdraw his motion. Robnett withdrew her second
of the motion. The Commission requested Dulek review the lease,with the
recommendations from ABS.
Mascari said he thought the Commission should have a special meeting to pass the lease.
O'Neil said he would suggest setting a public hearing at the August meeting. Mascari made
a motion to set the public hearing for the lease for hangar#31 for August 14,2003. Thrower
seconded the motion and it passed 5—0. Ellis said this is not a lease for just one person. He
said it should be uniform for all the commercial hangars.
c. Environmental Assessment project(consultant H.R.Green)—Joe Trnka,from H.R.
Green, presented information. He said the EA noise contours were revised and would be
sent to the FAA by the end of next week. He said they would be smaller. Trnka said he used
one aircraft that probably should not have been used in the model and it skewed the results.
Dick Blum, from H.R.Green, said using daytime versus nighttime hours also had an effect
on the noise study.
Blum said the FAA also wanted a more detailed explanation of the alternatives. He said
most of that information was reviewed in detail in the 1993 feasibility study. Much of that
information will be included in the EA report. O'Neil said the information needs to be sent
to the FAA as soon as possible to complete the EA so a grant can be applied for.
Blum said the FAA has said that they will not pay for design work to see if Runway 07
could be lowered. Blum said he thinks the runway should be lowered and Green may try to
convince the FAA of the cost savings involved with changing the runway elevation.
d. Strategy/business plan project(consultant ABS)—Ellis said additional information is
being sent to ABS. A meeting has been scheduled with the Council for August 18 for a
presentation of the initial draft of the report. The Council would like to see the report in
advance of the meeting so they have time to review it. Thrower asked if they have provided
anything in advance? O'Neil said the draft report was to be their first document. O'Neil
said he has asked ABS to provide the draft in electronic form by August 13. All of the
Commission members said to send them the report electronically.
e. Obstruction mitigation project(consultant Stanley Engineering)—Mike Donnelly,from
Stanley,presented a map of all the obstructions and discussed it with the Commission. He
said all of the property owners were contacted. Costs to mitigate the obstructions were
assigned to all the obstructions.
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Three of the obstructions were at ground level on the Airport. Donnelly said their estimator
might have estimated high on removing the ground. He said he would do a field survey to
more accurately determine how much dirt needs to be moved.
Thrower noted that there was a building close to the Airport property by Runway 25 that was
considered an obstruction. He wanted to know if an obstruction light could be installed?
O'Neil said they would look at that possibility. He said that when the survey work was
being done for the ACP,one of the survey marks might have indicated that the building is on
Airport property. He would follow-up with the survey crew. Blum said the obstruction
would be worse if a 50:1 slope is approved.
O'Neil said it is important where the obstructions are and their height in relation to the
runways. He said it would also be important to reduce the number of obstructions. Ellis
asked about the flagpole on the Old Capital Building. Donnelly said the architect from the
University said they were going to have an airspace study conducted. An airspace study was
suppose to have been done before they installed the flagpole.
f. United hangar disposition- Trnka presented information on what it would cost to remove,
restore or rehabilitate the building. Blum said that there would be additional costs to move
the brick office part of the building. He said that there could be a significant cost with
replacing the roof on the hangar.
Ellis asked when the recommendation to the Council needs to be made? He said the
Commission does not have funds to rehab or restore the building. Mascari said he thought
there should be at least a 20%contingency in the budget for removal or restoration. He said
surprises in the Terminal renovation project meant they could not do all they wanted to with
that project. He said he would not want to move the hangar and end up with a building that
did not pay for itself.
Blum said that no matter what was done,there would need to be a historical recording of the
building. This could cost as much as$20,000. O'Neil said that disposition of the building
would be included in Phase II of the runway extension project. He said that the Commission
should get some direction from the Council on whether there is any desire to save the
structure. There would be substantial local funds needed to restore the building. The FAA
would pay 90%of the moving costs.
Mascari asked about whether anyone wanted to rent the office space? O'Neil said that there
has been some interest in the office,but a new water line would have to be installed. The old
line ruptured and was not replaced because of the cost.
Ellis asked if there was any interest yet from the Science Center? O'Neil said that he did not
know if the Science Center had any funds. They wanted to move the building to the ACP
and have the property rent-free for at least five years. O'Neil said that he would not advise
moving the building if the Commission did not have the funding available to restore it. He
said it would not be productive to the Airport to move it and leave it in the repair it is in now.
Mascari said although it is a building with a lot of history,he thought it would have to be
demolished. He said that the FAA would pay for 90%of the project. Ellis said the Science
Center should be contacted. There was not a consensus by the Commission to contact the
Science Center.
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Mascari recommended having H.R. Green begin the historic review. O'Neil said the
Council would have to approve the funding. If the Commission wants to get reimbursed by
the FAA,they need to go through a selection process to choose the consultant for the project.
Trnka said that it is important to find out if there is any group that is willing to raise the
funding to save the building. Mascari suggested inviting members of the Historic
Preservation Commission to the next Commission meeting. They may want to take the lead
in saving the building.
g. Building H underground fuel tank—O'Neil said the Commission is responsible for the
maintenance and insurance for the 10,000 gallon underground fuel tank located between
buildings G and H. He said that the insurance is$500 per year and the line tightness test is
about$500 per year. Every three years,an additional test for cathodic protection is required.
O'Neil said the cathodic protection did not pass this year. He said he is waiting for an
estimate to repair the tank,but assumed it would be at least$2000. He said there is very
little income received from the tank.
Thrower asked if the tank could be closed in place? O'Neil said there is a method for doing
that,but the question is whether or not the tank should be closed. O'Neil said he would
check with the DNR and see if there is some way to temporarily close the tank. O'Neil said
he would invite the tenant to the next meeting to discuss options. The tenant was out of town
and could not attend this meeting. O'Neil will have more information at the next meeting.
h. Iowa City Schools System land lease—The Commission leases one acre of property to the
IC school system. O'Neil said this is part of lot#5 in the ACP. O'Neil said he would
recommend approving the lease. There is a 60-day out in the lease. The rent was$3886 this
year and increases to$4003 next year. Mascari made a motion for a resolution to accept the
lease. Robnett seconded the motion and at roll call vote,the motion passed 5—O.
CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT:
Ellis said the T-hangar leases are due in October. He said he anticipates that there will need to be
a significant increase in the rent. He said he met with the Finance Director and he thinks an
increase is important. Ellis said a subcommittee should start to review the lease. Ellis and
Robnett will be the subcommittee.
Ellis said the corporate hangar leases need to be uniform. He said that any additional use of the
hangars should probably have separate agreements.
Ellis said he would meet with the Mayor and get an opinion on support for the United hangar. He
will contact Mr.Larew and see if there is interest from the Science Center.
COMMISSION MEMBERS'REPORTS:
Thrower said he would like to make a motion to add to the next agenda an item that would
require Iowa Realty provide a report on marketing expenses. Dulek said a motion wasn't needed.
There just needed to be a consensus of the Commission. Mascari and Robnett agreed with
Thrower.
Thrower said he agreed with Ellis that the Commission needed to brush up on Roberts Rules of
Order to help make the meetings more formal. He said he would like to know how that would
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apply to administration of the Airport and would not want to see Roberts limit the dialog of the
Commission.
Hartwig said although it was not aviation related,he would like to congratulate the Englert group
in meeting their goal.
Robnett said she would like to see the bushes trimmed more at the Airport entrance.
Robnett said she went to Fly Iowa in Cedar Rapids and she said it was not very well organized.
She thought the Iowa City annual fly-in was better organized.
Robnett said she would like to see if there would be a Vision Iowa grant or some other funding to
improve the lighting and install sidewalks on Riverside Drive to the Airport.
Robnett wanted to know if someone wanted to have a conference at the airport,was there space
available in Building F? O'Neil said Building F is leased to Jet Air. He said that is one of the
things the United hangar could be used for if it was moved and restored.
Mascari wanted to know if the Commission is making monthly presentations to the Council?
Ellis said he was not at the last Council meeting,but he planned on going to the next meeting.
Mascari said he would like to put on the next agenda how the agenda is formulated. There was
agreement of the Commission to review agenda procedures.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT:
O'Neil said he received a thank you letter from Hills Banks for participation in their Aviation
Day on June 14.
There will be a temporary tower for the fly-in breakfast on August 24.
Dave Larsen,who represents a developer west of the Airport,may be interested in leasing some
property. O'Neil told him to present the Commission with a proposal.
O'Neil said he received a telephone call from a woman whose father was an airmail pilot in 1927.
She has some articles from his estate that discusses the Iowa City Airport in the late 1920's. She
said she would send the information to O'Neil.
O'Neil said Ross Spitz,from the Public Works Department, is negotiating an agreement to get
another 50,000 cubic yards of fill for the ACP.
SET NEXT MEETING:
The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for August 14,2003,at 5:45 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT:
The rtRiiiiril w. :djourned at 8:24 p.m.
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