HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-11-2003 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes MINUTES
IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION
THURSDAY,SEPTEMBER 11,2003—5:45 P.M.
IOWA CITY AIRPORT TERMINAL
MEMBERS PRESENT: Michelle Robnett,Rick Mascari,Randy Hartwig,Baron
Thrower
STAFF PRESENT: Sue Dulek,Ron O'Neil
CALL TO ORDER:
Chairperson Thrower called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Dulek suggested a couple of typographical changes. She said the August 14 minutes should
include the exact language of the motion to change the by-laws. The minutes of the July 15 and
August 14,2003,Commission meeting were approved with the corrections.
AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES:
Mascari had questions about several of the bills. Mascari made a motion to pay the bills.
Hartwig seconded the motion.The motion passed 4-0.
PUBLIC DISCUSSION—ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA:
No items were presented.
UNFINISHED ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION:
No items were presented.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION:
a. Aviation Commerce Park(ACP)—O'Neil said Tracy Overton,from Iowa Realty,had a
last minute personal issue he had to attend to and could not be at the meeting. Overton sent a
letter concerning some of the questions the Commission had at the last meeting associated
with money spent for advertising. His monthly report was in the Commission packet. He
sent a copy of an ICAD newsletter that mentioned the Aviation Commerce Park.
Robnett said to remind Overton of the funds Governor Vilsak earmarked for business start-
ups. She said it might be useful in attracting businesses to the ACP. She said it was a$5
million dollar fund. It is separate from Vision Iowa. It would be available to potential
property buyers.
Mascari had a flyer from Iowa Realty. He wanted to know if a flyer could be developed and
sent out to advertise the ACP.
O'Neil said he talked to a contractor that builds steel buildings. The contractor said the same
thing that Overton has told the Commission,that he thought there is an upturn in the
I
business. Mascari said he thinks the Airport Manager should contact Iowa Realty on a
weekly basis. O'Neil said he would contact Overton weekly. Thrower suggested discussing
the projects planned for the Airport and how those projects may effect the ACP.
Thrower asked if the Commission wanted to discuss the letter from Scott Byers or discuss it
with Overton at the next meeting? Mascari requested that Byers be at the next meeting.
O'Neil said that by the time the second fill project is completed,almost all the ACP will be
out of the 100 year flood plain. This will make the lots more building ready.
b. Hangar#32 lease—O'Neil said Iowa City Aircraft Repair would like to negotiate a two-
year lease. A copy of the lease was included in the packet. The rent was increased 2%per
year. He said he spoke with the tenants and it was acceptable to them.
Mascari asked O'Neil what he thought of the lease. O'Neil said he would like to see a less
complicated lease,but it was the same lease that the tenant in hangar#33 signed. O'Neil
said feedback from the tenants was that the leases are too cluttered. Mascari made a motion
for a resolution to accept a lease with Iowa City Aircraft Repair. Robnett seconded the
motion and at roll call vote,the motion passed 4—0.
c. Obstruction mitigation project- O'Neil said a list of prioritized obstructions was included
in the Commission packet. Mitigation of obstructions will start as soon as contractors can be
contacted. O'Neil said the DOT grant would not be enough to mitigate all the obstructions.
d. Environmental Assessment project—Dick Blum, from H.R. Green, said he contacted the
FAA today and they have started the review of the rewrite of the EA. He said that should
clear the way for the other projects in the Master Plan. Blum asked if the ACP was included
in the flow predictions for Willow Creek? O'Neil said the Corps reviewed the project for
drainage and potential wetlands. He said a drainage plan was developed. Blum said he
would like to see a copy of the drainage plan. O'Neil said the water flows to the drainage
ditch at the south end of the ACP or is captured by the storm drainage system in the street.
e. T-hangar leases—O'Neil said the only issue left to decide was what the rent would be for
the next year. Mascari and Hartwig did not participate in the discussion because they rent t-
hangars. Robnett said,based on discussions from the previous meeting,she thought a 10%
increase would be appropriate. She said this would be fair because the hangars vary in rent
and it would be an across the board increase. She asked O'Neil what he thought would be
fair?
O'Neil said that at the last meeting,the Commission discussed generating income from
increasing the flowage fee in addition to or in place of hangar rents. O'Neil said Jet Air now
pays$.05 per gallon flowage fee and$.05 per gallon for equipment rental. O'Neil said that
the flowage fee would need to be negotiated with Jet Air.
Thrower asked if there was full occupancy? O'Neil said that of the 64 hangars,there were
two or three available in the north buildings. He said there are two tenants that are selling
their planes and three potential new tenants. At this point,they are 95%occupied.
Thrower asked Dulek about voting on the flowage fee and the hangar rent at the same time?
Dulek said they should be two separate issues.
2
Robnett made a motion to increase the hangar rent by 10%. Thrower seconded the motion
and it passed 2—0,with Mascari and Hartwig abstaining. O'Neil said he would discuss the
flowage fee with Jet Air. Dulek said she would review Jet Air's lease. Thrower said this
should be an agenda item for the next meeting.
f. ABS Contract Management Process Review
Review findings—Thrower said this would be an opportunity to review the findings
of the draft report received from Airport Business Solutions. O'Neil said he had e-
mailed the report to the Commission,but found out that the City's Information
Services has a block on e-mails of a certain size. Although his computer showed it
as sent, it didn't make it through the City's server.
Mascari said he read the report and asked O'Neil if there was a personality conflict
between him and Hodges,the author of the report? O'Neil said he read the same
thing from the report and does not know where that came from. O'Neil said he has
only talked to Hodges for a short time when he was here and then a couple of times
on the phone. Mascari said ABS said there was information they couldn't get from
the manager. O'Neil said one of the things specifically mentioned was a copy of Jet
Air's lease. O'Neil said that he not only sent them a copy of the lease with Jet Air,
he sent a copy of the old FBO lease with Iowa City Flying Service.
O'Neil said that the form that ABS wanted the financial information in was not the
same form that the City provides. He explained that the City Finance Department
and Accounting Department were the Airport's source for accounting and finance
and scheduled a time for ABS to meet with Kevin O'Malley. O'Neil said he has
access to the budget on line and can track the budget on a daily basis. The Finance
Department would have archived budget numbers.
Mascari said the report said the Airport needs to develop Minimum Standards. He
said he and Mark Anderson were the subcommittee that developed the Standards.
O'Neil said that is one of the documents he gave ABS when they were here for the
first on-site visit. O'Neil said he did not receive a list of requested documents until
ABS was about 65 days into their 90 day time period for producing the draft report.
He said when Michael Hodges was here,he gave him information he thought would
be helpful, such as the Minimum Standards,the City Code,and the State Code.
Mascari said the report says there is a lack of communication between the
Commission and the Council. Mascari said he remembers mentioning at a Council
meeting that he thought the City Manager should attend some of the Commission
meetings. The report recommends that the City Manager should be a member of the
Airport Commission. O'Neil said he told ABS that he doesn't think that is legal.
Dulek said Council policy is that City employees are not to be members of boards or
commissions that they would have direct contact with.
Mascari asked about an e-mail received from ABS that was critical of the Airport
Manager. O'Neil said he thinks that was a result of a comment he made to a
newspaper,stating that he thought,as did the majority of the Commission and
Council,that a full draft report was due at the end of 90 days. ABS said they
thought only a summary report was due. Robnett said she told the newspaper the
3
same thing. Mascari said that all the items and inaccuracies has put a question mark
on the report.
Robnett said she agrees, especially as far as the finances. She said the Airport comes
in on budget every year and she thought O'Neil managed it well. She said it is a
slim budget and she didn't agree with the analysis by ABS. She said she likes some
of the ideas but does not think an FBO manager would do all of the management
work for the$12,000 ABS estimated.
Many of the revenue increases are not justified. The increase in fuel sales generated
by an ILS does not take into account the cost of installing an ILS. The economic
growth factor for this area does not match the projected income growth. Robnett
said she did like some of the ideas, such as hosting the media for an event. She said
attracting student pilot starts is not as easy as they made it sound. The marketing
wasn't added as an expense.
Thrower asked if there was a consensus that the financial analysis was not complete.
Mascari said he agreed with Robnett in improving the marketing of the Airport. He
said there are a lot of ideas that need to be looked at. He said there are other ideas
that aren't very good.
O'Neil said he discussed the report with Jet Air. He asked how management and
maintenance is done in Galesburg? Harrol Timmons said that someone in Public
Works does the paperwork, management, grants, etc.There is someone from Parks
that does the mowing and the Streets Department cleans the runways. The only
difference from Iowa City is that the City employees are from different departments
and not assigned to the Airport.
Mascari said one thing that he would like to pursue was a mention of a land swap.
He said if the Commission took two or three lots and turned them over to the City, in
exchange for the money owed on the hangars,the Commission would come close to
breaking even.
Robnett said she would suggest the Council change the Airport from an enterprise
fund to a general fund, such as they did recently with Transit. She said it might
change the expectations,although the goal would still be to work toward self-
sufficiency.
O'Neil said there are some factual errors in the report. He said,as an example,that
ABS said the Commission spent$5 million dollars on the ACP infrastructure.
O'Neil said there were several pages dedicated to how to hold an open house.
O'Neil said the annual fly-in and open house hosted by the Commission and
SERTOMA is one of the more successful in Iowa.
Mascari asked about the number of operations? O'Neil said the number of
operations is counted and published by the IDOT. The numbers ABS used were
numbers given to the Airport by the DOT. O'Neil said the IDOT places counters
on the runways for a week, four times a year. The number of operations is projected
from those counts. The IDOT sent reports directly to ABS.
4
ii. Actionable recommendations— Chapter 1 Thrower said there were two action
items. The first dealt with increased involvement with the business community. He
said that without any details in the report,he is assuming this referred to
organizations like ICAD and the Chamber. Hartwig said the idea has merit and he
thinks they are already doing that. He said he knows O'Neil was speaking to a
group from the Chamber just last Tuesday. O'Neil said he does not turn down an
opportunity to explain the Airport to groups,although he does not get asked that
often. Robnett said ICAD would be a good group to talk to and she would volunteer
to go with him. Some groups don't have speakers at their meetings. Thrower said
the Commission should lay out a plan of which groups they would like to visit with.
The second action item was to increase the interaction with the City Manager.
Thrower said he felt there was a direct channel to the City Manager through the
Airport Manager. O'Neil said he meets weekly with the rest of the Department
Directors, usually to discuss upcoming Council meetings. O'Neil said that since the
Commission meeting with the Council a year ago,he has provided the City Manager
with information about the Airport on a more frequent basis. He said he provides
the City Manager with a copy of the Commission's information packet so he is
aware of issues being discussed by the Commission.
Thrower said there is a unique relationship between the City Manager and the
Airport Manager and it is a potentially a very positive relationship. The City
Manager has a good perspective on what is going on in the City and Johnson
County. O'Neil said the City staff meetings involve going over projects that the City
is involved with as they relate to Council action.
Mascari said the interactions with the City Manager should be documented in
writing. O'Neil said memos sent to the City Manager discussing the Airport are
always copied to the Commission. Mascari said he would like to see all
conversations with the City Manager documented so the Commission has a record of
the contacts. O'Neil said that could be done.
Chapter 2- The first action item is better record keeping. Thrower said this is
something that needs more detail from ABS. Thrower asked if there is scheduled
maintenance or is it handled if a problem develops?
Thrower asked if it would be beneficial to have more preventative maintenance
contracts? O'Neil said they have a couple of maintenance contracts,but experience
would suggest not spending money on the service contract and repair things as they
need it. O'Neil said the City has an HVAC contract and elevator maintenance.
Mascari asked where the Airport might consider using a service contract? O'Neil
said there aren't too many areas that would apply, maybe the self-service 100LL fuel
pump. He said they do routine inspections of the Airport facilities and grounds. He
does not know if paying for an outside service contract would be beneficial.
A second action item was to continue to monitor rates and fees at comparable
airports. Thrower asked O'Neil if that was done? O'Neil said rates at other airports
are reviewed when there is an opportunity to change rates and fees. Continually
monitoring rates on an annual or quarterly basis would not be productive if Iowa
City's rates were locked in by leases. Robnett said she knows that in the past,the
Commission has compared rates when negotiating leases. She said on a major lease,
5
it might be good to have a professional appraiser value whatever property is being
leased.
The next action item suggested playing a stronger role in economic development of
the area. Thrower said that is hard to argue against. He said the Commission might
want to lay out a more specific course. Thrower said the next item,monitoring
demographic business and University activity for aviation opportunities,is like the
item before it. It is obvious the Commission should do this. Robnett said with the
University being a research school,and cutting classes to meet budgets, it would be
difficult to get the school interested in teaching aviation. She said there might be
more success getting a community college interested in offering aviation classes.
Robnett said that there might be an opportunity to foster more cooperation with the
Daily Iowan to write positive articles about the airport and aviation. Mascari said he
thought Iowa State offers aviation as a class. Robnett said they do,through their
Engineering School. She said Iowa State is more applied engineering than Iowa.
Iowa's is research based. Robnett said maybe the University would be interested in
some of the property is the Aviation Commerce Park.
Thrower said maybe Kirkwood College would be interested in being more involved
in aviation at the Iowa City campus. Robnett said it would be great to have private
and instrument classes,as well as A&P classes. Mascari said he thought the FBO
had tried that with Kirkwood in the past.
Thrower said the last action item for Chapter 2 was covered in previous discussions.
Chapter 3—The fust action item was that the FBO/Manager should take a more
active role in management and development of the airport. Thrower said this issue
was covered as part of the opening review of the findings. Mascari said that the
Airport Manager is essential when it comes to obtaining grants and doing the day to
day maintenance. He said he would not be comfortable having the FBO doing those
things for the Airport. Thrower said the question is would the City be willing to pay
the amount of money needed hire the resources to write grants comparable to the
resource they already have in the airport manager? Robnett said the FBO could be
asked how much they would charge to do different duties at the Airport. Mascari
said the Airport needs a person to carry out the ideas and objectives of the Airport.
He said it is important to maintain a manager.
Hartwig asked if there isn't some conflict with the FBO being the manager? He said
that is one of the reasons the City and Commission wanted to separate that in the
past. O'Neil said there were several reasons for the City wanting their own manager,
the increasing conflict of interest being the last straw. He said ICFS was paid several
thousand dollars per year,plus income from the t-hangars. Hartwig said you need
both the FBO and a manager,but they need to work together. Thrower said you
could contract out management services,but have you saved any money in the end?
Mascari asked Harrol Timmons how they operate in Galesburg. Timmons said he
used to be the airport manager,but not any more. He said the official manager is in
the Public Works Department and does the paperwork. A city park employee does
the mowing. The City street employees plow the runways. Mascari asked if plowing
the airport was a priority? He said it is a priority basis for two or three trucks.
Timmons said Galesburg also has a pretty sizeable Street Department. Mascari
6
asked about the daily management of the airport? Is it done by City staff? Timmons
said it is now. They do not have an airport commission. As far as revenue,he pays
hangar rent similar to the way he does in Iowa City. All the hangar revenue goes to
the City. The airport also has over 400 acres of very good farmland that generates
$ 60,000 to $90,000 per year revenue. He said at one time they had airlines,which
allowed them to get additional grants to develop the airport. He said he was airport
manager until ast year. He said the airport does not get charged for other City
departments working at the airport.
Mascari asked if the airport is an enterprise fund? Timmons said no, it is a very
uncomplicated system. Timmons gave a brief history of the Galesburg Airport,
including the City trading the old airport site in town for a 600+acre site at the edge
of town.
Mascari thanked Timmons for his information.He said there are several things at
Galesburg that help the airport's budget. Number one, it is not an enterprise fund.
Number two,there are no interdepartmental loans to repay and no charge-backs. He
said Iowa City's budget would be better balanced if the situation were the same as in
Galesburg. Timmons said there has always been a cooperative effort within the City
towards the airport.
Thrower said the next action item said to begin implementation of the suggested new
organizational recommendations. He said there is no consensus from the
Commission to act on that recommendation. He said that item can be pulled off.
Robnett said if the Council was interested in pursuing this item,they could develop
an RFP to develop a cost comparison.
The next recommendation was continued oversite of the Airport by the Airport
Commission. Thrower said that is not an actionable item by the Commission.
The fourth action item is that the City Manager should maintain a full-time position
on the Airport Commission,as a representative of the Mayor's administration.
Thrower said this does not appear to be an actionable item.
Make adjustments to the lease agreements is the next item. Thrower said there are
efforts underway in that regard.
Thrower said the efforts for aggressive joint marketing will be discussed later. He
said there has been some discussion to that in relation to the Aviation Commerce
Park.
The next item is to restructure advisory and communications distribution to City
leaders. Thrower said, simply put,this is as simple as keeping everyone briefed.
Mascari said this involves the Commission reporting regularly to the Council. He
said there should be a renewed effort to do this. Thrower said the Mayor and at least
one of the Council members were at the fly-in breakfast.
The management team needs to be able to manage several goals simultaneously was
the next item. Thrower said he thought O'Neil multi-tasked very well.
7
The ninth item was to seek development and installation of a precision landing
approach. Thrower said there is a runway extension project and an obstruction
mitigation project currently going on. He said he does not know if ABS was aware
of those projects in the context of this statement. Mascari said Council and
Commission members visited with the FAA in Kansas City to discuss this issue. An
equipment manufacturer spoke at a Commission meeting. Robnett said the
Commission also informed the Council that the United hangar needed to be moved
because it was an obstruction to implementing the Master Plan. Robnett said the
preliminary numbers generated by H.R. Green should be sent to the Council. O'Neil
will send that information to the Council.
Blum,from H.R. Green, said the report says that Runway 17/35 will close when the
obstruction mitigation project is completed and an instrument approach is installed.
He said it was his understanding that the runway would be closed when the extension
of Runway 07/25 is completed. Mascari said the thought the runway would remain
open until there is a replacement approach on Runway 25. O'Neil said that issue
should be resolved. Blum said the Master Plan identifies the closing timeframe as
when the extension is completed.
Hartwig asked Timmons what his view was of having an instrument approach?
Timmons said that increasing the runway length and an ILS would double the jet fuel
sales. Timmons said the runway length is the most important project. Mascari asked
Timmons about a WAS approach? Timmons said it would be several years away.
Hartwig said he thought the physical installation of the light system might be
difficult. Blum said the esthetics have not been discussed.
Robnett said the Commission needs to determine how realistic getting an ILS is. She
asked O'Neil how likely it would be to get funding for an ILS? O'Neil said the
Commission is getting conflicting information from the FAA. The division that
designs and installs the instrumentation says it can be sited in Iowa City. The
Planning and Programming division has indicated that it is not a priority for funding
in Iowa City. Robnett said ABS left out funding for an ILS in their analysis.
Mascari said one problem to solve is how to get the FAA to pay for maintaining an
ILS. He said this would be$60,000 to$70,000 per year.
The next recommendation is to maintain a high level of safety and security. O'Neil
said he met with TSA and IDOT to discuss upcoming safety and security issues.
O'Neil said there are no mandates at this time. He said a lot of the things being
recommended because of September 11 were already being done at the Airport. He
said this would include having lockable hangars, fencing around the Airport,and
controlling access to the airside of the Airport. He was told that Iowa City is ahead
of many airports in eastern Iowa as far as safety and security are concerned.
The last action item is to provide excellent service. O'Neil said he believes this is
absolutely an example of a joint effort between the City and the FBO. The tenants
on the field are the Commission's customers. Jet Air has an excellent reputation for
customer service.
Chapter 4—The first item was to adopt a leasing policy. Thrower said that ABS
included a template. O'Neil said many of the suggestions in this section are things
the Commission is doing. They do not have a formal leasing policy or rates and
8
charges policy,but they do have minimum standards, uniform lease language,and
security deposits.
O'Neil said the outlines given were a good starting point to develop policies. He
said the examples included in the report were probably adopted from AAAE or some
other organization.
The sixth action item is to prepare and maintain emergency phone numbers and
addresses for all tenants. O'Neil said he has phone numbers for the tenants,but not
as an emergency document. Thrower said this could be an actionable item.
The last item was to negotiate a separate operating agreement with the FBO.
Thrower said this had been discussed earlier and the idea rejected.
Mascari asked what documents ABS received? O'Neil said he sent everything they
requested that he had,including the Minimum Standards. Mascari wanted to know
why ABS said they need to develop Minimum Standards? Thrower said it was not
because it wasn't provided.
Chapter 5—Robnett said that she thought there should be more money in the budget
to send O'Neil to more conferences. O'Neil said he has tried to go to one national
conference a year. He said that as far as networking is concerned,the FAA
conference in Kansas City and the Iowa Aviation conference are very important.
Robnett said education is very important in keeping the Airport proactive. She said
this is well-spent marketing money.
O'Neil said AAAE has conferences for airport management and owners and NATA
is the national organization for FBOs and aviation businesses. Both sponsor national
conferences
Timmons said that in Illinois there is an annual conference. O'Neil said Iowa does
same thing and the FAA,the IDOT,the Iowa Public Airports Association and airport
operators are invited. Robnett said she recommends going to national conferences.
She said most of the conferences she has been to are invaluable.
Another item was to conduct surveys. O'Neil said the DOT is going to provide
posters and forms to collect data on who is using the airports in Iowa and what their
reasons were for being in the individual communities, such as business,recreation,
etc.
Chapter 6- The fust item is to reduce and/or eliminate tax subsidy to the Airport.
Mascari said the FAA grant assurances obligate the airport to work towards self-
sufficiency.
The next item is to increase t-hangar rates and flowage fees. Thrower said this has
already been discussed.
Item three was to increase fuel volumes. Thrower said increasing the runway length
and installing a precision approach should increase fuel volumes. Mascari said some
of the increase is up to the FBO to market their services. There could be football
game-day specials. Hartwig said traffic is not as heavy as it used to be on game
9
days. O'Neil said it depends on the weather,whom the University is playing and
what kind of season the team is having.
The next action item was to restructure management to reduce overhead. Thrower
said this is a reoccurring theme in the report. Mascari said the Commission might
want to think about taking a look at the possibility of maybe reducing the
maintenance worker to part time.
Action item five was to develop milestone incentives for the FBO. Robnett said she
thought there was some conflict with this. She said ASB suggested that the FBO get
more active and generate more income and share that profit with the Commission.
She said she doesn't think any FBO would agree with that idea. Thrower said the
information shared by Timmons about the tenant constructing a building with their
own money and the City securing low cost financing may have some possibilities.
Mascari said something happened similar to that in Iowa City. O'Neil said that the
FBO built an addition to a building. The City told him that if he built the building
and finance it and they would pay the monthly mortgage payment. He would pay the
City rent for the building. It will be a 30-year agreement.Eventually,the FBO,who
was then the manager, convinced the City that instead of paying rent,he would just
pay his own mortgage payment. Simplified,he ended up with his rent fixed for 30
years. The FBO was supposed to do the maintenance on the part of the building he
built, and the Airport was to maintain the old part of the building. The building was
to be in good repair when the Airport took over the maintenance after the 30 years.
It didn't work out. O'Neil said a better agreement would need to be written if the
Commission wanted to explore an option like that.
Mother action item was to improve financial tracking of revenues and expenses.
Thrower said this was covered earlier. O'Neil said that after Commission
discussions with the Council,the Accounting Department now does the billing.
Thrower asked O'Neil if he could run a report that would tell if someone was behind
in their rent? O'Neil said he could run a report,but does not do that on a regular
basis. He relies on the Accounting Department to let him know if they are having
trouble collecting rent and if they needed him to intervene.
Thrower said the review of the direct and indirect economic impact of the Airport
was discussed earlier. Robnett said the Commission might have to hire someone that
is an expert in the field to conduct an economic impact report.
Action item eight suggests negotiating a land swap of industrial park property.
Mascari and Robnett said they liked that idea. Thrower said that is an actionable
item.
The next item is to complete a facilities audit and facilities need audit. Thrower
asked if there was a need for an outside audit. Mascari said the budgets have always
been in order. O'Neil said the City does an audit every year. Occasionally, capital
projects are selected that they would like to audit in more detail. There have been
Airport projects selected and there have not been any problems providing additional
information of the accounting on the projects. Thrower said facilities needs are
assessed with the annual budgets. Mascari said additional hangar space is built only
after there is a big enough waiting list. O'Neil said airside needs are discussed in the
10
Master Plan. O'Neil said the Commission would be working on next year's budget
soon.
Mascari asked about maintaining the asphalt by the north t-hangars? O'Neil said that
the best solution would be to replace the asphalt. Because the Commission does not
have the funding for this,O'Neil recommended slurry-coating the asphalt. It has
been put in the budget the last couple of years,but has been removed at the Council
level. O'Neil said the budget would be on the agenda the next month.
The last item listed was to complete an energy and environmental study. O'Neil said
the Airport, in conjunction with the runway project,has been working on an
environmental study for the last 10 months. An energy audit was conducted by the
City a few years ago and Mid American routinely conducts energy audits for their
customers. They compare the Airport's energy use as compared to other commercial
customers.
Mascari said this report is listed as a draft. He wanted to know if there were going to
be changes? Thrower said the report was presented to the Commission. ABS will
come to town and discuss the report with the Council and Commission and
clarifications can be included.
iii. Determine next steps—Thrower said the purpose of the draft is to provide for an
interaction between the Commission,the Council and ABS. The document logically
describes key elements of concern. How does the Commission want to focus the
discussion and ask questions?
Mascari said he would like to review the items with ABS before meeting with the
Council. He would like to have a meeting with the whole Commission as opposed
to a subcommittee. O'Neil said Michael Hodges plans to be in Iowa City about an
hour before the meeting on September 22. Thrower said the Commission could
meet and have a conference call with ABS. Thrower asked O'Neil to schedule a
meeting for September 16 at 5:30 p.m. Robnett said ABS did not talk to the
Commission members individually and she would like more interactions. She said
some of the marketing information would be helpful.
The Commission directed O'Neil to have at least Michael Hodges available for the
conference call. O'Neil said he would explain that the Commission wants some
clarification on some of the action points so they will be able to explain things to
Council.
g. Runway 07 project
i. Timeline—O'Neil said he gave the Commission a memo outlining a timeline for
selecting a consultant. O'Neil said there were six responses to the RFQ. He would
recommend shortening the list to three and interviewing the finalists. Thrower said
he would need some type of criteria to short-list the companies. O'Neil said he
would recommend using the FAA consultant selection criteria. He included a copy
of the criteria in the Commission's information packet.
O'Neil said he would shorten the FAA criteria list and put it in a form that is easier
for the Commission. Thrower asked the Commission if they wanted O'Neil to
11
provide them with a short-list of firms to interview? Mascari said that is what he
would prefer. Robnett said she agreed.
O'Neil said he has read a large number of proposals for projects,both for the Airport
and on committees for the IDOT and he thought the six proposals, as a group,were
some of the best he had seen. He said any one of the firms could do the project. He
said the consultants all have spent time at the Airport, getting an understanding of the
project and trying to understand exactly what the Commission wants to accomplish
from the project.
Thrower said he knows the City builds projects all the time and wondered if the City
has some criteria that could be used to supplement the FAA criteria? O'Neil said he
would contact Public Works or Planning for criteria. The Commission asked O'Neil
to utilize downtown resources and give them a list of three to interview.
iv. Selection process—O'Neil said he would send the Commission a list of three
companies. He said the Commission could conduct telephone interviews,have a
subcommittee interview and make a recommendation or have the whole
Commission interview. In the past,the entire Commission has interviewed the
firms.
Thrower asked how the criteria for narrowing the list are any different than selecting
the final firm? He wanted to know if the Commission should be sensitive to price,
or if quality was the most important factor? O'Neil said the written criteria would be
the same,but the personal contact would give the Commission additional
information. O'Neil explained the FAA criteria and said price can not be a factor.
Price can be discussed only after a selection is made and the contract is being
negotiated. If the Commission can not negotiate a contract with their first choice,
they must move on to their second choice. The FAA wants the selection to be on
quality,not price.
Thrower said if you had to re-advertise because you could not come to terms on a
contract with any of your firms, it would send a message to those that apply again
the second time of what you expected. O'Neil said that it has been his experience
that firms that apply for FAA projects have done their homework and know how
much the project is worth. There is an industry standard on what their fees will be.
The FAA also reviews the contracts and the fees and will let the sponsor know if
they fees are out of line.
Thrower asked what would separate the firms if they all meet the FAA criteria and
price can not be considered? O'Neil said it would end up being whom the
Commission was most comfortable with in the interview. Mascari said it would be a
matter of personal comfort and intuition. They all have the basics to offer and each
have areas where they are strong. Thrower said he would like to see if there is some
other criteria out there to assist them in the selection process. O'Neil said he would
try to find some additional criteria. In the past,Mascari said O'Neil has supplied the
Commission with interview questions so that the interviews are consistent.
Thrower asked if the Commission wanted to have a special meeting or wait until the
October meeting? Robnett said they could discuss this at their special meeting on
12
September 16. O'Neil said he would suggest the interviews be limited to 30 or 40
minutes and be a question and answer format.
CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT:
Thrower said he is very comfortable as chairperson through the meeting with ABS, but he would
like to have on the agenda at the October meeting the election of a permanent chairperson and
vice-chairperson. O'Neil said the appointment of the new commission member is October 14.
COMMISSION MEMBERS'REPORTS:
Robnett said she would contact the University marketing department to see if the Commission
could get a student team to help with marketing.
Mascari asked if O'Neil had done anything with a request from Mr.Hinckley for some dirt near
his property. O'Neil said he would take care of his request.
Mascari said the Commission needs to look at whether the Airport needs a maintenance worker in
order to reduce the budget. O'Neil said the time to discuss it is when the budget is being
discussed. It will fit in with the discussion of the business plan. O'Neil said the budget coming
out from Finance would have very little flexibility. Thrower said that if the Commission would
look at reducing the maintenance worker's time,the work would still have to get done by
someone. He said it would be important to address this at budget time because some other
department will have to pick up the work. Mascari said it might be a matter of cutting services.
Robnett noted that the City has said they were tying not to lay anyone off and the personnel
reductions would be dealt with by attrition where possible.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT:
O'Neil said a letter was sent to City Council,explaining the Commission's discussion of the
United hangar. O'Neil said he explained to one of the newspapers that the FAA was involved
with this project because it is a safety issue,not because the building may have some historical
significance. It is complicated by the fact that the hangar is a safety problem and may have
significance.The building is an obstruction. It was discussed that the cost estimates generated by
H.R. Green should be forwarded to the Council. O'Neil will send a letter to Council with the
estimates.
A copy of the revised by-laws was included in the Commission packet. The question was raised
on whether the by-laws needed to be reviewed by Council. O'Neil said he has discussed this with
Dulek and they thought the Commission by-laws were treated like those of the Library and do not
go to Council.
There was a list of Council candidates included in the Commission packet.
An article was included in the packet that included a graph of the per cent of the general fund
paid out for each department. The bottom of the graph was the animal shelter,at 1%. The
Airport was not on the graph. The amount of funding from the general fund for the Airport is less
than 1%.
13
There was an article in the packet about improvements to Council Bluffs. They are a reliever
airport. Iowa City looked into being designated as a reliever,but Cedar Rapids is not over
capacity.
There is a copy of the Iowa Public Airports newsletter in the packet.
The Iowa Aviation Conference is in Des Moines on October 16& 17.
O'Neil said he explained earlier that ITS has a limit on the size of e-mails going out and that
contributed to the delay in the Commission getting the report from ABS.
O'Neil said he received a call,asking if the Airport could use up to 130,000 cubic yards of fill.
O'Neil said he would find a place for it if the contractor got the bid. Thrower asked if fill dirt is
tested before it is placed on the Airport? O'Neil said he would check with Public Works. The
last two fill projects were managed by the Public Works Department.
O'Neil said he met with officials from the TSA and IDOT. He said he discussed safety with the
TSA and airport projects with the IDOT.
Ron Duffe, from Jet Air,asked to address the Commission. He said that there are areas on the
runways that are pooling up during heavy rains. O'Neil said overlays are planned for in the
Master Plan. They will depend on FAA funding.
Mascari asked about the commercial lots on Riverside Drive? O'Neil said there has been
discussion about marketing the property directly south of the entrance,but it has not been a
priority project. Thrower said that is mentioned in the Planning Departments South Central
District Plan.
SET NEXT MEETING:
The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for October 9,2003,at 5:45 p.m.
ADJOURNMENT:
The meeting was adjourned at 9:47 p.m.
.,
Baron 'ewer,Acti : Chairperson
14
--------- ..` C.t^S''I , 0 ,' Pf . C,c0 ,/t V .t
c '�-� G : 1 a ' 'r
C�Erun o . J¢P Os ter. .
C
Akii.flZ to�\ Co......w. ttC - cJ�P� �'2f[+L1
U. k-AArkGil 2. t-%15L 2
C. OCLC (Zkc? Ion\ ra cr tc,Plto rt
cl, t rt V . .Ro. s IN"-"i"a YT n L fl'IS t2aS.Mro
e, c.....,•1 r-A1cc.e't / Gt.--4a1 P Cl-»r\
R 7 M. ; +‘. SI lt:eil Int �
t_t flci t
st'
ii - I.4.3-
- , Co.-, .-)L .L 1. 1 F 4 ` - .7-'1._ 1c1` r.ia JI , , ^ r
i F, (' L+ r_ r -I c . f . c f'. F. ,
S , E-MAU- L k Y.. .
"t, I ,Dov G.. 't D5 - ..I.,GST
D , 'TSA - tb61-