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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-07-2004 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes MINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY, JULY 7,2004—5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY AIRPORT TERMINAL CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Hartwig called the meeting to order at 5:47 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT:Randy Hartwig,John Krstenansky, John Staley, Daniel Clay, (7:00) Carl Williams MEMBERS ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Sue Dulek,Ron O'Neil OTHERS PRESENT: None RECOMMENDATIONS TO COUNCIL: None PUBLIC DISCUSSION—ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Rick Mascari commended the Commission for the good job they are doing. He said he thought the Commission should ask the Council to forgive the loans on the hangar buildings. He said this was suggested by the City Manager in 2001. If that was done,the revenue from those hangars could be applied to the operating budget and would bring the Airport closer to self-sufficiency. He said he mentioned this idea to a couple of Council members and it received a very positive response. Mascari said the impression he got from the Council was that they didn't want the Airport to be completely self-sufficient. Ron Duffe, from Jet Air, circulated a letter from the Iowa Donor Network, thanking Jet Air for the great job they do in support of the donor organ program. The letter will be forwarded to the City Council. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: Airport Governance—Hartwig said Clay had developed a draft letter to send to the Council to answer some of the questioned raised at the June 14 meeting. Hartwig said he wanted to comment on the letter from the City Manager to the Council. He said it was well written and the response from the Commission to the Council should address some of the elements of the City Manager's letter. Krstenansky said he would still like to see the Council address some specific concerns. He said it seems to be a matter of communication, with the Council concerned the Commission will go off in a direction not approved by the Council. He said that he did not see anything that could not be corrected by better communication between the Council and Commission as opposed to changing the entire system. Krstenansky said the Commission just needs to do their job to the best of their abilities and giving the Council the positive points of an autonomous Commission. One of the positive points is to try to remove administration of the Airport from politics. Williams said he has tried to reach out as a contact point for the Commission for people with ideas about maintaining and improving things at the Airport. He said he spent time at the FAA 1 I conference in Kansas City last week and discussed Iowa City's situation with Iowa Department of Transportation officials. He said there is good support for the Iowa City Airport from the IDOT. He said he has heard a lot of the history of the Iowa City Airport. Past commissions have started out in different directions for the administration of the Airport. All have had the best interests of the Airport in mind. Hartwig said that after the last meeting with the Council, he was left with the impression that the Council was expecting a response to the discussion. He said that is what the next step should be. He said the Commission should spell out the advantages of an autonomous commission. Staley said that there was a lot of input from the public on this issue at their February meeting. He said it was at that meeting that the past Commission chairperson made a motion to recommend to the Council to have the issue of governance on the ballot. Staley said if the governance issue is on the ballot,it will take all of the Commission's time in the foreseeable future and they will not get the things done that they have started. This would include the Strategic Plan and a sound business plan. The Aviation Commerce Park and the Airport may not get marketed like the Commission would like to market it. Staley said tonight's meeting is an example. Instead of having a special meeting to discuss the strategic plan,they are spending time on defending the current governance of the Airport. The Commission discussed a draft letter to send to the Council. Several changes were suggested. The changes will be incorporated by O'Neil and sent to the Commission members before the next meeting. If there are no changes, the letter will be signed by all the Commission members and sent directly to each Council member. This will give them time to review the rationale submitted by the Commission before the Council's discussion on August 2°d The Commission discussed the business plan and how it would relate to the governance issue. Krstenansky reviewed the outline he developed. He said one thing that would be helpful is to have monthly updates from the various subcommittees. Another thing is to have the Commission have better knowledge of the budgeting process. Staley said written comments from the subcommittees would be helpful. O'Neil explained to the Commission the annual budget timeline. He said the Finance Department develops a preliminary budget for all departments. The departments receive the budget in late September. It is sent to the Commission as soon as possible and scheduled for review at the next meeting. After revisions, it is returned to Finance within about four weeks. O'Neil meets with the Finance Department and the City Manager to discuss the revision. The Airport budget is reviewed as a part of the City budget and sent to the Council. If there are changes made to the budget the Commission submits,there is an opportunity to meet with the Council and justify the budget requests. O'Neil said the main line items the Commission is concerned with in the budget are the capital improvement projects. Most of the other line items don't change that much from year to year. Items such as utilities are adjusted for inflation by the Finance Department before the budget is given to the Commission. O'Neil said it is difficult to program for many grant-eligible projects because the FAA and IDOT do not necessarily give much advanced notice for which grants will be funded. Krstenansky said there should be a section in the strategic plan that clearly defines the role of the Airport Manager. He said it should also be explained why the Commission thinks it is better to 2 have a manager as opposed to having the FBO or someone else manage the Airport. A list of duties would help the Commission know what the manager should be doing so as to avoid micro- management. Clay said clarifying duties would help with the communication between the manager and Commission and between the Council and the Commission. O'Neil suggested the Commission consider a job description for the Commission. He said one reason is that it would be helpful to the Airport Manager. He said it would also help the Commission know what their duties are and would clarify for the Council what the Commission considers their duties to be. Because the Commission member's terms are staggered and they learn from each other,good habits and bad habits are passed on and assumed to be the norm. Krstenansky said that roles and responsibilities could be spelled out and goals could be measured during the course of the year. This will help the Commission do their job more effectively. O'Neil said he wanted to clarify what is discussed at weekly City staff meetings. He said the main purpose of the staff meetings is to discuss upcoming Council issues and agendas. How Council issues affect City departments and their interaction on items is the main theme. O'Neil said if he has an Airport issue that needs coordination with the City Manager or other departments,he does not have any reservations about scheduling a meeting with whoever is responsible for the coordination. Krstenansky said he would continue to add to the outline as information becomes available. • Clay said that he thinks the Commission needs to develop a plan on how to deal with the politics of the referendum issue. He said he is opposed to the issue going to referendum and the time to inform the Council is before that decision is made to place it on the ballot. He said there would be a lot of people that would be negatively affect by this. O'Neil said the Council would discuss this at the work session on August 2. The question is whether the Council should vote to have a referendum on possibly terminating the Airport Commission as an autonomous board. The discussion at the work session will not include public comment. O'Neil said he would ask the City Manager if the Commission would be invited to participate in the discussion at the work session on August 2. O'Neil said if there is any written documentation the Commission wants the Council to see before the August 2 meeting,the information would need to be turned in to the City Manager's office by 9:00 a.m. on the Thursday before the meeting. Clay suggested sending information directly to each Council member if they wanted to get something to him or her before the packet goes out. Dulek explained to the Commission how the issue would be put on the ballet. She said the exact wording of the question that would be on the ballot is spelled out in the State code. Clay asked if there would be an advisory Commission if the autonomous one were repealed? Dulek said that was a Council decision. Clay said it is important to develop a timeline, even though it is fairly general. The Commission directed O'Neil to draft a timeline for them to review at their next meeting. Clay wanted to know what the other Commission members needed to do before the next Council meeting? O'Neil said if the Commission wants to send suggestions to him,he would put everything together and send it to the rest of the Commission. He reminded them that they need to be careful not to be doing business as a group through e-mail. 3 e' • Clay suggested contacting community leaders and asking for support and assistance with convincing the Council to maintain the current Commission system. O'Neil said the direction given to the Commission from the Council was to discuss this issue at the July Commission meeting and respond back to the Council. Clay asked O'Neil to check to see if the Commission would be invited to participate in the discussion at the Aug 2 Council meeting. Staley said the letter being drafted would be a response to the Council. Hartwig said it would be in the Commission's best interest to meet with the Council members individually or as a group. Clay said he has not seen anything to convince him that a change of administration would be beneficial to the Airport. Hartwig said the Airport has unique characteristics and may not fit in a department with transit and parking. Mascari said he thought it would be helpful to have accurate reporting done by the local newspaper. He said the budget reporting is not accurate. He said the Press Citizen has printed several stories that he doesn't think were accurate or were incomplete. Greg Zimmerman asked if the tenants at the Airport would get something from the Commission explaining the issue if it is placed on the ballot? Dulek said the Commission could not use their Airport e-mail, letterhead or anything like that to support or campaign against a ballot issue. Zimmerman said he would like information before the Council discussion. Williams said anyone can contact him by e-mail and he will send the information on to the rest of the Commission. The Commission said they would develop some"talking points"that discussed the impact of placing the governance on the ballot for referendum. Clay summarized some of the Commission's discussions during the meeting. He said a written response would be sent to the Council concerning the questions raised during the June 14'h meeting. A meeting could be scheduled with the local newspaper to discuss accuracy in reporting. Community leaders that support the Airport should be contacted for support and the Commission should seek an invitation to discuss this issue in person with the Council when they meet on August 2. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:07 p.m. Randy Hartwig, Chairperson 4