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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-19-1994 Airport Commission Meeting Minutes w MINUTES IO�PA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1994 - 5:30 P.M. IOWA CITY TRANSIT FACILITY MEMBERS PRESENT: John Ockenfels, Howard Horan, Pat Foster, Richard Blum STAFF PRESENT: Ron O'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Ockenfels called the meeting to order at 5:42 p.m. A quorum of the Commission was present. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the March 22 , 1994, meeting were accepted as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Ockenfels asked O'Neil if the $ 400. 00 bill for the runway lights was due to the vandalism earlier in the month. O'Neil said that this is just for normal repair parts. Horan moved to approve the expenditures as presented. Foster seconded the motion and the expenditures were approved 4 - 0. PUBLIC DISCUSSION - ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: No items were presented. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Land use request - Iowa City Jaycees - Alex Alvarez appeared on behalf of the Jaycees to request using Airport property for a Fourth of July fireworks display. He said because of flooding at City park and problems with crowd control, the Jaycees did not think the City park could be used this year. He said that the Jaycees would be responsible for organizing the event, crowd control, working with the police for parking, and cleaning up the area after the event. They will work with Sertoma Club to try to have some events before the fireworks. Blum said that aircraft would be encouraged to fly in to the event. If there is some type of food service available at the event, Sertoma will be in charge of the service. Some airports incorporate their annual fly-in celebration to coordinate with Fourth of July fireworks. Ockenfels said there are concerns with traffic control. There is also a parking problem if there is rain. There is not very much hard surface automobile parking at the Airport. Blum said that this was a problem last year and there was some damage done last year. Blum, Horan and Foster volunteered to be at the event. Ockenfels said the issues of property damage and clean up needed to be discussed. There will be an expense to the Jaycees to pay for a City street sweeper to clean the debris from the runways. Blum said the clean up should be organized better than last year. He said that the area where the fireworks were set up last year was not the most appropriate. Ockenfels asked Alvarez about the option of using the Johnson County Fairgrounds. Alvarez said the Jaycees had not pursued that option. O'Neil said that FAA permission must be requested to close the Airport for a non-aviation event. This was not done last year. Ockenfels said this may be like the annual fly-in breakfast and questioned if the Commission had to get permission. O'Neil stated that it would be better to ask than not ask if there is a question concerning safety. Ockenfels said that the request will be made. Blum will be the safety officer in charge and will contact the FAA. Ockenfels said there is a property use permit to be filled out by the Jaycees. O'Neil said that along with the use permit, the Airport' s insurance carrier had a list of questions to be answered. A damage deposit will be required. O'Neil said several hours of clean up were required the next day after last year' s event. Horan made a motion to allow the Jaycees to hold the Fourth of July fireworks at the Airport. Foster seconded the motion and it was passed 3 - 0, with Blum abstaining. b. National Guard Lease - Set Public Hearing - O'Neil presented a lease that incorporated all the items the Commission discussed at their March meeting. O'Neil said that Burnside suggested that even though it is only a three year lease, it would be appropriate to hold a public hearing. Blum made a motion for the adoption of a resolution to set a public hearing at the next Commission meeting on May 17, 1994 . Foster seconded the motion. After some discussion, the motion passed at roll call vote, 4 - 0, with Hicks being absent. c. New hangar building - Blum thought that if a building would cost $ 200, 000, he did not think it would be practical to build it. Ockenfels said that he thinks it would best to find out if we can afford to build by going out for bids. He does not think building costs will be any less in the future. Blum suggested incorporating several options in the bid to allow more flexibility in reducing costs if needed. O'Neil said that the more options you include in a bid, the more difficult it is to compare bids. If you make a bid too complicated, you may discourage some builders from submitting a bid. Horan made a motion to request funding from City Council to construct a hangar building. Foster seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Hicks being absent. d. Airport Master Plan - Ockenfels said FAA funding for a Master Plan Study will not be available for some time. One option would be to fund the Master Plan Study locally, but he was not in favor of that idea. O'Neil said Hicks expressed the same opinion of not funding the Master Plan 100 % locally. O'Neil said that there are two questions to decide. The first question to be answered is should the Commission proceed with soliciting a firm to conduct the Master Plan ? The other option is to have Coffman Associates complete the Plan. The second question is when does the Commission want to begin this process ? O'Neil said that the State and Federal AIP funds will not pay for projects on a retroactive basis. If the Commission wants to fund the Master Plan Study in-house, it would not be reimbursed. The Commission directed O'Neil to proceed with advertising for RFQ' s from firms to conduct a Master Plan Study. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: Ockenfels included a copy of a fuel receipt from a recent business trip to Chicago. There were several state and local taxes added on to the fuel price. Ockenfels said that the Commission is losing revenue from the flowage fee because the high price of fuel in Iowa City encourages Iowa City based planes to fuel elsewhere. Ockenfels said he has received a couple of complaints about aircraft noise in the last few weeks. One person said she thought the planes were flying too low. When the person explained where she lived, Ockenfels explained that she was in the approach path for the north/south runway and aircraft would be lower than if they were flying over the area. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORT: Blum said there were several letters in the packet concerning the bowling alley. He said many of the letters seemed to be based on the theory that the property would be needed because the Airport is expanding. He thought it needed to be explained that the property may be needed to meet the safety standards and that the north/south runway is not being extended. Blum thought someone should respond to the letters. Blum said that the day after the Iowa Airport Conference in Ames, the FAA is conducting a seminar in Des Moines concerning the strategies involved with conducting an air show. He said he would stay over if the Commission would be willing to pay for the hotel room. The Commission thought it would be a good idea for Blum to attend. Horan said he was at the Airport the other day taking pictures of the DC-3 cargo plane that came in for a shipment of cargo from United Technology. He said he also discussed some issue with Jones from ICFS. Blum commented that the memo sent to Council explaining the Master Plan study was not correctly report in a local newspaper. Ockenfels said he was also quoted out of context in that article. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: O'Neil said that there was some vandalism on one of the runways on March 31. A police report was filed. The damage was over $ 100. The wind speed and direction equipment is not working on the ASOS. The ASOS monitor that was installed by the previous ASOS technician has been shut off. The equipment may not be allowed under the new rules. O'Neil reminded the Commission that there is no wind speed equipment at the Airport. The wind tee and wind sock show direction but speed can only be estimated. The Commission directed O'Neil to price wind speed equipment. O'Neil said Menards sent a letter concerning their water detention area. O'Neil said he is not convinced the system will not flood and erode the Airport. He will discuss the issue with Ann Burnside. Two charter estimates were received for the Commission and Council members to fly to Kansas City to meet with the FAA. A company from Marion was less expensive than ICFS. The Commission directed O'Neil to discuss the issue with ICFS and see if they would match the other price. The meeting will be scheduled for sometime in the first two weeks of May. SET NEXT REGULAR MEETING: The next regular meeting was set for May 17, 1994 , at 5: 30 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: Horan moved to adjourn the meeting at 7 : 53 p.m. Blum seconded the motion and the meeting was adjourned. a John Ockenfels, Chair erson