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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-14-2002 Airport Commission Meeting MinutesMINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY MARCH 14, 2002 — 5:45 P.M. IOWA CITY AIRPORT TERMINAL MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Mascari, Michelle Robnett, Mark Anderson, Alan Ellis STAFF PRESENT: Sue Dulek, Ron O'Neil CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Mascari called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the February 14, 2002, Commission meeting were approved as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Anderson made a motion to pay the bills. Ellis seconded the motion and the motion passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION — ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: Dick Blum, as a representative of the Iowa Aviation Promotion Committee, reported that the State budgeting for aviation looked bleak for the next year and he urged Commission members to contact their State representatives to lobby for the aviation budget. Blum also reported that there would be changes in the way the Stats funds projects. The Vertical Infrastructure Fund will only cover new structures. The criteria for the AIP fund have changed. Mascari asked Blum to hold his report until the AIP agenda comes up on the agenda. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Aviation Commerce Park L March report - Overton said there was not a lot of new information to report for March. He said he wanted to renew his recommendation that the Commission try to get the ACP designated as a TIF area. Overton said it has been difficult convincing some potential tenants that leasing could be as economical as purchasing. Overton said he is trying to find aviation -related customers. 2. Other issues - In the packet was a copy of the letter Mascari sent to the Mayor, requesting a TIF district for the ACP. O'Neil said the next lease should include earnest money when the lease is signed. ONeil said the fust invoice was received from Iowa Realty for the lease on Lot #10. Because there was nothing budgeted for sales commissions, ONeil said the Commission would have to decide how they would pay the commission. ONeil said the Commission would need to discuss this with the Council to determine how the sales commissions would be paid. Mascari said the Commission would need to go downtown and discuss this. Mascari said maybe ONeil should talk to the Finance Director. Ellis said this is something to discuss with the Council when they have the Council/Commission meeting. Dulek said the lots in the ACP would be taxable once they are leased to a private business. The question was raised that since the tax was from Airport property, should the City's portion of the tax be channeled back to the Airport? Ellis asked ONeil to contact the FAA and ask that question. Dulek has some court cases that apply to this situation. b. IOW Aero - Bldg D - interior renovation- ONeil said he and Ron Duffe had discussed the costs of renovating the interior of Building D. O'Neil said the receipts indicated that approximately $ 9000 had been spent up to this time. The invoice from IOW was approximately $ 10,000. Duffe said one of the things he wanted to discuss was a billing to IOW Aero for FBO services from January 1 to January 15. He said the FBO services were turned over to Jet Air on January 1 and Duffe wanted a refund for the time from January I to January 15. He said he would also like another six months on the lease for Building D. If the Commission would agree to an extension of the lease and a refund for the FBO contract, he would agree to the $ 9000 invoice. The lease currently expires on May 30, 2004. Dulek said a lease extension was not on the agenda and the Commission would have to schedule that as an agenda item if they would like to discuss it in detail. Anderson said he would make a motion to pay IOW $ 6000 at this time and discuss the rest of the invoice at the next meeting. Robnett seconded the motion and it passed 4 - 0. O'Neil said the lease discussion would be on the agenda at the April meeting. c. Jet Air/IOW Aero working agreement - Phillip Wolford, was present to represent Jet Air. He said Jet Air does not have a separate written agreement with IOW. He said all the employees except for the instructors, are employees of Jet Air. The only written agreement is for equipment. The instructors are independent contractors that work for IOW and Jet Air. Ellis asked Duffe if it was IOW's intention to occupy the office in Building D? Duffe said that the flight simulator would be moved to Building D. He said that training would be moved to that building. He said the carpet needs to be installed in the office area. Wolford said that between the two Jet Air locations, they have 55 employees. d. Fuel site - H.R. Green- Mascari said he had problems with the self-service pump a month ago, but he has not had any problems since. Applied Technologies said the problem could be with the phone line. ONeil and Blum checked on the phone lines and there was no apparent problem. Blum e-mailed Double -Check and said a letter would be sent to them saying that their services would be terminated and the money the Commission retained would be used to correct the remaining problems. Paul Sundby, from Double Check contacted Blum and said if they could have one more week the problems with the pump reliability would be resolved. Double Check said that if Applied can not resolve the problem, they will pull their equipment and install a different brand of card reader. Duffe said that the more people that use the MOLL pump, the less problems there are. He suggested a more detailed set of instructions be posted. Blum said he thinks the only instructions that are needed are that the lever on the left side of the pump needs to be in the off position to start, then the prompts on the card reader should be adequate. Ellis said that once the problems have been resolved with the pump, Jet Air should be responsible for helping customers with the pump. Jet Air is receiving the majority of the profit from the fuel. Ellis said some written agreement should be agreed to. Duffe said it is still impossible to identify the exact number of gallons that are remaining in the tank. Blum said the system was not designed to give exact readings, just approximations of how much fuel is in the storage tank. The gages show the number of inches in the tank. The trucks and 10OLL pump have meters calibrated for retail sales. Duffe said they have no way of knowing how much fuel they are buying, except for assuming the delivery tickets are correct. Blum said he would see if they could run it through the meters when they deliver the fuel. Horan said there needs to be accurate charts for the tanks. Blum will see if Double Check has accurate charts. e. Airport Zoning Code update- ALP changes -Blum said he would meet with Karin Franklin on March 26 to discuss some minor changes. He said the Council will close the public hearing April 2 and the ordinance will require three readings from the Council. After that, the ordinance will be sent to the Board of Supervisors for passage. The Board wanted to wait until after the Council had passed the Code in case there were any changes. Blum circulated a copy of the revised ALP. He said some of the changes were changing the runway numbers and showing the safety areas required for a precision approach on Runway 25. He said a precision approach would require a wider RPZ for Runway 25. He said the proposed realignment for Dane Road is shown. Mormon Trek will not be extended to Riverside Drive until Runway 18/36 is closed. The agreement with the Council is not to close RW 18/36 until the improvements are made to Runway 07/25. Blum said the Commission should discuss changing the category of RW 36 from an A-1 runway to a Small Aircraft runway. This would be aircraft with a take -off weight of 12,500 pounds or smaller. Because the runway is shorter than it used to be, the A-1 designation may no longer be needed. The advantage would be that the RPZ would be smaller and Colonial Lanes would no longer be in the RPZ. Blum said he discussed this with the FAA and they said they did not see any down side with this. It would not change the Airport approaches. Anderson made a motion to accept the revised ALP. Robnett seconded the motion and it passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. f. Obstruction removal project- Anderson said he met with Mascari and the subcommittee short-listed the consultants to H.R Green and Stanley Consultants to be interviewed for the Obstruction Removal and EA and Section 106 projects. ONeil asked whom the Commission wanted to do the interviewing? He said this could be done by the subcommittee or by the entire Commission. Ellis said he wanted to participate with the subcommittee in the interviews. ONeil said this would constitute a quorum and would have to be posted as a meeting. Anderson said he would like to tell the candidates that the commission wanted an informal interview. ONeil said the Commission should ask for a scope of services and discuss personnel to be assigned to the projects. The Commission directed O'Neil to schedule the interviews for March 28 at 5:45 p.m. Each company will have 45 minutes for the interview. g. Environmental Assessment and Section 106 project- See above explanation. h. Vertical Infrastructure Program application- ONeil said he prepared an application to replace the roofs on Buildings B and C. He said this is the same project as last year that did not get funded. Blum said that from the information he received at a meeting in Ames last week, unless it is a project to build something new, it is not likely to get funded. O'Neil said he would recommend sending in the application and see what happens. He said the application is completed and at this time, the most it will cost the Commission is a stamp to send it in. Ellis made a motion for a resolution to file an application for the Vertical hifrastructure Program. Anderson seconded the motion, and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. i. Iowa Airport Improvement Program application- The Commission discussed projects they would like to submit. ONeil said at this time, the State was not going to fund much money for the AIP next year. Blum said that all new Alp grants would be a 70/30 split, not 90/10 like some projects in the past. The number one priority will be safety-related projects. There are two categories, development and preservation. Anderson said he thought the REIL on 36 should be replaced. They could be moved to Runway 25 when RW 36 is closed. Anderson made a motion for a resolution for an application to the Iowa Airport Improvement Program. Ellis seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. j. Long-term parking- Mascari said he has a car at an airport in Missouri and he has to pay an annual fee. Ellis asked if all parking on the Airport should be designated, such as employee parking? ONeil suggested the Commission give him direction to write a policy. ONeil said currently, he does not allow long-term parking at the Airport unless there is an aviation related use. Mascari said he thought it should be $ 20 per month. Any vehicle left at the Airport for more than 30 days would require a permit. ONeil said that there are only two or three vehicles this would affect. Dulek said she thought it would be best to have a parking permit application. That would screen the vehicles to make sure there was an aviation use. ONeil said this would be on the agenda for the next meeting. k. FAA Master Site lease- O'Neil said this is supplement #6 to the lease for the ASOS site. Anderson made a motion for a resolution to amend the ASOS Master Site lease. Robnett seconded the motion and at roll call vote, the motion passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. 1. March 2001 hangar rents - North t -hangars - ONeil said some of the information should be discussed in executive session. Dulek said there is approximately $ 885 owed to the Airport. This will be discussed at an executive session on March 28. The meeting will start at 5:30 p.m., with the interviews starting at 6:15 p.m. CHAIRPERSON'S REPORT: Mascari passed out a copy of an editorial he wrote for the Press Citizen. He said they would publish it on Monday. Mascari said he has yet to be contacted concerning the Council/Commission meeting. He will let the Commission know as soon as something is scheduled. Mascari said he noticed on the cable channel that the library was advertising. Robnett said it was probably a public service announcement. Mascari said that it was important to have five members at the meetings. He said a letter should be written to the Mayor. ONeil said the last time this was discussed, the Commission thought it would be best to talk to the Commission member before discussing this with the Mayor. Mascari said he had no problem talking to the Commission member before a recommendation is sent to the Mayor. Anderson said he would talk to him. Mascari thanked the Commission for allowing him to be Chairperson the past year. Mascari thanked Howard Horan for his 10 years on the Commission and he presented him with a plaque. COMNHSSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: Ellis asked if a letter was sent to Planning and Zoning from the Commission, concerning the proposed student housing on Sand Road? O'Neil said that since Ellis was the only Commission member who expressed interest in sending a letter, a letter representing the Commission was not sent. Ellis said he thought a letter would be sent. ONeil said this is the same discussion that has been debated at the Council level. He said the Commission should give him direction on how many Commission members need to agree on something for it to represent the Commission's opinion. Ellis said that if he asks for something, if no one says he can't have it, he expects it to happen. Dulek said the Commission should discuss this and how and what items are on the Commission agenda. O'Neil said that it was his understanding it was the Chairperson's agenda. Mascari asked that this be on the agenda at the next meeting. Ellis asked if Jet Air had talked to ONeil about runway lighting? ONeil said no one from Jet Air had contacted him to discuss lighting. Ellis asked if O'Neil had contacted the Fire Chief about ARFF training? O'Neil said he talked to the Fire Chief a couple of months ago when the subject was fust discussed. ONeil said the Fire Chief said they do a lot of cross training, such as confined spaces training, that would be applicable to aircraft fire fighting. Ellis said Jet Air was going to request training with the Fire Department. ONeil said he had not received any request from Jet Air. Ellis will find out something from Jet Air. Blum said Cedar Rapids is trying to get a mobile ARFF trainer. Ellis said "Be a pilot program would offer free signs to FBOs. He will see if Jet Air is part of that program. He would like to see if a sign could be installed near the Airport entrance. ONeil said it would probably require IDOT approval if it is on the Riverside Drive right-of way. Ellis asked if O'Neil heard anything more from Jet Air about their Cessna signs? ONeil said he had not heard anything from Jet Air. Anderson said a replica of the "Spirit of St. Louis" would be here for the fly-in on August 25. They will be selling rides. It is a fund-raiser for EAA and would be here for the "Young Eagles" program. Anderson said the EAA is trying to establish a "Young Eagles" program for adults that have never flown. Anderson said that SWA has finally shown up to fix the roof on Building K. They are also going to have a struchual engineer look at some of the structural parts of the building. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: ONeil said he needed a consensus from the Commission on when they would like to meet with Council. The Commission selected April 4 or April 25 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ONeil said if the Commission has agenda items for the Council meeting, they should fimnel them through their chairperson. It was suggested the meeting be held at the Airport. O'Neil said there was interest in leasing the office space at 1701 South Riverside for an ice cream store. Because of the costs of getting the building ready to rent, the Commission did not think it would be worth the cost for the short-term lease. The building is scheduled to be tom down or moved this summer. The Commission will need to replace Horan on the Zoning Commission. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting. Dulek said she would check the code to see how that member is to be replaced. ONeil said he would be on vacation the third week in March. A letter was sent to SWA for roof leaks in Building K. There was a letter in the packet from Councilperson Kanner, concerning the economic impact of aviation in Iowa. A memo to Ellis concerning the leases for Buildings A, B, and C was in the packet. This will be an agenda item at the April meeting. Robnett will work with Ellis on the project. SERTOMA has filed an application for the 2002 fly -in breakfast on August 25. A Gazette newspaper article about Jet Air was included in the packet. A flyer from IPAA concerning legislative priorities was included in the Commission packet. O'Neil said he attended the Iowa Airports Day at the Capital on March 5 and had an opportunity to talk to local representatives about the Iowa City Airport and aviation in Iowa. A copy of the Mayor's State of the City was included in the packet. The public hearing for the updated Airport Zoning Code is scheduled for March 19, 2002, at the Council meeting. Because the Planning Department had some last minute changes they would like to incorporate, the hearing will be continued until April 2. The 2002 budget amendments are due March 22. O'Neil said he circulated a copy of a memo from the City Manager to the Council concerning the Airport. ONeil highly recommended the Commission members read the memo. It relates to the Airport budget. One of the things the City Manager is recommending is that all departments reduce their temporary employee budget by 25%. What that will mean for the Airport is that the grass may not get mowed as often this summer and some other outside projects may not get done. ELECTION OF OFFICERS: Mascari made a motion to elect Anderson as Chairperson. Ellis seconded the motion. There were no other nominations. Anderson was elected 3 - 0, with Anderson abstaining and Ruyle being absent. Mascari made a motion to elect to Ellis as Vice -chairperson. Anderson seconded the motion. There were no other nominations and Ellis was elected 3 - 0, with Ellis abstaining and Ruyle being absent. SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for April 16, 2002, at 5:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Rick Mascari, Chairperson