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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-06-2002 Airport Commission Meeting MinutesMINUTES IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION THURSDAY, JUNE 6.2002 — 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 Anderson called the meeting to order at 5:45 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: The minutes of the May 13, 2002, Commission meeting were approved as submitted. AUTHORIZATION OF EXPENDITURES: Mascari made a motion to pay the bills. Ellis seconded the motion. Mascari asked about reducing the number of times per week the janitor service cleans the Terminal Building. ONeil said that at the direction of the Commission, he had contacted Midwest Janitorial and reduced from three to two times a week for janitorial services. ONeil said the agreement with MIS is to clean the upstairs once a month. The motion passed 4 - 0, with Ruyle being absent. PUBLIC DISCUSSION — ITEMS NOT ON AGENDA: No items were presented. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION/ACTION: a. Aviation Commerce Park 1. June report - Tracy Overton, from Iowa Realty, said he has been visiting with people about selling the lots in the ACP. He said he has a list of 6 - 10 people who are interested in purchasing a lot. He said two potential tenants said they could not wait any longer and purchased property elsewhere. Overton presented a strategy to the Commission for clearing the way to sell some of the property in the ACP. Anderson said he thought the Commission should be more aggressive in moving forward to sell the property. O'Neil said he had contacted Casey Cook to update the appraisal. ONeil will meet with Cook and Overton and then Cook will produce an updated appraisal report. Cook will charge about $ 300 for the updated report. O'Neil said he had requested time on the Council agenda for the June 10 and June 11 meetings. The City Manager said the agendas were full for those meetings and he would schedule something as soon as he could. Mascari said he thinks it is important to get a response from the Council on their opinion of selling as opposed to leasing the property. He volunteered to go the Council and speak during the Public Discussion time of the agenda. Robnett said she would go with Mascari. O'Neil said he would discuss selling the property when he meets with FAA officials in Kansas City next week. Overton asked about the Codes, Covenants and Restrictions. Ellis said he thought the set of cc&r that Dulek had developed was fairly open and the Commission could look at each potential tenant as the proposals were submitted. Overton gave Dulek some additional examples of covenants to review. Overton said the Commission could have the covenants, the pricing schedule and the listing agreement ready for the Council when the issue is scheduled. Overton said that through a conversation he had with the City Manager, he thought Atkins was in favor of selling the lots. Mascari asked Dulek what action was needed from the Council in order to proceed. Dulek said the Council is the one that has to make the final decision to sell the property. Overton said the Commission should put a package together for the Council. O'Neil said the Council needs to give preliminary approval to sell the property before moving forward to get a waiver from the FAA assurances. 2. Other issues - Ellis wanted to know if the Commission would lose control of the type of development in the ACP if the property was sold? He also thought maybe the property should be turned over for sale on a lot by lot basis. Overton said the Commission would need to reflect their concerns in the covenants. Mascari said enough of the property could be sold to pay the Airport's debt service and then the rest of the property could be leased. He said maybe the Commission should offer financing, maybe on a lease -to -buy agreement. Overton said he wanted to go on the record as saying that timing is very important. He said that two potential tenants had built elsewhere because of the delay. Mascari said he thought Anderson should be at the Council meeting next week. Ellis said he would like to go to the meeting also. He thought the Commission should all be there. b. Fuel site - Commission/FBO responsibilities - ONeil said that now that the fuel system is operational, the Commission should work with the FBO and clearly define the maintenance and service responsibilities. Anderson said he had a list of several items to discuss, including who should assist customers if there is trouble with the l OOLL pump, who should change the filters, and who should be contacted if there are problems with the system. Klay Johnson, from Jet Air, wanted to know who to call if the system was not working. O'Neil said Applied Technology has a 24 -how hotline if there is trouble with the computer. Double Check is responsible for the system hardware. There is no technician locally to make emergency repair. O'Neil said there is a question on who should make sure the valve is closed on the containment tank. Johnson said it was his understanding the valve should be left open most of the time and be closed when fuel is being off-loaded or loaded onto a service truck. (At this time, Anderson had to leave the meeting and Ellis chaired the meeting.) Ellis asked if there were any operation manuals that came with the tank system? Blum, from H.R. Green, said he would see if he could locate an operations manual. ONeil and Jet Air can go through the procedures part of the manual and determine responsibility for the system. In response to a question from Ellis, ONeil said he has not received a final Request for Payment from Green. Blum said Green has not received a final invoice from Double Check. Blum said he would call Washington, Iowa and see if he can borrow a maintenance or procedure manual. Johnson said the clock gauges on the tanks do not work accurately. Blum said the gauges are supposed to be calibrated every thirty days. ONeil said he gave Jet Air the information on how to calibrate the gauges. Blum will check the specs for the project to see if a handrail was to be provided on top of the tank to help when the fuel level is checked. ONeil will work with Jet Air to determine duties and responsibilities for the fuel system. c. Property lease -Toyota of Iowa City- Ellis said that Toyota has requested to lease about one-half acre of Airport property. Mascari said he read the proposed lease and he would like to require Toyota to have a hard -surfaced, dust free lot. He said it is required in all other areas in the City. ONeil said this is for vehicle storage, not parking. Mascari said that is something he would check into. ONeil said the lease in the packet was a draft, intended to solicit comments. Mascari said he would like a better map included with the lease. ONeil said the lease required the lessee to provide a plat of the area they would like to lease. Mascari asked how this would impact the Aviation Commerce Park? ONeil said the property was directly west of Toyota and was not near the ACP. Ellis said he would like to see where the property is in relation to the safety areas on the Airport. He said he had concern about what type of lighting would be used. ONeil said the Commission could put whatever restrictions they wanted in the lease. He said a public hearing would be required. Mascari said would still like to require a dust -free surface. Ellis suggested ONeil have a lease ready for the next meeting and a public hearing could be set. Ellis said someone from Toyota should be at the next meeting. ONeil will meet with Toyota to discuss the details. d. Property lease Dane/Larsen- ONeil said there was a proposal in the packet from Dane/Larsen to lease some Airport property to install a real estate sign. The offer was for $100 per year. ONeil said the property is east of Rock's Roadhouse, at the west end of the RPZ for Runway 7. Ellis wanted to know if the Commission could lease property for an advertising sign? ONeil said he would check the Airport Code of Regulations, but he did not think there was anything that would prohibit them from leasing the property. The property is in Johnson County. O'Neil asked the Commission if they were interested in the leasing Larsen the property if a market value could be agreed to? The consensus ofthe Commission is that they would lease the property. ONeil said an agreement would have to be reached with Larsen. Robnett suggested a fee of $ 150 per month. e. Iowa City School District lease- The Iowa City School District leases about an acre of land in the northeast comer of the Airport. The property is part of Lot 95 of the ACP. Ellis said the Commission could terminate the lease after a 60 -day notification. ONeil said the Commission leased the property to ICCSD last year but did not sign a lease. This was because of the uncertainty of the marketing of the ACP. Mascari made a motion to sign a one-year lease with the School District. Robnett seconded the motion, and at roll call vote, the motion passed 3 - 0, with Anderson and Ruyle being absent. E United States Army Reserve lease- ONeil said a lease was included in the packet. The USAR was paying $ .076 per square foot in their old lease. They would agree to pay $ .087 on a new five year lease. ONeil said a public hearing would be required. Robnett said she thought the USAR should be charged the same as the ICCSD. She said a fee schedule should be included in the lease. ONeil said he would develop a fee schedule and send it to the USAR. g. Obstruction removal project - ONeil said he met with Mike Donnelly from Stanley. They discussed the project and O'Neil will discuss it next week with FAA officials. It. Environmental Assessment and Section 106 project- Dick Blum, from H.R. Green Co. said there is an issue that has come up that will need to be dealt with before the project can get started. That issue is whether or not the Airport has been designated as a historic district. Blum said he has met with a couple of people who are under the impression that the Airport is a historic district. He said this could complicate the EA. ONeil said it has been declared eligible as a historic district. It has not been placed on the national register. Neither the Airport nor any other City department has requested the Airport be listed. Blum said it might cost the Airport more to implement their Master Plan. O'Neil said it is his understanding the FAA would be the federal governing body that would request the district and the FAA has not made this request. ONeil said this could effect the Master Plan projects. He and Blum will discuss this with the FAA in Kansas City next week. i. T -hangars leases- Ellis said he would like to defer this until the next meeting. He was not ready to make a recommendation yet. Because of a conflict of interest, only Ellis and Robnett will be able to vote on the lease. J. Commission by-laws- Mascari asked to have this on the agenda. He said he felt that the one Commission member that was frequently absent should be replaced. He said he thought the chairperson should write a letter to the Mayor. Mascari said this has been discussed with the Commission member. Mascari made a motion to have the Commission chairperson write a letter to the Mayor, requesting John Ruyle be replaced. Robnett seconded the motion. The motion passed 3 - 0, with Ruyle and Anderson being absent. k. Public Service Announcements- Robnett said she discussed this with Jet Air to have both the Airport and Jet Air mentioned in the PSA. She said there are teams of people at the University of Iowa that will help with PSA's. She said she would like to see if there is a team of marketing students that will help with a marketing plan. Robnett said it would be helpful to have airport events on the community calendars. Mascari said he saw an ad by the Library. He wanted to know who paid for the production of the PSA. He said it was a lengthy ad. ONeil said he would call Susan Craig and see who pays for all the production costs of their PSA's. 1. 2003 budget items - ONeil provided the Commission with a list of budget line items to consider if they wanted to reduce the budget. One of the items was the DTN weather radar service. Mascari said there is a web site that cost $ 75 per year and it provided weather reports that were updated approximately every 10 minutes. He thought that would be less expensive than the DTN weather service. He said they would have to buy a computer, and purchase internet access. The question is whether that would be less expensive than the DTN service. Mascari said ONeil suggested the cleaning service could be reduced by 1/3, from three times a week to two times a week. Mascari said he thought it should be reduced by 1/2. He would like to have the cleaning service come in once a month. The airport maintenance worker could empty the trashcans on a daily basis. Mascari said he would like to charge the hangar tenants a five -dollar a month electricity fee. He said if you can afford an airplane, you should be able to afford an additional $5 per month. Mascari asked about the computer replacement fund? He thought the $ 900 per year was excessive. He said this line item should be eliminated or at least reduced to $ 200. Ellis said instead of putting money in the replacement fund, it should be a one-time budget item in the year that the computer needs replacement. Mascari wanted to know if the Commission could stop putting money in the vehicle replacement fund? He said that when there was a vehicle that needed to be replaced, the Commission could look in the paper and find a good used vehicle. ONeil explained the vehicle replacement fund to the Commission. ONeil said there have been times when the Airport has not replaced a vehicle if it is still in good condition. Mascari said he would like to get out of the vehicle replacement fund and the computer replacement fund. O'Neil said he had included on the list the possibility of selling the snow blower truck. He reminded the Commission that when the tractor was replaced last year, a tractor was purchased that could handle a snow blower. This would be a far less expensive piece of equipment to own and maintain than the snow blower truck. An arrangement could be made with the Street Department to use their endloader-mounted snow blower if it was needed. Mascari wanted to know where the money would go if the truck was sold? ONeil said it would be credited to the Airport budget. Mascari said he would prefer not to sell the truck. Robnett asked if the Commission gets out of the equipment replacement fund, could they get back in at a later date? O'Neil said he would meet with the Equipment Superintendent and get answers to the Commission's questions. Robnett said she thought the advertising budget should not be cut. She said the money could. be used for production costs for the PSAs. Mascari agreed the money for advertising should not be cut. Mascari suggested having a $ 5 per month electricity fee for all t -hangars. Ellis agreed and the Commission instructed ONeil to have this on the July agenda. Ellis also thought the Commission should consider turning off the runway lights for Runway 07/25 and having them on a remote pilot -controlled radio switch. Robnett said she thought the budget should remain as it is and the Commission could concentrate on cutting expenses. If the money is needed, it would be there. Mascari asked about the ITS line items. ONeil said one is for computer replacement, one is for on-line service, and the last is ITS charge -back for technical assistance. O'Neil said he thought the exercise of going through the budget again was an important exercise, but he thought the budget presented to Council was as lean as they could get. Robnett agreed. She said she has dealt with several University budgets and thought the Airport budget was tight. ONeil said the main problem, that was obvious to everyone, was not the spending side of the budget. It was the significant drop in the revenue side when Iowa City Flying Service defaulted of their contracts. Blum said he had a historic perspective on why the runway lights are left on all night on RW 07/25. In the past, all the lights were radio -controlled. Runway 12/30 was used the most. As the residential area developed at the approach end of RW 12, the complaints about night flights increased. When the lights were left on for Runway 07/25, pilots were more likely to use that runway and the complaints became minimal. Ellis wanted to know if an attorney needs to be at the every meeting? Mascari and Robnett both thought it was important to have an attorney at every meeting. Ellis said he has been to other City board and commission meetings and they do not have an attorney present. Dulek said she would be at the meeting whether the Commission was paying for it or not. Ellis suggested the Commission hire an attorney outside of the City Attorney's office. He said the Commission should have an attorney review their documents before they go to the City Attorney's office. Robnett said she is looking into that. She did not think the Commission could afford an outside attorney. Ellis said maybe they could afford a paralegal. Blum reminded them that the Airport Manager is a paralegal. Ellis said the City Attorney's office does not provide business advice like a private attorney would. Dulek said she is looking out for the Commission's best interest. She said she disagrees with Ellis's statement that she is only looking out for the City in general and not specifically the Airport Commission. Ellis said the next item on the memo from O'Neil was the travel and education budget. O'Neil said this was for the FAA and IDOT aviation conferences, as well as travel expenses associated with meetings with FAA officials. Mascari said he felt those meetings were important and would not like to see any reduction of that line item. Another suggestion for increasing revenue was to lease out the second floor of the Terminal Building. Mascari said the idea was to have another City Conference room. The policy is to use the room for aviation uses or for other City departments. ONeil said because the room can not be isolated from the rest of the building, it becomes a staffing problem to use the room after hours. Mascari said the Commission should not micro -manage this issue. He said the Airport Manager should take care of the room like he has in the past. The next issue discussed was to attempt to reduce the amount of mowing done at the Airport. ONeil said it takes about 30 hours a week to mow everything at the Airport. Another issue discussed was to reduce the snow plowing. O'Neil said the Commission could only plow the snow during regular business horns. That would reduce fuel costs and overtime. Ellis said that would reduce the utility of the Airport and was also an issue of safety. ONeil said he would not recommend changing the way snow is plowed at the Airport. Robnett said she reviewed the budget and complimented ONeil on the way the budget has managed over the past years. ONeil said this is the second or third time the Commission has reviewed next years's budget in detail and he said he does not think there is any "fluff' in the budget. Ellis said there was another issue on the Manager's memo for items to review. That was the cost of living adjustment for the Airport Manager. He did not think this should be discussed at this meeting. Mascari said it is in line with other City employees. ONeil said it was on the list because he thought the Commission should review all the budget items that they have control over. He did not mind talking about it at a public meeting if the Commission wanted to. Ellis said the Commission has an obligation to review their budget and look at any areas that could be reduced without affecting the ability of the Airport to provide the services expected. Ellis said, in his view, there just isn't anything left to cut. All of the 2003 capital projects were already eliminated. He said the only real significant cuts would result in firing employees. The city has stated this would be a last resort to cutting the budget. Ellis said he does not think any employees should be fired. He would like to send a letter to the Council, stating the Commission has reviewed the budget again and does not think any significant cuts can be made without affecting safety issues at the Airport. He said this should come from the Chairperson. He would like to let the Council know that the Commission reviewed the budget closely. Ellis said some things, like cutting back on the cleaning, may mean the Terminal Building will not look as nice as it has in the past. Mascari said the Commission had just spent over half an hour discussing the budget and could only come up with about $ 1000 worth of possible cuts. O'Neil said it was an exercise worth doing, if for no other reason than to affirm that the budget sent to the Council was fairly tight. Robnett said the Commission needs to concentrate on increasing the revenue. She said this is where they need to work more closely with the Council. There was a discussion about tie down fee. ONeil said the FBO does not lease the tie -down area. Johnson, from Jet Air, said the fee is for use of the tie down ropes supplied by Jet Air. CRAHEPERSON'S REPORT: Ellis said he had three issues. One is having a separate attorney. Robnett is working on that issue and has contacted some aviation organizations for information. Ellis does not think anyone should be able to use the bulletin board in the flight planning room unless it is aviation related or has been put on there by the Commission or Airport Manager. He said a separate bulletin board should be used for non -aviation items. Mascari said Ellis should talk directly to the FBO. Ellis does not think the FBO should use the board for free advertising. He said the room should look more professional. Ellis said the door on the Terminal building should state that it is a public building. He said some people might get confused that they are going into the FBO instead of the public building. COMMISSION MEMBERS' REPORTS: Mascari asked ONeil what was done with the taxiway to Runway 18? ONeil said it had been ' X'd" out. Robnett said the U of Iowa College of Business would give the Commission a team of students next fall to help work on the business/strategy plan. She has also contacted professors to see about help with marketing. There may be grants to help with this marketing. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: O'Neil said a letter was sent to the tenant of hangar 461, concerning his rent. The FAA Safety Prevention program is sending someone to meet with Airport personnel, concerning safety issues at general aviation airports. They will be at the Airport at on June 18, 2002, at 2:00 p.m. ONeil said the letter is posted in the flight planning room. Mascari said he would be there. Letters were sent to the six tenants in the north t -hangars, explaining to them that the rent they sent to Iowa City Flying Service in March should have been sent to the Commission. They will have to pay the Commission and recover their rent from ICFS. ONeil said he had heard from two of the tenants. As requested by the Commission, a memo from Dulek was included in the packet, explaining the Consumer Price Index. There was a picture in the Chamber's newsletter, showing the ribbon cutting ceremony for Jet Air. O'Neil asked what the Commission wanted to do about the tie -down issue? Ellis said he thought it was all right for the FBO to charge a fee for use of the tie -down ropes. ONeil said the DNR received an anonymous complaint concerning the tires and other debris someone had dumped on the Kennedy property. Bob Pyle, from the Washington, Iowa office will be sending a letter to the Commission. ONeil said he has discussed this with Dulek. The Street Department will haul the materials away over the next month. ONeil will send a letter of response to the DNR on how the complaint will be mitigated. Money has been budgeted to landfill the materials. ONeil said a police report was filed and the police were to follow up on the complaint. SET NEXT MEETING: The next regular Airport Commission meeting is scheduled for July 18, 2002,at 5:45 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The w s djou ed at 8:57 p.m. Mar rson, Chairperson IOWA CITY AIRPORT COMMISSION AIRPORT TERMINAL BUILDING 1801 S. RIVERSIDE DRIVE SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 2002 -10:00 A.M. el©Sc tD'.00 Determine Quorum Public Discussion — Items Not on Agenda III. Joint Meeting with City Council on July 1, 2002 IV. Adjournment aiTortVca�agd.doc cUOSi-� w;A L/