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Agendas and Minutes

Airport Committee (View All)

Airport Commission Regular Meeting Minutes 1/3/2012

Agenda
Tuesday, January 03, 2012

ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION
January 3^rd, 2012

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT: LINCOLN ZEVE, DAVID WOLSKE, JEFF NIELSEN, SUSAN MOEN, ALAN BENDER, ALAN DEBOER, WILLIAM SKILLMAN, BOB SKINNER, RICHARD HENDRICKSON, DENNIS SLATTERY
STAFF: SCOTT FLEURY, MIKE FAUGHT
MEMBERS ABSENT: ELIZABETH TRIPP
Visitors: Mark Freeborn, Nicole Doran

CALL TO ORDER: 9:30 AM

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: December 6^th, 2011, motion by Moen for approval, second by Zeve, unanimous vote, minutes approved as amended.

Additional Items: None

Public Forum: No Comments

OLD BUSINESS:

AIP Project Engineering Design/Connect III: No new updates for the closeout of the AIP project.
CAP Hangar Lease: The Commission previously discussed the CAP hangar and the option to take the hangar since it has been abandoned since April and it appears the process keeps getting stalled on selling or donating the hangar. Commission asks staff the status of CAP hangar? Fleury informs Commission that through a sealed bid process the CAP has sold the hangar to a private 3^rd party. This sale still needs to be approved by the CAP National Council in order to be finalized. Fleury does not know the time frame associated with the final approval, but will look into it. Fleury also states that the lease can be terminated by either party with a 30 day written notice. DeBoer motions: The City should exercise its 30 day termination requirement within the lease, 2^nd by Hendrickson, all approved. The Commission would like this done in order to have CAP speed up the process of passing on ownership of the hangar and set it in motion that if the hangar is not sold then the City can start charging the CAP an actual ground lease fee until such time that another person or entity takes ownership of the building.
QT Technologies: Wolske states that the Commission waited to weigh in on the level of service agreement until Skinner was present and able to comment. Skinner states that the platinum level of service has been purchased for the fuel station since its installation and it covers all parts and repair of the system completely. The system is getting older and has had a couple issues previously that have been repaired promptly under the platinum service level agreement. Fleury states that the City has budgeted for the platinum level service agreement. Skillman states that you know what you are buying when you buy the platinum level of service as compared to buying a lower tier and hoping that a major issue does not come up that sends the total cost over that of the platinum level. Motion by Moen to renew platinum level service, 2^nd by Skillman, all approved.
Pavement Maintenance Program: Wolske asks if staff has found out what if any weed treatments the pavement maintenance contractor will use onsite for the crack sealing and patching to be performed in spring? Fleury states that he has not yet contacted James Kirby from WH Pacific regarding the use of herbicides on site but will do so prior to next meeting.
Entrance Sign: Staff informs Commission that the Airport can replace the existing entrance sign with a new sign up to 60 square feet and five feet high. A sign permit must be obtained and approved through the Planning Department. The sign permit will show all pertinent information on it including verbiage, dimensions, materials and location. Fleury states that the City can purchase a new entrance sign and that any onsite business can purchase their own placard to add to it. DeBoer would like to see the onsite businesses get together purchase and install the sign. Skinner states that previously the City purchased and installed the sign. Wolske wonders if a subcommittee should be formed to work on development of a new entrance sign. Commission would like to have staff research who develops the signs for the Parks Department and other municipal signs then work towards developing an appropriate sign for the Commission to review at a future meeting.

NEW BUSINESS:

Good Neighbor Policy: Wolske reviews with Commission the letter posted and sent out to users regarding following approved approach and departure paths for Ashland Municipal Airport if at all possible to minimize impact to surrounding property owners. This was in response to a complaint received regarding a low flying helicopter over a private property. Skinner states that he has noticed a few more operations using the proper approach and departure patterns since the letter was posted and sent out. Skinner also states that at higher use commercial airports the guidelines require helicopter operations to stay away from fixed wing operations, but Ashland should not be considered a higher use commercial airport and therefore if at all possible, all pilots should use the proper pattern. Skinner states that the key is communication in the patter between all pilots so everyone is aware of what is going on if there are multiple pilots in the air at the same time. Skinner also informs Commission that he had not received a complaint in December regarding airport operations. Commission to continue to do its due diligence and work with operators to reduce impact to area surrounding airport.
FBO Lease Addendum: Wolske states that per the last meeting the addendum was at the Legal Department for review and editing and has been for period of time. Commission at that time asked Faught to discuss situation with Legal so the ball is not dropped as it has been previously. Fleury states that he had a 2 hour meeting with Lohman last week and that he has a 90% draft complete. Fleury would like to schedule a final subcommittee meeting for the addendum discussion on the 26^th of January, and Commission agrees that January 19^th at 9:30 am would be a better time. Fleury to obtain draft lease documents from Lohman and distribute them to subcommittee members prior to the January 19^th meeting. It is the expectation that all final discussion regarding the lease addendum be complete at this meeting then a final draft presented to the Commission in whole at the February meeting for a final review. Once the addendum is complete it will be presented to the City Council for final approval.
Zoning Ordinance Subcommittee: Fleury goes over a conversation with Molnar regarding the simplification of the planning process with regards to hangar construction onsite. Molnar stated that the new airport layout plan (ALP) developed in 2005 has not been adopted into the city’s comprehensive plan and needs to, in order for planning to have pre-defined sites for construction. Once the ALP has been adopted into the comprehensive plan the City can move forward with developing a ordinance that will allow construction of hangars onsite through a building permit and not include site review and a formal planning process. Faught and Fleury to work with Molnar to develop a strategy to adopt the ALP into the comprehensive plan and also simplify the planning process for hangar construction. Zeve states that currently it appears that the only people who can truly develop hangars onsite is the City as they are the last ones to build. Skinner states that the issue now for development of a group of T-hangars is the required infrastructure to support them including taxiways, water, sewer, electric and gas utilities. There are spots for conventional hangar construction, but these would be better served by single developers as it would cost the city more to build and rent single hangars then it would to construct a bank of T-hangars. DeBoer states that currently we have the old open hangars that could be closed in by private individuals or the City and rented at the higher closed rate since people are more willing to rent a closed hangar then a shade hangar. Currently there are two shade hangars vacant and the City is losing revenue by not having them rented out. There are people on the waiting list for closed hangars and by closing in a few or all of the shade hangars with city should be able to fill all the hangars. Skinner previously received bids to close in all the hangars and or one at a time. Skinner to research a new bid for the enclosing the shade hangars and determine if any current tenants of the shade hangar would be willing to pay the higher rate for a closed hangar if the City where to proceed forward with enclosing the hangars. Wolske would like to see some action on this item prior to next month’s meeting in order to weigh the pros and cons of the City proceeding forward with the enclosure construction. Skinner states that he will obtain new bids and forward to Fleury at the City for review.

AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:

Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports: Skinner states that he contacted a couple of companies to obtain new quotes for skinning and installation of the new maintenance hangar doors. The quote received so far was similar to the previous quote of approximately 20k for the complete project. Skinner is still waiting for two more quotes. Skinner states that activity has been spotty over the past month and typical for this time of year.

Maintenance Updates: Wolske asks if staff has looked into the grading/cleanup of the west fill section of the runway. Staff has not looked into cleanup of the west area adjacent to Neil Creek and will most likely wait until summer when the area is dry and ready for mowing. Staff is also working on obtaining the quote for changing over the PAPI lights to a pilot controlled system rather than having them run continuously.