Agendas and Minutes

Airport Committee (View All)

Airport Commission Regular Meeting Minutes 7/3/2012

Agenda
Tuesday, July 03, 2012

ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION
July 3rd, 2012
 
MINUTES
 
 
 
 
MEMBERS PRESENT: DAVID WOLSKE, BOB SKINNER, RICHARD HENDRICKSON, LINCOLN ZEVE, JEFF NIELSEN, WILLIAM SKILLMAN, ALAN DEBOER
STAFF: SCOTT FLEURY, BARBARA CHRISTENSEN, DAVID LOHMAN, MIKE FAUGHT
MEMBERS ABSENT: DENNIS SLATTERY, ELIZABETH TRIPP, NICOLE DORAN, SUSAN MOEN
Visitors:  Burl Brim, Shawn Adams
 
CALL TO ORDER: 9:30 AM
 
  1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: June 5th, 2012, motion by DeBoer for approval, second by Skillman, Nielsen abstains, minutes approved as amended.
 
Additional Items:  None
 
  1. Public Forum: Burl Brim and employee Shawn Adams from Brim Aviation in attendance to discuss their approach and departure procedures and the request of the City to use the runway instead of their current pattern. Brim states that current regulatory guidance states that rotorcraft must avoid the flow of fixed wing aircraft. Brim states that if the City requires him to use the standard patterns that the regulatory agencies in control of his operations, in this case the Flight Standards District Office, should put the request in writing to allow a change to the requirements for operations at the Ashland Municipal Airport. In addition Brim would like a hold harmless agreement from the City if he does comply with the request and the complaints increase. Brim states that he believes the complaints will increase if he uses the approved fixed wing pattern and that the City and Commission should not risk an increase in complaints from a variety of other individuals to mitigate the complaints of one individual. Brim plays a video of both patterns for the Commission to review. The first portion of the video shows Adams taking off from the hangar and flying east over the mountains. The exposure time is 27 seconds before the helicopter is completely away from any development. The video shows minimal impact to development from departure pattern. The second phase of the video shows Adams using the runway departure pattern and climbing to the same elevation of 500 feet at ¼ mile. The video shows an impact to horses, the winery property, the Voget’s property and the exposure time is well over a minute to the surrounding properties. After completion of the video the Commission thanks Brim for its development and giving the Commission a chance to see visually what occurs on approach and departure patterns for both options. Brim states that he has eliminated a majority of his onsite operations to minimize impact to surrounding properties and that he can’t and the city should not keep bending to accommodate one individual’s complaints. He explains the one complaint received in March was due to the fact a new pilot flying into the state was not informed on the proper procedure. Brim also believes that he would and the city would expose themselves to certain liabilities by going against current regulations for rotorcraft. The Commission believes that finding the middle ground for both neighbors and operators would create the best outcome and they would like to review all information and discuss at next month’s meeting.
 
  1. OLD BUSINESS:
  1. AIP Project Engineering Design/Connect III: Staff informs Commission that the closeout report is complete and has been accepted by the FAA. Staff has received and paid the final engineering bill for the project and is currently working on the final FAA grant reimbursement. Once the final reimbursement has been received by the City staff can develop the Connect Oregon III reimbursement request for the 5% matching funds requirement.
  2. Power Pole Storage: Staff informs Commission that the Electric Department is moving through the planning process to gain approval for using predetermined site as power pole storage. They will be going through a site review process and local noticing will take place. Staff to update Commission as we move through the process. 
  3. Tree Trimming: Staff states that the tree blocking the beacon light has been trimmed and is currently being process through the Tree Commission for removal approval. Staff will have Terra Survey out shortly to perform the required survey in order to develop the plan sheet for topping of the trees through the approach slope of runway 30. The project will be bid in fall of this year and work still start after fire season. 
  4. CAP Lease: Staff states the 25 year ground lease for Nielsen and Freeborn was approved at the June 19th meeting. Staff will generate a pro-rated charge for the month of June and then a billing request for FY13 for Skinner to process.
 
  1. NEW BUSINESS:          
  1. Good Neighbor Policy: Commission would like to have time to think about Brims presentation and will review and discuss at next month’s meeting more thoroughly. Staff to send out information presented by Brim on regulations in next month’s meeting packet for all to review. Skinner states no other issues for the previous month.
  2. City Recorder Training: Barbara Christensen, Recorder and David Lohman, Attorney are present to discuss commission policies and procedures. Christensen states that it is a City Council goal to provide Commissions with the necessary tools to perform their duties. Staff is currently reviewing code requirements for Commissions and is looking for feedback on changes that could improve Commissions ability to perform duties. This includes review of how attendance is viewed under the eyes of the ordinance and how excused and unexcused absences can get you removed from a Commission by the Mayor. They would also like comments towards how chairs are elected and how long a chair can serve. Christensen discusses public records and how even a private computer used by a Commissioner can be reviewed by public records request if Commission business was conducted using said computer. Christensen reviews meeting rules, no quorum no meeting and all meetings are publicly open, held within City limits and the meeting must be noticed 36 hours prior to the meeting time. She also relays the fact that minutes are not to be a verbatim transcript of the meeting but provide an overall summary of the discussion points. Lohman discusses ethics and how the City’s ethics rules are more restrictive then the states. The main points revolve around receiving gifts. Gifts can be ok if the same thing is available to all citizens of Ashland or if you are representing the Commission at an event for a ceremonial purpose and a meal is paid for. Commission members or staffs are not allowed to except any gifts of monetary value that are not available to everyone. Specific issues arise when the giver has a legislative or administrative action and staff or commission members have a voice in the outcomes of said actions. Lohman also reviews conflicts of interest for the Commission. Conflicts of interest usually revolve around a financial detriment or benefit for yourself or family members. If a Commission member has an actual conflict of interest they should not participate in the discussion. If they have a potential conflict of interest that could be a detriment or benefit they should disclose and participate in the discussion. If staff or Commission members have a question about conflicts they can contact the City attorney and he can discuss options with Commissioners. The exemption to conflicts of interest is if the impact to a decision impacts you in the same way it would a class or group of people. Commissioners should be impartial, have the public interest as their primary concern and render fair decisions. Commissioners acting as individuals should represent the whole of the Commission with its ideas and opinions.
  3. ODA Inspection Report: Staff reviews ODA inspection report that was received just prior to the previous month’s meeting. The main items are the encroaching trees in the approach slope, which will be handled in fall. Other issues include the curb at the run-up area on the 30 end, signs within the object free area that do not have frangible mounts, a couple of lights/retro-reflectors that are damaged and a broken windsock frame. Staff informs Commission that he spoke with the FAA two years ago regarding the curbing that was installed to direct drainage and the FAA had no issues with it. Staff has ordered a new windsock frame to replace the broken one. Staff will work with the Street Department to replace the signs in the object free area with the appropriate mounts. The issue that still needs to be worked out is removal of the weeds that are growing through cracks in the existing asphalt. The only true way to kill the weeds is the spray with a herbicide but Public Works has been following the Parks Policy of no spraying on City property. Staff to continue to work on this issue.
  4. FBO RFP/Lease: Staff informs Commission that Legal has finalized the draft version of the FBO lease for review. Staff would like to setup the final lease subcommittee meeting to review the lease prior to the August regular meeting. Meeting set for July 19th at 9:00 am in the Siskiyou room. Staff to forward a copy of lease agreement to everyone shortly.
  5. Attendance Policy: Staff informs Commission that the attendance report for 2011 and 2012 to date is attached to the packet for review. This report will be sent to the City Recorder as required by ordinance. Staff asks for comments towards the report, no comments generated.
  6. Parking: Staff informs Commission that in researching parking policies it was determined that a policy could be developed internally that would suitable for the public parking lot at the Airport. The City’s parking regulations ordinance 11.24 is attached to the packet for review. The policy could be similar to those used markets and shopping centers where a tow away time frame could be set. Commission would like to see Skinner create a draft policy to review that is similar to other airports. The Commission thinks that long people who use the lot for long term parking should be required to check in with the FBO. Skinner to draft a policy for Commission review
 
  1. AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:
  1. Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports: Skinner informs Commission that his current maintenance operations are swamped with work and that activity keeps improving with the weather. Skinner has also come to terms with a new fuel supplier, Philips 66.
 
  1. Maintenance Updates: Skinner informs Commission that the security cameras are now completely installed and working properly. No other maintenance updates. 
 
  1. Brown Bag: No update
 
  1. Transportation Commission: No update.
 
  1. Medford Airport Update: Alan Bender at meeting and gives an update of Medford’s operations. Commercial air traffic is rebounding and comparable to previous record years. Medford applied for ½ million in grant from the Connect Oregon IV for a runway rehabilitation project valued at 10 million. Alaska Airlines is building a crew base onsite.  The new oval office conference room in the terminal building will be open shortly.
 
 
  1. Action Item List: No change.  
 
  1. OTHER:
The meeting of the JC airport commission is the third Monday of the month at 12:00 PM.
 
  1. NEXT MEETING DATE:  August 7th, 9:30 AM
 
ADJOURN:  Meeting adjourned at 11:33

Online City Services

UTILITIES-Connect/Disconnect,
Pay your bill & more 
Connect to
Ashland Fiber Network
Request Conservation
Evaluation
Proposals, Bids
& Notifications
Request Building
Inspection
Building Permit
Applications
Apply for Other
Permits & Licenses
Register for
Recreation Programs

©2024 City of Ashland, OR | Site Handcrafted in Ashland, Oregon by Project A

Quicklinks

Connect

Share

twitter facebook Email Share
back to top