ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION

APRIL 3, 2007

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT:              RICHARD HENDRICKSON, PAUL WESTERMAN, TOM BRADLEY, LINCOLN ZEVE, BILL SKILLMAN, ALAN DEBOER, RUSS SILBIGER

STAFF:            DAWN LAMB

MEMBERS ABSENT:  BOB SKINNER, GOA LOBAUGH

Visitors:  Kyle Hopkins, Britney Wise

CALL TO ORDER:                  9:30 AM

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:    March 6, 2007, minutes approved as written.

Public Forum:

OLD BUSINESS:

A.                 Tree Trimming RFQ Results

The Request for Quotes came in and there were several respondents, Hooper Springs Tree Service, Southern Oregon Tree Care and Tree M.D..  All responses were between $8,000 and $9,800 with Hooper Springs being the lowest responsive bidder.  The engineering staff is researching their license and insurance for compliance.  The proposal called for the project to be complete prior to June 1, 2007. 

As a safety precaution the VASI lights have been turned off until the trees are within a safe height.  This was a recommendation made by the NOTAM center and the City Attorney concurred with the recommendation. They will be turned on as soon as possible.  The lights were officially turned off on March 12^th. 

The commission agreed that tree trimming should be done on a more frequent basis.  The schedule should run about every four years.  Hooper Springs has been made aware of the urgency to have the trees trimmed down as soon as possible.

B.                 Burl Brim Development

No Report

Action: 

C.         Subcommittee Assignments

DeBoer and Bradley talked over the Brim lease and will forward the suggestions to Lamb.  Lamb will begin working with the legal department on finalizing the terms.  A draft lease will then be forwarded to Brim for his attorney to review.   Lamb asked if they had done any consideration of development phasing for the airport property. 

DeBoer asked if it would be beneficial to post that the airport has fill dirt if people need it.  Most of the city crews are trying to get rid of fill dirt they accumulate on projects.  There may be a need for someone to use it and if it is posted somewhere where people can come and remove what they need at their own expense it might be helpful.  The largest hurdle for any development at the airport is the amount of excavation required to build.  Wise commented that even the Burl Brim Excavation company has a hard time finding a place for fill dirt. 

The dirt removal needs to be supervised so as not to cause any erosion issues into the creeks.  The NPDES permit is very stringent.  The access should not be through the airport main entrance buy they should be instructed to use Airport Road to keep vehicles off the taxiways and runways. 

Hendirckson motioned for Lamb to pursue the advertising of the fill dirt to be advertised.  Seconded by Skillman and passed unanimously.

Draft Zoning Ordinance -   Lamb continued to work on a draft document.

NEW BUSINESS:       

A.        Taxiway Incursion

Hopkins has concern over the vehicles traveling down from the upper T-hangar region entering the parking lot in front of the FBO office.  The Sky Road and the intersection of this road meet at odd angles.  Hopkins is concerned about the lack of visibility and the potential of an accident at this intersection.  Hendrickson suggested doing a stop sign or yield sign.  The addition of more signs could become problematic.  A stop or yield sign with the low volume of traffic will quickly become ignored.  The Engineering staff will be working on the repaving the parking lot this summer and it would be an opportune time to redesign the parking lot layout.  Hendrickson thought a two lane direction would be helpful. 

Action:  Hendrickson motioned to have engineering staff work on a parking layout to create a safer exiting pattern from the two roads leading off the south end of the parking lot.  Seconded by Skillman and passed unanimously.

B.         Airport Day Discussion -

Wise addressed the commission on the restating of Airport Day.  Burl Brim Aviation would like to host an airport day within the next few months.  Burl talked to Skinner about his thoughts and he felt that it would be a good thing to do, but because of the time commitment he would not be willing to put it together on his own.  Skinner was open to working with Brim to organize. 

Hendrickson said the young eagles would be willing to do a pancake feed if they don’t have any conflicts.  Skillman suggested someone approach Clark Hamilton and see if he would like to be involved.  The FAA requirements for the part 135 insurance will need to be researched.  Ashland is one of the only airports that does not host an airport day.  This is a chance for the community to visit the airport.  This is excellent public relations for the airport.  Pilots need to have 500 hours of flight time to be able to take passengers.  The chance of having a company lose their Part 135 rating pulled will keep the businesses from taking any risks.  Wise will work to coordinate a date and ask for Skinner, Sky and others to participate.  Hopkins supported having an outlet for educating the public on the role of aviation.  Any event that opens the youths eyes to see what opportunities exist is a good event. 

Lamb asked for dates to ensure the parking lot construction would not interrupt the event. 

AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:

A.                 Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports

Skinner did not attend the meeting.  

B.                 Maintenance Updates –

OTHER:

NEXT MEETING DATE:  May 1, 2007, 2007, 9:30 AM

ADJOURN:  Meeting adjourned at 10:45 AM