ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION

April 6, 2010

MINUTES

MEMBERS PRESENT: ALAN DEBOER, DAVID WOLSKE, LARRY GRAVES, BOB SKINNER, LINCOLN ZEVE, RICHARD HENDRICKSON, TREG SCOTT, ALAN BENDER

STAFF: SCOTT FEURY, MIKE FAUGHT

MEMBERS ABSENT: BILL SKILLMAN, RUSS SILBIGER

Visitors:  Gary & Eva Voget, Glen Ward, Chris Adams, Brittany Wise, Michelle Scarlata

CALL TO ORDER:                   9:33 AM

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 2, motion by Hendrickson for approval, second by Graves, unanimous vote, minutes approved as written.

Additional Items:  

Public Forum: Public Comments below regarding noise

OLD BUSINESS:

A.     AIP Project Engineering Design: Fleury informs Commission that the City has received 50% plans from Reid Middleton for the Design portion of the AIP project. Fleury and City staff will review plans and there is a scheduled meeting with the consultant engineer to discuss redlines. Reid Middleton will then incorporate the 50% revisions and create 100% plans for final review. The final review will take place in May and the project will be open to public bidding late May. The City of Ashland will not know if it is to receive the Discretionary Funds from the FAA to complete the construction project until September 15^th of this year. If the City does not receive the Discretionary Funds this year then the construction phase will slip until Spring or Fall of 2011. Fleury also informs the Commission that he will be presenting the Connect III taxi-way project application to the Local Area Commission on Transportation on April 13^th. The Local Area Commission will rank the projects and then forward them on to the Regional Commission on transportation for another set of rankings. Fleury also working on grant applications for the dedicated Five Million for rural airports.

B.      Airport Website Development: Fleury asks Commission members for aviation and Airport related photos to post on website. Zeve to work towards gaining access into the old website so that a forwarding link can be placed to send people to the new website. The Commission would like to see an icon or tab on the front page of the City website that would send people directly to the Airport section. The only way to find the Airport page is to type Airport into the search field, unless you know the Airport is managed by the Public Works Department and go to that homepage. Fleury to check with Ann Seltzer regarding the addition to the homepage.

C.    Brim training tower – Lease/Flowage/Noise: Gary and Eva Voget attend meeting to discuss noise as it relates to helicopter operations on site at the Airport. Voget’s would like to understand the current and future use policies as they relate to helicopter training noise on site. They state that the noise pollution and environmental impacts need to be addressed. The Voget’s state that the approved planning documents show a 65db noise contour around the Airport and that as the noise rises peoples patience will dim and they will take action against the Airport.  They also feel that home values will diminish as the noise increases.  Skinner states the training is a new addition to the use of the Airport and is acceptable and approved use of the property. The City and Commission are learning the scope of training since this is a new activity. Skinner has spoken with Brim Aviation regarding concerns of noise and safety on site. Brim Aviation has stated they will perform a majority of their training offsite as weather allows. When weather does not allow them to fly offsite they need to perform training requirements as per their contract onsite. Zeve states that he understands the Voget’s frustration as it relates to there homes proximity to the Airport and the noise that is generated. He also states that Brim Aviation is indeed trying to be good neighbors and train as much as possible offsite. Vogets are concerned about the training tower being built at the Airport to support the hover training exercises. Graves states that Brim Aviation has a 90 day training contract with Shanghai Police officers that will end in April and the training tower will not be built. Wolske would like the Commission to be proactive and help generate a comprise solution to the noise issue. Skinner states the Airport receives Federal Funds and it must comply with fair use standards, but at the same time be good neighbors to the community. The Voget’s wrote a letter to the FAA regarding the noise and the FAA stated it is the responsibility of the City to manage noise related issues on site. They would like to see all training performed offsite and recommended the Weed Airport, Montague and private properties to perform requirements of training contracts. Wise states that the majority of there time is spent training at alternate locations and that some situations call for them to train on site. She also states that the FAA prefers them to train on site because safety services are in close proximity in case of accident. Wise states that they have areas all around the Airport where they do not fly in order to minimize impact to the surrounding neighbors.  Wise says that she and Michelle sit in the neighborhoods around Oak Knoll while the training is going on to gauge how loud the noise actually is and they also know residences in the same neighborhood that do not have issues with the noise. Wise states that Brim Aviation is looking into sound meters and having an acoustical engineer provide a sound analysis from the training operations. Scott thinks that quantifying the sound would be a good idea by Brim Aviation. Graves states that the Airport Commission is a volunteer Commission that works towards resolving all Airport related issues and that what Brim Aviation is currently doing is legal, but not fully acceptable to the Citizens with residences around the Airport. The City and Commission will work towards a compromise and solution to issue. Zeve states that he would like the City and the Legal Department to recommend a next step for noise mitigation as it relates to future training. The Commission asks all those affected by the noise to bear with them and the City while they work towards a solution. This is the first time a situation like this has occurred and time is needed to develop guidelines for usage on site. Zeve thanks the Voget’s for attending the meeting and voicing there concerns.

Discussion turns towards the storage area lease and flowage fees for Brim Aviations operations on site. Fleury states that since the tower will not be built a new lease specifically for the rolling stock storage area will need to be developed by the City and Legal Departments. The issue then lies with land use approval of the area for storage. If Brim does not have or receive land use approval to use the area then he will be required to remove the equipment. Fleury and Faught to research the land use approval area with the Planning Department in order to generate a new lease for the storage area. Wise states that Brim does not have an issue with paying a lease fee for the storage area. DeBoer charges the City with enforcing all rules and fee’s associated with usage at the Airport as they apply to Brim Aviation. Faught states that he will work towards development of a new lease and start collecting the required fee’s from Brim Aviation. Fleury would like to proceed further with creating an Ashland Airport self fueling permit that permit holders would have to satisfy in order to fuel personal aircraft on site. Fleury states that he contacted the Fire Department regarding Brims fueling from truck on site and they would like to inspect his equipment and make sure it meets local fire code. The City needs to have documents on file that show the spill prevention plan and other safety procedures as they relate to the on site fueling of Brims helicopters.

D.     Airport Day: Wise and Scarlata on had to discuss plans for Airport Day. Airport Day will be held on Saturday May 22^nd from 8am to 4pm. They day will start with a pancake breakfast; there will also be a BBQ lunch around noon. Scarlata states they will have many children friendly activities throughout the day.  Kids activites will include a bounce house, weather station construction, sidewalk chalk areas and helicopter rides provided by Brim Aviation. Fleury asks for a brochure from Wise and Scarlata to post on the website that will give people more information on the activities planned. Zeve would like to see some information placed in the City Source May issue discussing Airport Day. Fleury to contact Administration to have some information placed in the City Source. Fleury states that the Main St. banner was reserved for the week and they should try to get a request in for next year as soon as possible in order to reserve the week and have banner placed. Safety is still a concern for interaction between kids/people and planes. Adams from CAP will work with Wise and Scarlata to develop a marshaling plan. Skinner to also be involved in safety planning issues.

E.      Security Camera System: Fleury states he is waiting for the Information Technology Department to get back to him regarding pricing and installation Airport. Fleury states that money is tight in the Airport budget until the end of the fiscal year and that once the new fiscal years starts he will push for purchase and installation of two cameras to be placed around the FBO building as a start. As stated at the previous meeting the security camera system the City currently uses at its 90 North Mountain location is fully expandable and all information will be backed up on the Cities servers.

F.       Educational Curriculum: Graves states that he is still trying to make contact with the director of Science Works to develop a work plan for an aviation curriculum. Scott states that Mark Delarenzo the director has been very busy lately and will make contact with him to discuss a physics of flight program with components to be based at the Airport. Adams from the CAP states that they have a FLY Teacher program that could be beneficial as an educational program.

G.    CAP Lease: Adams states he has received the letter from the City to the CAP regarding construction of a new lease document similar to Medfords that has rate reductions for “in-kind” service. He thinks this is an acceptable solution and will work with the City and CAP to develop a list of “in-kind” services. He states that the CAP has not been involved in search and rescue lately as they have been in the past, but they are working towards a more involved interagency cooperation agreement with the Jackson County Sheriffs Department to be more involved in future search and rescue. Adams also states they boat will be removed from the hangar as soon as possible.

NEW BUSINESS:        

A.     Rental Rate Establishment: Fleury and Faught discuss rate increases with the Commission. The Airport fund is still projected to be seven thousand behind for the 2011 budget year do to the debt requirements of the above ground fuel storage system and the hangar construction. Faught reminds Commission that one of there main goals is to be financially self sufficient and they need to raise rates in order to meet this goal. Faught also states that the Airport contingency fund is only five thousand dollars and they really need to generate a surplus to increase the contingency fund in the future. If any major problems were incurred the Airport would need to use an interfund loan to complete any projects, if not covered by the FAA’s non-primary entitlement monies. Fleury presents rate increase sheet to the Commission for approval and recommendation to Council for adoption. Fleury states the January CPI-U was 2.6% and that is the number that was used to increase lease rates and that the rental rates should go up by approximately 5%. DeBeor states that since his lease is up for renewal there will be the addition SASO requirements placed on it and that will add another three thousand dollars of revenue to the Airport fund in addition to his standard yearly lease payment. Commission reviews Fleury’s rate increase recommendations. Motion by Graves to accept rates and shown, 2^nd by Hendrickson, all approved. DeBoer recluses himself from the vote do to a conflict of interest as an owner of hangars for rent at the Airport. DeBoer would like a copy of the project FY11 budget sent to Commission members for review. Fleury to forward copies of the FY11 budget.

B.      Neil Creek Riparian Restoration: Fleury goes over planning email with Commission. The Commission would need to schedule a pre-application conference with the Planning Department to discuss plans for riparian improvement along the Neil Creek corridor. In the pre-app stage the Commission would need to provide general drawings of what they would like to accomplish including plantings and how this would be accomplished. Fleury’s time is limited currently and will need Commission help to proceed further with this goal. Wolske is interested in help further the goal and will contact SOU to see if they would assist in developing a restoration plan along with performing some baseline research into restoration plans.

C.    Unicom Frequency License: Fleury and Skinner state that the license for the Unicom Frequency has expired and needs to be renewed. Commission members ask how this information was obtained. Skinner states that he received and email from a company that does the required paperwork to renew the license. Commission members think it might be a scam and do not think the license is needed. Fleury to contact FAA or ODA and determine if a FCC license is truly needed.

D.     DeBoer Lease: Fleury states the lease for DeBoer’s hangars has been written along with the required SASO and asks Commission if they have any comment before the lease is sent to City Council for approval. The lease will be for a ten year extension and uses the current approved lease template. Commission has no comments. Fleury to have lease placed on consent agenda for the first meeting in May.

E.      Commission Appointments: Fleury states there were two applications received to fill the vacancies from DeBoer and Silbiger. There were an additional two applications received for reappointment, one from Zeve and one from Skillman. The Mayor will make his appointments in June.

AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:

A.                 Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports: Skinner states that Bob Delsman has an issue with the door pins at his hangar and that Fleury should work with Skinner to find solution. Fleury to meet with Skinner and Peters from facility maintenance to inspect and determine a fix. Skinner also states that he has been working with Brim Aviation to find an acceptable on site area to perform the required hover training and that any  safety concerns that occur he immediately deals with. Skinner waiting for activity to pick up as the weather improves.

B.                  Maintenance Updates – No new updates. Maintenance work will continue as time and weather allow.

C.                Brown Bag: Graves attended brown bag meeting with Mayor. Graves states that the Mayor would like to hear about all issues on a regular basis in order to be proactive with solutions and that his door is always open.

OTHER:

The meeting of the JC airport commission is the third Monday of the month at 12:00 PM.

NEXT MEETING DATE:  May 4th, 9:30 AM

ADJOURN:  Meeting adjourned at 11:34