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ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION
September 13th, 2011
MINUTES
MEMBERS PRESENT: LINCOLN ZEVE, BOB SKINNER, DAVID WOLSKE, RICHARD HENDRICKSON, JEFF NIELSEN, WILLIAM SKILLMAN, DENNIS SLATTERY, ALAN BENDER
STAFF: SCOTT FLEURY
MEMBERS ABSENT: SUSAN MOEN, ELIZABETH TRIPP, BOB SKINNER, ALAN DEBOER
Visitors: None
1. CALL TO ORDER: 9:35 AM
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: August 2nd, 2011, motion by Skillman for approval, second by Hendrickson, unanimous vote, minutes approved.
Additional Items:
3. Public Forum: None
4. OLD BUSINESS:
A. AIP Project Engineering Design/Connect III: Fleury informs Commission the City has made the final payment to Knife River for the construction work minus the retainage. Fleury also states that the City, Knife River and the FAA have finalized the second change order that encompasses the additional excavation required as part of the runway rehabilitation. The process took longer than expected due to quantity and price negotiations with Knife River and also the FAA was on furlough for a period of time when input was needed. In addition to the change order and payment process, the consultant engineer is currently processing all required project closeout documentation for the FAA. Neilsen inquires about the process and if the City was satisfied with the outcome and if their where any challenges along the way. Fleury states that the final payment paperwork and quantity haggling with Knife River along with the schedule delays where the biggest issues. There was a lot of scrutiny on the extra work and development of the change orders by the engineer and FAA which added process time, but overall the project benefits outweigh any extra work.
B. CAP Hangar Lease: Fleury informs Commission that it appears the Department of Defense (DOD) is not allowing the CAP to sell the hangar outright. The CAP was nearing the end of processing all paperwork required to sell the hangar outright to a private third party when the Department of Defense stopped the transaction. The City requested a contact in the DOD to speak with regarding this matter as this now puts the hangar in limbo as the CAP has vacated the space and the City is losing revenue on the site. The City sent a letter to the DOD contact explaining the situation and the three options of either donating the hangar to the City, removing it from site as per original lease or selling the hangar to a private third party. The City has yet to hear back from the DOD regarding this issue. Neilsen believes that it is in the best interest of the City to own the hangar and rent it out or conduct a public auction and sell the hangar outright. Wolske would like staff to contact the Legal Department and determine the best course of action as it relates to the hangar since it appears the CAP cannot sell it outright. Wolske would like to see if the City can start renting it out on a monthly basis or start charging CAP the approved ground lease fee until the issue gets resolved as we are losing revenue. Hendrickson agrees the City should start billing the CAP since they have vacated the hangar and its status is in limbo. Bender states that the FAA might be a good point of contact as this issue has most likely been dealt with before at other GA airports.
C. Pavement Maintenance Program: Fleury has not received a schedule of construction activities at this point and will contact the ODA requesting one in order to inform airport users as soon as possible.
D. Brim Aviation Lease Development: Fleury informs Commission he has sent Brim Aviation two letters, one regarding the first right of refusal on the spot adjacent to his current hangar and the second one regarding a lease extension to his current lease of a City owned hangar. The first right of refusal letter was with regards to the spot adjacent to Brims current hangar. Brim previously placed a $2,000 deposit on the site and had planning approval to construct a new hangar on said site. The planning approval has since expired and Brim through a conversation with DeBoer stated that he is still interested in developing a hangar and would like a first right of refusal for the site with another deposit if there are other interested parties. The second letter details discussions with previous staff about the extension of his current ground lease to offset the building improvements that he had done. The letter explains that even though previous staff had stated this as a possibility only the City Council can approve lease extension to City owned buildings/structures. The letter stated that Brim, City staff and the City Attorney should have a meeting to discuss issue.
5. NEW BUSINESS:
A. Good Neighbor Policy: Wolske states that the current issue of the Sneak Preview has another article regarding Brim Aviations search and rescue training operations of Chinese Police. The article dealt with Brim training on public land and if he had the correct approval to perform this training on the public land. Commission asks if there is another training currently going on? Fleury states that he is unaware of a current training and Skinner is absent from meeting to comment. Fleury states that he has not received a complaint this month regarding any helicopter operations, just an email inquiry about an increase in fixed wing traffic around the Griffin Creek area. The email inquired about the increase in traffic since approximately April of this year. Fleury contacted Skinner to discuss any recent increase in operations and Skinner stated that traffic is up due to summer, but down overall as compared with last year and also the runway was closed from mid May through June 22nd, so there was no fixed wing traffic out of Ashland. Commission to continue monitoring for noise related issues and work with operators to reduce localized impact.
B. FBO Lease Addendum: Fleury informs Commission that the meeting scheduled for August 25th was cancelled due to the fact that Skinner was flying fire spotting missions in Roseburg. The meeting will be rescheduled to September 29th at 9:30 am in the Siskiyou room. Wolske asks when Commission will be presented with a draft of the lease addendum. Fleury states that he thinks the subcommittee should have a 50-75% draft done prior to the October meeting that the Commission can review and comment on. Fleury also states that he believes there will be key points of discussion at the October meeting that will require Commission input.
C. Zoning Ordinance: Fleury would like to put together the subcommittee at the October meeting and have the first meeting in late October. That will allow enough time to put the FBO lease addendum to bed and preparation for the zoning subcommittee.
D. Office Elections: Due to three members being absent at this meeting the election of Chair and Vice Chair will be postponed until the October meeting. Fleury to send an email to all members explaining this and if they are unable to attend the next meeting to let staff know of a nomination if they have one.
6. AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:
A. Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports: Skinner not in attendance due to fire spotting missions in Roseburg. Fleury states that the FBO report for June was sent out via email the previous week. Zeve asks about an updated economic impact study for the airport as the previous one was the 2008 ODA study. Commission would like to work with Southern Oregon University to develop a new study. Bender will talk with representatives from SOU about them taking this on as a project. One of the issues developed with the previous SOU study was not having enough feedback and contact information from pilots, specifically transient pilots. Hendrickson would like to see the sign in sheet at the FBO office improved to include more data as this would help the students for the study and also the City as a contact reference for future closures or projects that could affect transient activity.
B. Maintenance Updates: Fleury mentions that the piles of trees have been chipped up. Fleury also working towards having the Street Department fix the drainage problem with Stan Bartell’s hangar. Hendrickson states that the occupant of the hangar next to his has had water percolate through his concrete floor in the past as well, but not in his own hangar. Peters still needs to finish installing the security camera system at the airport. Neilsen inquires if anyone has had or heard of any issues with the SuperAwos moving to 122.8? Commission has not heard of any issues regarding the frequency change. Hendrickson states that the hangar number on the side of his hangar is falling off and would like it re-attached. He stated that Skinner was notified of its condition, but has not heard back regarding it being fixed. Fleury states that the Street Department will start hauling off grindings and that staff is still determining the best course of action regarding filling in the granite areas around the hangars. If grindings are used then an emulsion will be required in addition to assist in the compaction of the material. Fleury did also speak with the Street Department regarding the placement of a thin layer of asphalt in those specific areas instead of the grindings as this will create a better compacted surface.
C. Brown Bag: No attendance at brown bag meeting.
D. Transportation Commission: Wolske did not attend previous meeting.
E. Medford Airport Update: Bender reports that the previous Medford meeting did not have a quorum. Bender states that overall GA activity is down significantly and that commercial activity is down but only to a small degree.
7. OTHER:
The meeting of the JC airport commission is the third Monday of the month at 12:00 PM.
8. NEXT MEETING DATE: October 4th, 9:30 AM
ADJOURN: Meeting adjourned at 11:16