ASHLAND AIRPORT COMMISSION
March 4, 2014
 
MINUTES
 
 
 
 
Members Present: Bob Skinner, David Wolske, Richard Hendrickson, Jeff Nielsen, Bill Skillman, Susan Moen, Greg Lemhouse and Lincoln Zeve,
Staff: Scott Fleury, Mike Faught
Members Absent: Nicole Doran, Alan DeBoer, Elizabeth Tripp
Visitors: None
 
CALL TO ORDER: 9:31AM
 
1.APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 4, 2014 motion by Nielsen for approval, second by Hendrickson, minutes approved as written.  
 
2.Agenda Item Addition: Nieslen resignation.
 
3.Public Forum: No public discussion.
 
4.OLD BUSINESS:
 
A.FBO Lease: Staff informs Commission he was finally able to schedule and meet with Skinner to discuss appropriate language changes to the FBO lease document. Skinner will write in his proposed changes and staff will do the same. Staff will then combine both documents into a final document to review with Legal in order to create a final lease that can be brought before Council for approval. Commission inquires into a time frame to bring edited lease before Legal? Staff believes the lease can be edited and discussed with Legal by the middle of April. The main items discussed at the meeting were the living wage requirement and language regarding responsible parties for issues that occur onsite. Also, Skinner to review whether to start the lease now or wait until 2018. Skinner needs clarification on the living wage requirement because this will affect his decision.
 
B.AIP/Hangar Door/Hangar Enclosure Projects: Skinner states that American Industrial Door (AID) still has a couple pickup items to deal with and they include fixing leaks and retying some installation to the ceiling rafters. Skinner will work with AID to have pickup items finished. Final payment has been made for the project.
 
Staff informs Commission the FAA has decided the fence location needs to be analyzed as part of the next master plan update to occur next year. With the fence portion removed the overall engineering and construction budgets will be lower than previously anticipated. The project now will focus solely on the taxilane extensions. The project itself is moving forward and staff has a couple review items to complete and provide Precision Approach Engineering with appropriate comments.
 
Skinner to work with AID on a design build process for the hangar enclosure project. Part of the monies originally budgeted for the enclosure project were used to finish up the FBO door project. As previously discussed an option was for AID to create a design build process that could be offered to current tenants to enclose the shade hangars. Tenants could receive up to a five year fixed rental rate at the old rate if they choose to enclose. Skinner sees the project starting adjacent to the current closed hangar in the row. Tenants might be required to swap places to allow for someone to proceed forward with enclosure.
 
C.Airport Zoning: Staff informs Commission Derek Severson has been assigned to develop new overlay code language for airport appropriate development. Staff needs to schedule a kickoff meeting with Severson to get the ball rolling on code changes. Staff also recently met with Mark Knox and discussed assisting Public Works on language changes to the current code. Staff would like to hire Knox to assist in the process and perform reviews of the proposed code changes. Staff will schedule group meeting with Knox and Severson in order to start the process.
 
D.Hangar Inspections: Staff informs Commission the inspections are complete and the Fire Marshall has drafted a final report. The critical items found as part of the inspection process include using extension cords as permanent wiring, impeding movement through the hangar, blocking electrical panels, lack of fire extinguishers and individual hangar numbering. There are two options for fire extinguishers in the City owned hangars and they include installation within each hangar or installation outside the hangars every 75 feet. Installation outside would allow for one on each end and in the middle to meet the requirement. Commission would like to see the extinguishers installed outside the hangars because if there was an actual fire the tenant would need to go outside and retrieve the extinguisher. This would remove the tenant from a dangerous situation and they can still have their own personal extinguisher on the plane. The second main issue for the City is numbering the individual hangars. There are existing slots for hangar numbers and Peters from facilities believes they have spares in storage to renumber each hangar in the existing slots. If the spares can’t be found new number plaques will need to be made. Staff to draft letters to all tenants with respect to their individual issues and allow them time to remedy the situation before the re-inspection. The Fire Marshall would like to re-inspect this spring. Staff expects to give tenants 30 days to fix issues.
 
 
5.NEW BUSINESS:
 
A.Airport Good Neighbor Items: Skinner states no new issues developed over the last month. Staff asks Commission if they have any questions or would like to inform Councilor Lemhouse of anything before he needs to leave for other work related responsibilities. Wolske states some Commission issues take too long to develop with respect to routing through City Departments, for example legal review or planning changes. Lemhouse states the Council can help advocate for Commission priorities, but Department must prioritize as they see fit with current workloads. Lemhouse states it is important for the Commission to update the Council on their work and priorities and that Council has developed a means to do so now. Staff reminds Commission their Council presentation is scheduled for September. Commission would also like a chance to go before Council at the first meeting in May in order to inform everyone of the Airport Day activities. Lemhouse also informs Commission the Council will be going into their goal setting session shortly and it will be different from past years as now the Council will focus on long term goals. The Council would like to establish a clear City vision for up to 15 years. The process will take several months to complete. Lemhouse sees the airport as a benefit for long term goals including economic development in order to the City to diversify its economic resources. The goal setting process will be public and allow anyone to comment on the future vision if they so choose.
 
B.Airport Policies: Staff presents Commission with updated draft of policy/procedures document. Staff included hangar inspections, hangar waiting list and parking bullets to the document. Staff did not have time to draft wording towards a camping policy. This document is meant to be a evolving document that guides the FBO/Commission/staff in the daily operations of the airport. Commission would like to draft a policy with respect to animal’s onsite. They prefer not to have animal’s onsite around hangars and on paved areas as they present a danger to aircraft if loose.  Commission also sees the value in installation of a sign stating the animal policy. Staff to draft the camping and animal policy for review.
 
C.Nielsen resignation: Nielsen informs Commission of his intention to resign and this will be his last meeting. His schedule does not allow for the appropriate amount time to best serve the airport. The Commission thanks Nielsen for his dedicated service and asks him to re-apply in the future if his schedule allows.
 
6.AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/FBO REPORT/AIRPORT ASSOCIATION:
 
A.Status of Airport, Financial Report, Review of Safety Reports: Skinner informs Commission they have hired a new administration assistant. Skinner states the Oregon Department of Aviation (ODA) was onsite last month to inspect the facility in order to development of its pavement management program (PMP). Skinner had meeting with engineering representatives to discuss areas for improvement. ODA will get back to City with recommendations. Skinner states he has moved aircraft into two of the shade hangars and will rent them until summer and his flying increases or until a new tenant requires the space.
 
B.Maintenance Updates: Commission mentions the paint should be refreshed onsite including the taxilane centerlines and tie down T’s. Some of the tie down chains were damaged during snow removal operations in December and they should be inspected and replaced as necessary. Vegetation spraying will occur when the weather permits this spring and proper notice will be supplied to airport users. Once the vegetation is sprayed the Street Department will need to crack seal pavement sections.
 
C.Brown Bag: Cancelled.
 
D.Transportation Commission: No update.  
 
E.Medford Airport: No update.
 
F.Action Item List: Action item list updated to include animal signing.
 
G.Airport Day/Marketing: Hendrickson working with the Chamber, young eagles and others in order to facilitate airport day in May. Staff informs Commission the banner has not been located in the City storage and asks about potential wording for a replacement banner. Commission believes the banner might be located at the airport in a storage locker. Hendrickson and Skinner to search airport for banner before proceeding with purchase of a new one.  Hendrickson also states the aviation week with Science Works was a success. The Red Bird flight simulator is running properly and just waiting for users. Commission to work towards informing more people of the simulator.
 
H.Airport Users Group: No update.
 
OTHER:
The meeting of the JC airport commission is the third Monday of the month at 12:00 PM.
  
NEXT MEETING DATE:  April 1, beginning at 9:30 AM
 
ADJOURN:  Meeting adjourned at 11:12AM