Airport Board

Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Airport – Bowman Field Airport Advisory Board July 29th, 2020 Meeting called by Members Present: Jim Jonas, Chairperson; Jim Jonas, Chairperson Al Messer, Vice-Chair; Tim Casey; Randy Type of meeting Monthly Meeting Johnson; John Lombardi; Eric Cortright Minutes taken by Carlye Hansen Members Absent: None Staff: Greg Bahr, Airport Manager; Carlye Hansen, Planning Department Secretary; Terry Vermeire, Commission Representative Others Present: Sarah Jones, Deluxe Engineering via Conference Call AGENDA TOPICS Call to order The meeting was called to order at 7:04 a.m., by Jim Jonas, Chairperson. Approval of Minutes A. February 26th, 2020 Motion was made by Tim Casey to approve the minutes from February 26th, 2020; seconded by Eric Cortright. Motion passes 6-0. Manager’s Report – Greg Bahr, Airport Manager 1. Pavement Maintenance The pavement is nearly completed. There was some extra oil left over, so Greg had them put it on the entrance road to smooth it out. They are planning on finishing this project this afternoon. 422 is completed. 1735 is partially complete. There is a one year warranty on the project and they will return in 30 days to paint markings. Right now they have put a light paint on the oil and they need to wait until the oil absorbs and then repaint the final lines. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County • Bowman Field • 1022 MT Hwy 48 • Anaconda, MT 59711 1|Page  Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Airport – Bowman Field 2. Project Schedules Right now the beacon project is still another two to three weeks out. Sarah Jones stated that there will be GEO Tech sampling and prep for the apron replacement will also be taking place here pretty soon. 3. Grant Money Greg stated that at this point the airport is sitting really good financially as all projects are being paid for by multiple grants and the Board has not had to ask the County for any funding at all. 4. Budget Greg did have his meeting with the Commissioners and Bill Everett, CEO, in regards to the upcoming year’s budget. He only asked that they get new mower and blade. This will help to eliminate quite a few of the passes they will have to make on the lawn, especially along the runways. 5. Maintenance Right now, unfortunately, Greg noted that there was a light out on the beacon. He had been hoping they would hold out until after the beacon replacement. He said that he would go ahead and change this. Jim did ask Greg about the usage of LED lighting, but right now that is so expensive. He was thinking that they could possibly ask Northwestern whether there were any programs to help them if they were to ever go this route. Greg has also been talking with Jim Greil, and they are looking at a grant for next year for the amount of roughly $280,000, and this would be used to replace our DigiWx with an AWAS system. With the new system, the FAA takes over all maintenance. For the time being, the DigiWx has been working okay, but if there is ever a glitch, either him or Randy are able to reboot the system. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County • Bowman Field • 1022 MT Hwy 48 • Anaconda, MT 59711 2|Page  Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Airport – Bowman Field 6. Usage The airport has actually been closed for the pavement maintenance and is due to reopen this evening effective 7 p.m. It has been very slow due to Covid as they are not seeing near the jet traffic with the Ranch on Rock Creek. All they have had is a few jets and few general aviation. Tim Casey asked about what is going on with Rick Tabish and Premiere. At this time, that will not be happening, so it is pretty definite that the fuel farm will not be happening. Eric Cortright asked what other options we currently have for the fuel farm and Greg stated that he always has his eyes and ears open and is always looking, John asked where the closest Jet A supplier is and apparently this is in Deer Lodge. 7. Fly In Right now, the fly-in is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, August 22nd. At this point, there will be significant Covid-19 precautions taken and at this time, the Grumpy Old Men will be at the helm doing the hamburgers and hot dogs. At this time, Carlye will look into some of the legalities and regulations that are in place for events such as this. Manager’s Report – Sarah Jones Sarah stares that she feels Greg covered it all in his manager’s report and she has nothing else to add at this time. New Business Carlye just wanted to let everyone know that she will be getting out the invoices out for the hangars sometime by the end of this month. Miscellaneous/Public Comment Eric just wanted to ask for an update on the fence. Greg has ridden around and states that all is good and the foliage is filling in around it nicely. There has been no issues with any spring runoff and no other water issues. Greg did note that the beaver dam was dug out in March, and he thinks they are rebuilding downstream. They did have a pretty significant dam built up, so hopefully by removing this, there won’t be so much flooding for the time being. Anaconda-Deer Lodge County • Bowman Field • 1022 MT Hwy 48 • Anaconda, MT 59711 3|Page  Anaconda-Deer Lodge County Airport – Bowman Field In regards to hangars and hangar rentals, Greg is still waiting to hear back from Darrin Novak. Currently, he has five individuals looking for hangar rental space. Steve Walters did purchase Mr. Novak’s airplane, but nothing has been happening with the hangar. At this point, he is thinking that he may just sent the information to Ben Krakowka, County Attorney, and see what options the Board may have to get Mr. Novak’s airplane hangar back. Next Meeting Date TBD Adjournment Motion was made to adjourn the meeting by Tim Casey; seconded by John Lombardi. Motion passes 6-0. Respectfully Submitted, Carlye Hansen Carlye Hansen, Planning Department Secretary Approved November 25th, 2020 Anaconda-Deer Lodge County • Bowman Field • 1022 MT Hwy 48 • Anaconda, MT 59711 4|Page