Airport Authority

Athens Airport Authority Meeting April 24, 2018 3:00 p.m. Athens Flight Center - Conference Room Authority: Lester Shindelman, Chair Beth Higgins, David Asman, Michael Pierce, Allen Seymour, Bayne Smith Airport: David Fluck, Interim Airport Director Angela Dalton, Airport Billing Coordinator Robert Hiss, ACC Assistant Manager A. Public Comments: Sharyn Dickerson, ACC Commissioner, noted that she met with Mr. Fluck and Ms. Dalton concerning an event she will be holding at the Airport. It will be a meet and greet with herself and the candidate for District 2 on Wednesday, May 2nd, and they will be conducting tours of the terminal. B. Approval of March 20, 2018 Authority Minutes: Approved as submitted. C. Zoning: N/A D. Airport Manager Reports a. Financial Reporting: Mr. Fluck reviewed the monthly report provided by the ACC Finance Department as of March 31, 2018. b. Operating Report: The operations report compiled with data received from the Control Tower Chief has been updated and was reviewed. c. Runway Project Update: Mr. Fluck noted that UGA was informed of the closure and scheduling options have been discussed to try and accommodate the fall athletic schedule so that the majority of the work on runway 9/27 is complete prior to mid-September. The bid package contains submittals for 3 proposed schedules that includes a regular timeframe, an accelerated option, and an option to accommodate fall traffic which breaks the project into 2 phases. The bid package will be released May 1st and will be due on May 31st. The option chosen will depend on the cost and funding available. d. On-Call ASD Consultant RFP: Mr. Fluck updated that the RFP, as revised and agreed upon at the March Authority meeting, will be advertised this week for a period of four (4) weeks. A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for May 9th, but not mandatory. Questions that may be asked during this meeting will be recorded and answers will be distributed through an addendum to the RFP. Mr. Fluck also discussed the review process once the proposals have been received and noted that he will submit a proposed review schedule for the committee that will review the proposals. Consensus of the Authority was that the review committee for the proposal will consist of 3 Authority members (Mr. Shindelman, Ms. Higgins and Bayne Smith) and 3 staff members including inviting Ryan Moore, ACC Economic Development. E. Chairman Update: Mr. Shindelman noted that the goal for the next few months is to work on the strategic plan. Catherine Bennett, ACC Organizational Development, will be the facilitator for developing the strategic plan and the processes involved. He also noted that until an updated market study is completed, the strategic planning process will be limited. F. Old Business a. Airport Director Search: Mr. Hiss noted that the opening period has closed and approximately 36 applications were received. ADK Consulting has narrowed that to 10 applicants and performed an initial video interview which was forwarded to the Manager’s Office and Human resources for further processing. A meeting of staff has been held to vet the 10 applications received and narrowed to 2 applicants. Human Resources is in the process of scheduling the interviews. b. Incentive Plan: Ms. Higgins noted that she has worked with Mr. Hiss on a draft plan and the ASD committee will discuss and review at their meeting this afternoon. c. Authority Bylaw Changes: Mr. Shindelman distributed a first draft of his recommended changes. He will post to Google Drive for the members to review and comment prior to the next meeting. G. Operations Committee a. General Aviation Customer Satisfaction Surveys: Mr. Asman noted that he and Mr. Shindelman met with staff to discuss this topic and sample surveys were reviewed. He noted that it may be beneficial to hold the survey until after the notice of the runway closure has been sent to all tenants. Currently the surveys will mainly focus on tenants and hangar maintenance issues, with a more in depth survey of stakeholders to follow soon. b. Peer Airport Review Process: Mr. Shindelman noted that as part of the strategic plan, he has evaluated trends, facilities and other factors from 9 identified peer airports in an effort to determine what types of additional services/facilities our Airport could provide that may not be currently offered. H. Air Service Development Committee a. SCASD Grant Update: Ms. Higgins noted that all supporting documents to the grant proposals were published last week, but to date award selections have not been announced. She also noted that discussion should begin for compiling a submittal application for the next proposal. b. Marketing & Promotion Partner Status: On hold until award notifications are announced. c. ASD Working Group: The list of previous working group members was distributed. Mr. Shindelman requested that the Authority review and submit recommendations for changes and/or updates of the members. d. Demand Analysis: Customer Segmentation – UGA & OLLI@UGA: Mr. Shindelman distributed a customer segmentation/needs spreadsheet that he has researched and compiled. He noted that he is trying to make contact with each group to discuss their needs and has received and analyzed travel data from UGA and found that Washington DC was the most visited. He will continue to work on this initiative.  He also noted that OLLI, an active UGA retiree group, has agreed to allow him to survey the members. He and Ms. Dalton will be conducting a presentation and tour of the Airport for this group in May and he as requested time after to develop a focus group. He will be working with Ms. Bennett to develop a list of questions to ask at that session. I. New Business a. FY18 Airport Annual Report: Discussion was held on how best to reach the community concerning the correct narrative and direction of the airport. Mr. Hiss noted that an annual report could be published to include photos, data, accomplishments, and telegraphing ahead for the next fiscal year. He will request that the ACC Public Information Office assist in this project as they recently completed this type of document for the Unified Government as a whole. b. The Authority presented Allen Seymour with a plaque for his service on the Airport Authority and for serving as Chair for many years. Adjourn at 4:40 p.m. Respectfully Submitted ____________________________ Angela Dalton, Secretary