Airport Commission

1 FITCHBURG MUNICIPAL AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Date:- Wednesday 21st January 2015. Commissioners present:- –Joe Poznick - Chairman. - Jack Naylor, - Peter Kettle - Commission Secretary - Commissioners Brousseau & Walker not present. Meeting called to order @ ---- 18.03 A request was made by Commissioner Kettle to tape record and Mike Lally to video record. Request accepted by Chairman Poznick. Approvals for this month to be 15-01 1. Chairman’s Remarks:– Review Meeting Protocol. 2. Correspondence:- No correspondence received this month. 3. Approval of Minutes:- Chairman Poznick made a motion to approve the December 2014 minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Naylor. All in favor. 4. Consultant Report/Gale Associates – Matt Caron – (See Attachment I) 4.1 Final Environmental Impact Report. (See attachment 1A) The FEIR narrative is currently being finalized and was ready for dispatch on the 14th Jan for filing with the FAA. The FEIR is currently published in the Environmental Monitor. The FEIR decision will be made on the Feb. 27th meeting. A hard copy of the documentation was passed to the Commission together with a CD. According to Matt there should be no major hang ups on request for approval. 4.2 Phase I Avigation Easement Acquisition. Gale advised that offer letters for the purchase of easements were sent to Phase I property owners on Dec. 12th 2014. Responses have been received back from some of the property owners and their representatives/lawyers. Details will be discussed within the Executive Session following the meeting to expand on current situation. 2 4.3 Phase II Avigation Easement. Matt advised that Gale has coordinated with all property owners included in Phase II and conversations have been fairly positive to date. The title search work is under way and Gale will provide the Commission with copies of each report once received. 4.3 Phase III Avigation Easement Acquisitions and Permitting. 4.3.1 Matt advised that approximately 14 of the 22 property owners have been contacted and again this will be covered with the Executive Session. 4.3.2 It should be noted again, that the FAA’s position is all permits for construction/tree clearing projects must be in place with the FAA by December 1st of the preceding year in order to submit a grant. Gale has coordinated this with the FAA and as the Phase I Easements are well under way, the FAA is allowing some flexibility on this to be now implemented by the 15th March 2015. 4.4 Runway 14 end Obstruction Removal and Aeronautical Survey. (Off Airport Property) Matt advised that this is still being finalized to the effect that something should be available from Gale by January month end for consideration by the Commission. 5.0 Old Business 5.1 Noble Air Update. Airport Manager Scott Ellis advised the Commission that Unitil had installed the electrical connection to the trailer and that Noble were now working on the inside of the trailer. Noble has also installed a couple of banners advertising their company, that fall within the Airports requirements. Commissioner Kettle advised that he had been to view the inside of the trailer and that Dave Noble indicated he was very happy to be at Fitchburg. Scott reiterated that Noble will be charged for land only, at circa $.031+ per square foot , plus tie down fees. Chairman Poznick suggested that Noble Air should be on the signage outside the airport indicating they were a business on the airport and this will be actioned by Scott. ACTION:- Scott 5.2 Twin City 3 Chairman Poznick asked for an update on where we are with the Purchasing office in the City and Scott advised that nothing had taken place since the last Commission Meeting, even though Councilor DiNatale and Councilor Clark attended the last meeting. Scott advised that he had discussions with Nancy Wilson in the Purchas Office and that no action had been taken since that time. The next City Council meeting planned for 3rd March is for final approval of the moneys to repair building seven and once moneys approved we do need to work quickly. Commissioner Kettle advised it may be a good idea to follow up on all telephone, face to face discussions with members of the city by Email, confirming what was discussed and agreed and this was accepted by all in attendance. ACTION:- All/Scott Scott also advised that certain other issues with hangar 7 had been taken care of like the walkway access, fire extinguishers and door openers. However – the Emergency lights had not been dealt with due to the availability of electricians. Mark Maljanian of Twin City suggested he takes care of that and once the lights have been repaired an occupancy permit can be issued. ACTION:- Scott/Mark Chairman Poznick advised we were all EXTREMELY CONCERNED at this lack of action by the city Purchasing Department and if there is no action within two weeks, we need to look at an alternative method to get this accomplished. Chairman Poznick suggested that maybe Twin City could take on the job themselves to get the repair completed to the roof and the inside of the building in accordance with the local building codes. The costs incurred for this repair would need to be identified and agreed to by the Commission and these costs could then be accommodated by a reduction of the monthly rental for the building. A new lease would have to be assigned and agreed. Commissioner Kettle advised this was proposed last month by Deb Silvar Lally and Chairman Poznick responded by advising it was something we don’t like to do, but it may be our last resort to keep Twin City’s new venture with Cirrus a successful ongoing business. This could be a win/win situation for all. Scott was requested to provide a history to Chairman Poznick on what was discussed between the airport and the city and this will then be taken up with the city to final conclusion and action to get this issue resolved. ACTION:- Scott/All 5.3 New Admin Building – Joe Poznick/Scott Ellis 4 Chairman Poznick advised that Scott and he had been working hard over the last two weeks with meetings with the City, the Finance Committee and the Architects and they are 90% complete with the building layout and all parties are very much in agreement with this new airport building. The most critical aspect of this project at the moment is the RFP. Chairman Poznick advised that a timeline was passed to us by the architects and that Feb 15th is the deadline for documents to be approved and available to ensure no delay in the project. An RFP was passed to the City Purchase department based on a similar RFP used by the Beverly Airport (Virtually the same building configuration) which satisfied all State requirements. This was rejected by Nancy Wilson as not being acceptable. The building, the OPM and the Clerk of the Works, together with the restaurant design are items that need to be satisfied and are a cause for concern which all need to be addressed and could delay the building project. It was also advised that no signs will be on the building other than the Fitchburg Municipal Airport. Any signs that need to identify what is in the building will be mounted on a sign- post adjacent to the building, similar to the signage at the entrance to the airport. 5.4 Hangar Space Policy – ( Attachment II) Scott presented a document to the Commission members for review on a New Hangar Space policy for transient airplane visitors and used intelligence from other local airports . He advised that prices range from $30 to $65 at local airports to Fitchburg and proposed that we should fall somewhere in the middle of the range. The standard used was a linear measurement between the nose and the tail + the wingspan of the aircraft. Therefore for a typical Cessna 172 the most popular aircraft in the world the overnight stay would be at $42 per night. Commissioner Kettle requested an addition to the sheet to identify a typical airplane type, as well as the linear size and cost per night and it to be posted for all to see. ACTION:- Scott Chairman Poznick made a motion to approve the new document. Seconded by Commissioner Naylor. All in favor. 15-01-01 5.5 Fuel Contract update – (Shell letter Attachment IV) + Proposal passed to Commissioners present for review) Chairman Poznick advised that Scott and he had discussions with a couple of fuel providers. This item will be discussed in the Executive Session following this meeting. Deb 6.0 New Business 5 None submitted. 7.0 Financial and Operations Management Updates. 7.1 Monthly Activity Review 7.1.1 Rent Chairman Poznick asked Jeff Hill, Owner of Autumn Air why there was such a lot of money owing to the airport (Circa $9,000.00) to which Jeff answered that his account was now paid up in full, but that it had not been posted yet. FCA is up to date with the exception of the $274 which is in dispute. Skyline – is still owing a considerable amount of money but owner Ken Brown advised he will pay his bill once he has the lease for the building which Chairman Poznick is currently working on. Also the money Ken spent on the heaters is getting close to the cumulative rent charged monthly and this needs to be looked at and balanced to see where we currently stand. ACTION:- Scott Chris Lund paid off the majority of his dues with just the current month owing. Antonio Fontura – Owes for three months and he has recently got a partner on one of his airplanes and he advised his partner is responsible for the payment of the rent. Scott advised Antonio that Antonio’s name is on the rental agreement and he is responsible for the payment. Antonio advised he will speak to his partner and get him to pay the outstanding dues. No lien to be applied at this stage as Antonio is a long standing customer who has always paid his bills. ACTION:- Scott Scott advised that Twin City had informed him they will not be paying for the heating of the section of the building previously used by FCA due to the fact that they are not using it. Chairman Poznick advised that as long as they have no equipment in that section of the building this is acceptable. Scott will check this out and advise at the next meeting. ACTION:- Scott 7.1.2 Fuel Scott advised that FCA continues to pay down their dues in line with the agreement with the Commission. It was also noted that FCA has an additional airplane for hire and charges fuel to. This plane belongs to Paula Savard - 733XK and is on a lease back to the FCA. 6 It was generally agreed by the Commission that the fuel debts have diminished considerably over the past 12 months - which is great to see. Chairman Poznick made a motion to approve the Financials. Seconded by Commissioner Kettle. All in favor. 7.2 Operational Update and Managers Report Scott advised that he had been in contact with personnel from the CAP with respect to the storage of the trailers and advised them that if they did not remove them they would be charged for rent. Following the discussion someone from CAP visited the airport and measured the trailers up and advised they would be removed within the next two weeks. (Snow dependent). They also advised they will either put on new axles to move the trailers or request an area on the airport where they would cut them up and dispose of them accordingly. ACTION:- Scott 7.2.1 Customer Service Standards This is currently being worked on by Commissioner Brousseau together with Scott and was therefore deferred to the next meeting in February. ACTION:- Commissioner Brousseau/Scott. 7.2.3 Munis Scott advised that he has access to the Munis system but could not get in to the system to make changes or to use it fully. There are no exact dates when this will be available at this time. ACTION:- Scott 7.2.4 Work Assignments Chairman Poznick advised that all he is looking for is a work schedule on a weekly basis, identifying who is doing what and when ---- and this coming weeks activity should be attached to the weekly update document Scott currently passes to the Commission members. ACTION:- Scott 7.2.5 SeaSide Aviation 7 Scott advised that the plane in question is still being worked on by Autumn Air prior to it being collected by the new owner. As no lien can be applied whilst the plane is not registered – it is paramount that we know as soon as it is registered, so that we can apply the lien prior to it being sold to the new owner. Scott was asked to contact Jeff Hill in order that Jeff can advise the airport that the plane is now registered so the lien can be applied prior to it being sold. ACTION:- Scott 7.2.6 Airport Projects 7.2.6.1 Hangar 1 The applying of the pegboard to the walls is continuing and Ken Brown advised he was happy with the look of the board. Application is continuing. 7.2.6.2 SRE Overhead Board Door Financial Approval to get the door fixed has been received but this is also being held up by the Purchase division within the city. The cost to get this done is circa $2,600.00. 7.3 Ford V8 Club This subject arrived late for the inclusion in to the Agenda so it is being discussed now. Scott advised he had been contacted by the Ford V8 club for their annual Swap Meet visit to the airport on the 18th/19th April. As this has been successfully run in the past, Chairman Poznick proposed a motion to accept the Ford V8 Swap Meet on the 18th and 19th April. Seconded by Commissioner Kettle. All in favor. The meeting closed at 18.54. The next meeting will be held on the 18th February – 2015 @ 18.00 A vote was taken to go in to Executive Session to discuss Phase I, II & III status and to discuss the Fuel Contract Negotiations. All Commissioners present voted positively to go in to the Executive Session. The above meeting minutes are considered a true reflection to the best of my ability, of what was discussed. Secretary of the Commission:- Peter E Kettle Peter E. Kettle 8 9