Airport Commission

Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission Meeting Minutes July 24 2019 PLACE: Terminal Building METTING TIME: 6:00PM Attendees: Airport Commissioners: Chairman Jack Naylor, Richard Liberatore, Dan Cunningham and Mayor DiNatale Airport Manager Scott Ellis. (Comm. Kettle and Comm. Raymond absent) Others in attendants include: Calvin Brooks City Auditor Ann Cervantes Treasurer Solicitor Vincent Pusateri 1. Meeting Protocol Meeting called to order chair Naylor  Chair Naylor introduced the commission members in attendance.  Chair Naylor asked if anyone would like to record audio (granted) and approved Comm. Liberatore  Chair Naylor asked to dispense of the reading for the public opportunity to speak. Approved 2. Previous Months minutes-including special meeting minutes Comm. Jack Naylor motion to approve Junes minutes Chair Kettle would like revisions to be made to April’s and Mays minutes and would like to table the motion until some items are revised. All agreed Vote 4-0 19-07-01 3. Correspondence to the Commission None to report 4. Project review-Gale There are Three (3) projects that Gale Associates, Inc. (Gale) is administering on behalf of the Fitchburg Airport Commission. They are:  Runway 32 End Obstruction Removal (Off Airport Property) AIP No. 3-25- 0018-26-2017 Project Description: This project is an obstruction removal project to clear obstructions identified on up to twenty-seven (27) off-airport properties in the Runway 32 approach surface in the City of Leominster. One (1) property is partially in the City of Fitchburg. Estimated Project Cost: FAA Share: $ 1,156,500.00 (90.0%) State Share: $ 64,250.00 ( 5.0%) Local Share: $ 64,250.00 ( 5.0%)  Total Cost: $ 1,285,000.00 (100%) Project Status:  Contract No. 3 (Building): Work to modify the roof of an existing structure (Contract No. 3) is completed.  Contract No. 1 (Tree Clearing): Work to remove vegetative obstructions on the Runway 32 end has been completed.  Contract No. 2 (Obstruction Lights): At last month’s meeting the Commission voted to process a change order to remove the enclosure located adjacent to the pole on Crawford Street and install the equipment on the pole itself.  Gale has prepared Change Order No. 1 for this project and submitted it to the Airport for signatures. Once signed, copies will go to MassDOT/AD and FAA for final approval. Upon receipt of the approved change orders, Gale will coordinate the work with the Contractor.  Upon completion of the Change Order work, Gale will schedule a final inspection for all three (3) Contracts.  Actions Required by the Airport this Month: Please sign and forward Change Order No. 1 to MassDOT Upon Receipt. Runway 14-32 Final Design and Construction – AIP No. TBD Project Description: This project will include the 95% and Bid Set Documents necessary to allow competitive bidding of the Runway 14-32 Reconstruction Project. This project will also include Bidding and Construction Phase Services for the new Runway 14-32. Estimated Project Cost: FAA Share:$ 13,832,100.00 (90.0%) State Share:$ 768,450.00 (5.0%) Local Share:$ 768,450.00 (5.0%) Total Cost:$ 15,369,000.00 (100%) Project Status:  The Airport has received the Independent Fee Estimate for the Runway Reconstruction Project. Gales price was within 10% of the IFE. Based upon this information, Gale has forwarded finalized Contracts to the Airport for signatures.   FAA has announced the award of a grant to the City of Fitchburg to fund the Runway Construction. Once the FAA Grant is in-place, MassDOT/AD will follow suit with the state share of the Grant.  MassDOT/AD has issued the Standard Contract for the state share of the funding for the Project as well.  Gale Associates will continue coordinating with the Contractor to review and approve shop drawings, and begin the procurement process.  It is Gale’s understanding that contracts for D.W. White and for Gale’s Construction Phase Services have been signed and forwarded to MassDOT/AD for final approval. Thank you.  At the Pre-Construction Conference held on Tuesday, July 9 , 2019. th This meeting was held to discuss operational safety on the Airport during construction. At this meeting the Contractor proposed a start th date of August 5 , 2019.  The Contractor has indicated through their Safety Plan Compliance Document (SPCD) that they intend to construct Phase I (Runway 32 end) and Phase II (Runway 14 end) concurrently. These two phases are separated by the active Runway 2-20. Gale has included contract provisions for two (2) full time Resident Engineers to be on site as needed to oversee construction in circumstances such as this. No action is necessary of the Commission at this time.  The Contractor has clarified that while they intend to construct Phases I and II concurrently, they still anticipate a winter shutdown at the completion of Phases I and II. Actions Required by the Airport this Month: None at this time.  Install Self-Serve Fuel Farm and Distribution System – ASMP No. TBD Project Description: This Project will be for the design and construction phase services relating to the installation of an above ground storage tank (AST) and distribution system for self-serve Avgas Sales at the Airport. Estimated Project Cost: FAA Share: $ 0.00 (0%) State Share: $ 64,671.20 (80.0%) Local Share: $ 16,167.80 (20.0%) Total Cost: $ 80, 839.00 (100%) Project Status:   Gale has prepared a Scope of Work for this Project and submitted it to MassDOT for review. Comments were received from MassDOT in mid- February and the Scope of Work has been revised to reflect those comments. MassDOT is now preparing an IFE for the project; once finalized, the Airport may compare Gale’s fee to MassDOT’s Fee. o Update: Gale has reached out to MassDOT on April 11, 2019 and April 17, 2019 to inquire about the IFE. No response was received. th o Update: Gale has reached out to MassDOT on April 29 , 2019 and May 27, 2019 to inquire about the IFE. No response has been received.  Due to the delay in the Independent Fee Estimate from MassDOT, and the lead time on procurement of the tank and dispensing system, the 2019 Project has been changed from Design-Build to Design Only. Gale has submitted revised Contracts to the Airport which reflect the change in Project Scope. Moving Forward, Gale will assist the Airport in applying for a FY2020 grant to fund the Construction through MassDOT/AD’s ASMP Program.  Gale has prepared the first (and only) PV packages for reimbursement of the design and bidding of the Project. These were hand delivered at tonight’s meeting for signatures. Upon signing these PV packages, Gale will send them via overnight delivery to MassDOT/AD for nd processing by the August 2 deadline for Fiscal year 2019 projects.  Moving forward, Gale can either amend the original contract to include the Construction Phase Service; or issue a new contract for the 2020 construction project. In either case, Gale’s cost will increase by approximately $10,000 to cover the administration of the second grant.  Gale has finalized the Pre-Applications and Grant Applications for the Construction of the fuel farm project and were delivered to the Airport at tonight’s meeting.  Actions Required by the Airport this Month:  Please sign and forward the pre-application and grant application for funding of the Construction through an ASMP Grant.  Please direct Gale on how to proceed with contracting for the Construction Phase Services.  Other Items:  It appears as though the FAA will be releasing an additional $500M in supplemental funding in fiscal year 2019. This notification was sent out a Program Guidance Letter (R-PGL 19-01) dated June 3, 2019. At this time no additional information is available regarding the program  requirements, but FAA has indicated that it may be similar to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2018, or it may be completely different.  No new information has been released to date. 5. New Business A. Airport Rent Billing Procedures Calvin Brooks (Auditor City of Fitchburg) Ann Cervantes (Treasurer City of Fitchburg) introduced themselves to the commission. Mr. Brooks states the treasures office will now be responsible for the billing of rents and leases at the airport. The commission received a sample invoice for review which is in-line with standard practices for acceptable billing procedures. The treasures office will receive the checks for rent or leases and will have the ability to track receivables. The Airport commission will still be responsible for any abatement’s which may occur and all abatements will only be approved by a vote by the commission. Action Item Mr. Brooks’s states end of each month the treasures office will send a ledger to the airport and a copy will be available to the commission. Action Mr. Brooks will send copy to the airport for the commissions review. B. Airport Fuel Billing Procedures- Calvin Brooks is concerned over some of the existing practices the airport is currently using to charge credit cards for fueling. Having cash and credit cards on hand are a particular concern of Mr. Brooks. The current system exposes city employees to liability. It is suggested to no longer accept cash as payment any monies on hand will be drawn down to zero and cash will no longer be accepted. Motion by Chair Naylor to end the current cash policy as of September 1 2019 2nd Comm. Cunningham Vote 4-0 19-07-02 C. Hanger Construction- Senate Deb Silvar reports Senate construction is communicating with the Solicitors office the commission will be expecting to hear from Senate construction a next month’s meeting. Solicitor Pusatari states he has been in contact with Senate construction and has asked for some preliminary drawings to determine the size of the space desired. Action Senate will provide the commission with a detailed drawing of the proposed hanger. D. Solar Farm-RFP Scott Ellis has been in touch with the FAA land use compliance department (Jorge Pantelli) concerning the change of use of space for a solar farm on the south side of runway 14/32. This space will be landlocked after the new runway is completed and would be an ideal location for a solar farm. Action Scott Ellis will advise on FAA land use compliance before moving forward with RFP  E. FACT Weed Control – Scott Ellis has received a complaint through Comm. Kettle concerning the FACT lease property. A member of FACT is not satisfied with the weed control efforts on their property. Scott Ellis has taken care of the weeds since the complaint was received and will continue to remove weeds as needed. 6. Old Business A. Promoting/ Marketing Fitchburg Municipal Airport Chair Naylor would like to schedule a ground breaking ceremony to announce the Runway project. Action Jack will advise commission of date B. Autumn Air services (Cornerstone) Scott Ellis: contacted cornerstone to address the arrears. No Action at this time. This subject will be tabled till next month’s meeting Action Scott will advise C. Panama Productions rodeo The event will not be able to take place at the Airport because of the Run-way project Action Scott will advise Panama of this decision by letter or Email D. Low flying Aircraft Noise abatement Scott Ellis has inquired about a noise abatement sign to be place at the airport and is looking into having a sign being posted when the new run-way is completed. The sign will be reminder to the pilots to avoid the noise abatement area. 7. Financial review. FY 2020 Airport budget has been approved by the city council on June 5 2019. The Fiscal year is nearing the end and a final report will be ready at next month’s meeting. 8. Managers operation report`  Scott Ellis would like to address as many issues at the airport concerning hanger maintenance while the next few months will be a very slow period for the Airport while the run-way construction project is underway. 9. Next Regular Airport Meeting August 28 2019 6PM at terminal Building Fitchburg Airport 10. Executive Session Required NO  Motion to adjourn Chair Naylor seconded Comm. Liberatore 19-07-03 Vote 4-0  Conclusion 7:55  Recording secretary Clayton Raymond