Airport Commission

Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission Meeting Minutes September 21, 2022 LOCATION: City of Fitchburg Legislative Building TIME: 6:03 PM Attendees: Airport Commissioners: Acting Chairman, Richard Liberatore Others in attendance: Airport Manager Peter Kettle, Gale Representative Jackie Marks, Director of City Economic Development Mary Jo Bohart, City Solicitor Attn. Pusateri and via Zoom is Chairman Clayton Raymond and Co-Chair Beth Walsh. Meeting Protocol: Meeting called to order by Commissioner Liberatore Commissioner Liberatore introduced the commission members in attendance and all others in attendance in the chamber. Previous Months minutes-including special meeting minutes: Commissioner Liberatore asked for a motion to accept the meeting minutes of July as the Commission did not meet in August. Motion was made by Commissioner Walsh and 2nd by Chair Raymond to accept the July Minutes. All in favor, 3-0. 22-09-01 Action Items for previous meeting: Airport Manager Kettle asked that the Commission take and review the Action Items as a group so as not to misinterpret any information regarding these items. The Items are as follows: Building 18-Ken MacLean: Mr. MacLean received the letter from the Commission that allows him to move forward on his HVAC unit. He will install and maintain this equipment as ordered by the Airport Commission. Action: Airport Manager Kettle and City Solicitor Pusateri Valentine Eye Care: The new agreement has been drawn up by the City Solicitor and signed by the Commission Chair and the new owner of Valentine Eye Care. Just waiting for the City Solicitor to sign the document. Action: Airport Manger Kettle and City Solicitor Pusateri Mass Development Site Readiness: This Item is in the agenda for this meeting and will be discussed under Old Business.  Door to Terminal Lobby: Airport Manager Kettle reported that the work has been completed, we are waiting for a barrel lock for the door then this job will be finished. Action: Airport Manager Kettle Tie Downs (FPA-COOP): The Commission did not receive a response from the FPA in regards to the letter sent on behalf of the Commission by our Assistant City Solicitor Pawlak. This item will be discussed further during the meeting under Old Business. Action: Airport Manager Kettle RFP-7 and 9 Hangers: A document was being evaluated by Mr. Sheffles and his Attorney . They did respond and now we are waiting for Chair Raymond and the City Solicitor to look over that response document. Action: City Solicitor and Chair Raymond Roofs for Hangers 2 and 3: Work to seal those hanger roofs is just about completed. Another few days and all of the repair items to both those hangers will be finished. Action: Airport Manager Kettle Minimum Standards: All necessary information and input from the commission has been presented. The Airport Assistant Manager is putting the document together and the Document will be ready for the Commission meeting in October. Action: Airport Manager Kettle pondence to the commission: There were none received Project Review-Gale: Monthly Project Update Jackie Marks began her presentation by giving the Gale Monthly Updates as advised below. Airport Master Plan and Airport Layout Plan update – AIP No. 3-250018-029-2021 Final comments on the AMPU and the ALP were received from MassDOT on August 18th , and Gale incorporated minor revisions based on those comments. On Sept. 1st,, the Airport received Final Determination- No Objection Letter from FAA in response to the ALP. On Sept. 16th Gale received guidance from FAA regarding the poles along Crawford Street in the approach to Runway 32. FAA stated that the poles issue will not inter fear with finalizing the AMPU and the ALP. Now that the Airport has received Final Determination from FAA and guidance regarding the Crawford St. poles, The ALP can be circulated for signatures and the AMPU can be finalized. Once the ALP has been signed, Gale will prepare the Final reimbursement request and closeout documentation. Environmental and Wildlife Hazard Assessment – AIP No. 3-25-0018-XX-2022 Once the signed ALP is received back from all parties, the Airport may submit a grant application for the EA project. FAA confirmed that due to timing, the Airport would not be allowed to apply for the FY-2022 AIP funds for the EA, but they could apply for the grant this year using BIF funds once the FAA systems come back online in October. FY-2022 BIL funds will be available immediately following approval of the grant, which could take place as early as the end of this year. Other Gale Items: The Airport CIP meeting with MassDOT and FAA is scheduled for 09/29/2022. Gale Associate Jackie Marks asked the Commission for a motion that would allow Gale to circulate the ALP to MassDot and FAA for final signatures and approval. Chair Raymond made the motion and it was 2nd by Commissioner Walsh. All in Favor 3-0. 22-09-02 Gale Representative Jackie Marks then advised the commission that funding were needed to be applied to the Airport Environmental Assessment. We could apply for BIL or AIP funding. The BIL Funding would work best for the Airport as the funding could be granted as early as at the end of this year where the AIP funding would not be available till summer of 2023. Chair Raymond made a motion for the Commission to apply for the BIL Funding to fund our Environmental Assessment (EA). The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Walsh. All in favor 3-0. 22-09-03 Fitchburg Pilots Association (FPA) Airport Manager Kettle reported that the Young Eagles Event that was scheduled for August 13t h was very successful and the Pilots Association thanked the Airport Commission for their continuing support. New Business: Minimum Standards -Fines Airport Manager Kettle spoke in regards to the MS document. Manager Kettle stated that the MS were established to make the Airport a more desirable and productive place to work and have a business. Manager Kettle did express his concerns that if the MS are not followed then possible a fine could be set in place to discourage and bad business actions from happening. Manager Kettle suggested that carry-over this new Business until we could get some guidance from our City Solicitor. Chair Raymond also spoke in regards to the MS document and stated that the commission has been working hard to get this document right and perhaps if a tenant has some issues with the document then maybe we allow them time to air their concerns to the commission. The MS will be tabled until we can get guidance from Attorney Pusateri. Nagle Agreement for Hanger 10 Airport Manager Kettle reported that the Airport and the City would like to have Tenant Agreements in the future rather than having a Tenant At Will. Manager Kettle was happy to report that he had a signed Tenant Agreement from Joseph Nagle for a 20 year lease plus 5 and 5. The document would then be signed by the Mayor and City Solicitor to become active. Action- Manager Kettle Manager Kettle continued to report that he also had a signed agreement with Valentine Eye care regarding their sign on Erdman Way. Manager Kettle continued to advise the Commission that the tenants of Twin City Airmotive also liked the Tenant Agreement and that their Attorney is looking over the document to sign. And if that wasn't enough Manager Kettle added that Rich Corley, Skyline Aviation the Tenant of Hanger 1 has an Agreement in hand is waiting for feedback from his Attorney. Action- Manager Kettle This was very well accepted news for the Commission. Certainly this is the direction we want to have for all of our tenants at the Airport. It is just good business sense for the Airport, for the Tenants. G.P.U. - Bullock (Ground Power Unit) Manager kettle explained to the Commission the value of a GPU at the Airport. This unit would assist planes to start if they had a low battery. Mr. Bullock had a used one that he would sell to the Airport for $1,656.00. Manager Kettle has the funds to purchase this equipment and a Bill of Sale was put together and the transaction will be made. Action- Manager Kettle Cullen Smith Airport Manager kettle spoke in regards to a phone call and Email that he received from Mr. Cullen Smith. Mr. Smith has interest in building a 40K hanger in Fitchburg, and would like to discuss this opportunity further. Manager Kettle advised the Commission that Mr. Smiths interest fits in perfectly with our Airport Master Plan and the available space we have set aside for large hanger development. Chair Raymond added that this magnifies the importance of completing the Land Lease Agreement that is still ongoing. Completing this document will only encourage investors to to seek land opportunities at our Airport. Chair Raymond explained to the Commission that we need to move on finalizing this Land Lease Agreement. Action- Manager Kettle  Steven Dyke Mr. Dyke is the Airport new part-time Lineman and Mr. Dyke is currently working 20 hours a week. He would like to get city benefits but to achieve this he needs to work more than 20 hours. Manager Kettle explained that Mr. Dyke showed a lot of self motivation during his interview and that Mr. Dyke had a positive work ethic. Manager Kettle is very pleased and wants to see Mr. Dyke get his benefits but it has to be a vote of the Commission to allow this to happen. Manager Kettle stated that there is money in the budget for this and it would not effect any other budget line item. Chair Raymond made a motion to make Steven Dyke a 20 plus hour employee of the Municipal Airport. The motion was 2nd by Commissioner Beth Walsh. All in favor, 3-0. 22-09-03 Action- Manager Kettle Old Business: Mass Development Site Readiness. Mary Jo Bohart, Director of City Community Economic Development informed the Commission that the Mass Development Readiness Work Effort has officially begun with an in-person meeting at the Airport with the Consulting Team, with Chair Raymond and Airport Manager Kettle. The Consulting Team will be coming up with some concept layout for the non-aviation property at the Airport and the Consulting group along with the representatives from the Airport will be meeting virtually every two weeks so as to keep all parties updated and informed as things progress. Chair Raymond added that the Commission needs to keep an open mind to what is presented to the Commission. We want the full benefit of any and all suggestions that the Consulting Team brings forth to the Commission. Action- Mary Jo Bohart / Ed Starzec Tie Down. (FPA-Coop). The Airport Manager Kettle would like to create a new Tie Down fee for the purpose of enticing pilots to come to Fitchburg. Presently there are only 6 planes using the 87 tie Downs that are available. The fee of $92.64 would be changed to $10 but this may only be possible by rewriting the present Tie Down Agreement. Manager Kettle believes firmly that we can attract many planes to use our Tie Down with this lower fee. Possibly the present Tie Down Agreement may have to be changed and Manager Kettle has already reached out to the City Solicitor for guidance on this. He is waiting for the Assistant Solicitor to get back to him. Action- Attorney Pawlak / Airport Manager Kettle  RFP – 7 and 9 Hangers. The City Solicitor Attorney Pusateri spoke in reference to the RFP 7 to 9 Hangar Agreement. The Solicitor stated that he has completed the review of the document but at this time he wishes to speak further with Attorney Dawson so as to get clarification on a few items. Then the Commission will have a completed Agreement to review. Action- City Solicitor and Airport Manager Kettle The Pete Store. Action is on hold as this item is directly related to the Airport Master Plan and the Airport Layout Plan (ALP). Action- Assistant Airport Manager Deb Silvar Convergent Energy. Action on hold as this item is directly related to the Master Plan and the Airport Layout Plan (ALP). Action- Gale Financial Review: Approval of Commitments and Abatement's. Airport Manager Kettle reported that there was one Abatement for the sum of $182.58 for two months of a Tie Down fee to Mr. Greg Charest. Mr. Charest was not at the airport during this period and his plane was also removed. Executive Session: There is no executive session. Next Regular Meeting: October 19th , 2022 @ 6pm Regular Meeting Adjourned: The Commissioner Liberatore made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:13pm Recording Secretary, Richard Liberatore