Airport Commission

Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission Meeting Minutes June 21st, 2023 LOCATION: City of Fitchburg Legislative Building TIME: 6:10 PM Attendees: Airport Commissioners: Chair Clayton Raymond, Comm. Beth Walsh, Others in attendance: Airport Manager Peter Kettle, Mayor Di Natale, DPW Commissioner Mr. Nick Erickson, City Solicitor Pusateri and Gale Associate, Rep. Mr. Matt Caron. Note: Mayor DiNatale is a ex oficio member in attendance tonight. He is a voting member as a quarum was not fulfilled with regular Commissioners. Meeting Protocol: Meeting called to order by Chair Raymond. Chair Raymond introduced the Commission members and all others who were in attendance. Previous Months Minutes-including special meeting minutes: Chair Raymond asked for a motion to accept the May Monthly Minutes. Motion was made by Commissioner Walsh, 2nd by Chair Raymond. All in favor, 3-0. 23-06-01 Action Items from Previous Meeting: Chair Raymond advised the Commission that Action Items would be addressed in the agenda for this month. Correspondence To The Commission: There were no correspondence for this months meeting. Project Review-Gale: Monthly Project Update Gale Representative Matt Caron, made the Monthly Update presentation. Environment Assessment and Wildlife Hazard Assessment: AIP 3-25-0018-XX-2022 Matt reported to the Commission that the FAA and MassDot have awarded Grants for the EA and the WHA. The kick-off meeting held May 26th with Manager Kettle , Gale and the New Earth Consultant firm, was successful in putting together a timeline for the Assessment and scheduling access to Airport property. The Wildlife Hazard Survey field work will start June 23rd to June 25th. This will include dawn, mid-day and dusk surveys each day. Utility Expansion Study: Presented to Commission by Matt Caron, Gale Associate Matt Caron continued his reporting of the Utility Study. On April 11th, there was a meeting with MassDot to discuss ASMP funding to support this project. Gale has not yet received any feedback from MassDot, but will reach out to them to gather any information. Airport Manager Kettle made a comment about the meeting and added that there were concerns regarding the Airport Flood Plain provided by FEMA. The FEMA document was not updated so the Airport will provide the most updated Flood Plain documents to FEMA for publication. Action- Gale / Airport Manager Kettle Other Items from Gale: The Back up Generator for the Airport is still in MassDot hands. The Airport and MassDot are working towards funding solutions for this project. The Airport 2024-2026 Disadvantaged Business Plan (DBE), is due to the FAA by August 1, 2023. Gale is in the Process of preparing a draft plan and will coordinate to publish the draft for public review in the coming weeks. Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program: The Commission asked to review eligibility of a grant for EV Charging. Unfortunately we missed the deadline for filing. Manager Kettle did add that he did inquire to see if the City was taking advantage of this Charging / Fueling Grant. He was told that Liz Murphy from Community Development was working on this. Manager Kettle is waiting for a response from Mrs. Murphy. Action- Manager Kettle Fitchburg Pilots Association (FPA) Airport Manager Kettle spoke on behalf of the Young Eagles – Aero Fair event held on June 18th. There were approximately 600 people who attended the event on a beautiful sunny day. Manger Kettle had only one concern and that was the amount of young people running unsupervised throughout the property. Manger Kettle felt that there should have been more crowd control monitors to direct those in attendance. In all it was a very successful event. New Business: RFQ / RFP: Airport Manager Kettle explained that the City will be submitting one RFQ and two RFP's for the Airport. The RFQ is necessary because when an Airport Master Plan is completed, the City needs to put out the new RFQ because there are new jobs to be completed by the Consultant for the Airport. The RFQ will be sent out the first week of July. The First RFP is for the Life Flight, to build a hangar and living accommodations for the crew on duty. This RFP will be sent out the last week of June. The second RFP is for a standard Land lease for the vacant property on the old 20 runway. This RFP will also be published by the City procurement officer, this last week of June. Action- Airport Manager Kettle Old Business: Electric Charging Stations: Chair Raymond explained that we had missed the eligibility filing deadline for the grant. Manager Kettle was waiting for a response from Liz Murphy Community Development Office to see if the city had taken advantage of applying for the Charging / Fueling Grant. Action- Airport Manager Kettle Minimum Standards 2.3: Chair Raymond explained how the Commission is committed to improve the Minimum Standards that have not seen an update in more than 50 years. It is a daunting task, moving at a snails pace. There is a need for clarification of terms in the document and the Chair is hoping that the FAA will have documentation that will assist us in better understanding different areas of the MS document. Chair Raymond added that in regards to insurance, there were several different insurances used years ago. It was suggested that and insurance specialist might be needed to review these old documents. City Solicitor Pusateri explained to the Chair that the City has General Liability Insurance that covers the city. Solicitor Pusateri requested that the Chair pass on documents of insurance to him and he would have an insurance specialist review the Insurance Sections of the Minimum Standard for better understanding. Chair Raymond also added that as you make changes to the MS you are also indirectly effecting established leases on the Airport. City Solicitor assured the Commission that a full review of any and all changes to the MS document as the updating process continues. Action - City Solicitor / Airport Commission Land Lease on 20 Runway Area and Air Methods: This item on the agenda was cover under New Business. Action Item – City Solicitor /Airport Manager Hangar 1 Agreement: Airport Manager Kettle reported that both The Mayor and City Solicitor signed the agreement and the document is completed. Action: Airport Manager Kettle Greg Dinning: Chair Raymond stated that Mr. Dinning has all the information he needs to pursue his specialty flight training business here at the Airport. Action- Manager Kettle Crawford Street Safety – Nick Erickson: Chair Raymond invited the Commissioner of Public Works, Mr. Nick Erickson to speak in regards to what our options are to protect Airport property along Crawford Street from accidental car damage through the fence. Commissioner Erickson told the Commission that installing Guard Rails came with a hefty cost of 96 thousand dollars. Other options were Rumble Strips and Jersey Barriers. The Rumble Strips had a cost of 20 Thousand dollars and had no maintenance. On the other hand Jersey Barriers had a cost of 50 Thousand dollars and there was maintenance that would be needed on both the Jersey Barriers and a Guard Rail System. DPW Commissioner Erickson explained that it this time he had no money in his budget to perform any of these projects and he and the Airport Manager would need to talk with the Mayor to find available funds. The DPW Commissioner felt that considering the types of accidents occurring, he thought that either the Jersey Barriers or the Guard Rail would best suit the needs of the Airport. Commissioner Erickson continued to say that an Engineered Street Study would need to be performed by the State DOT moving forward. This would give the the Airport and the DPW Commissioner a solid plan to work with and better define the Airport needs to protect their property. Erickson will reach out to the District 3 DOT office to see if there is any available funding for this type of project. Action- Manager Kettle / Commissioner Erickson U.S.D.A.: Airport Manager Kettle informed the Commission that he is waiting for a depredation permit from the Dept. of Agriculture to be submitted to the Airport. Action- Airport Manager Kettle  P.P.G.: Airport Manager Kettle reported that the Para Gliders have started their training sessions and it is proceeding very nicely. Action- Airport Manager Kettle Financial Review: Approval of Commitments and Abatement's. Airport Manager Kettle informed the Commission that he is still waiting for a list from City Hall on tenant who might owe money to the Airport. There is an issue with the system right now so Manager Kettle will be waiting for notification. Action- Airport Manager Kettle Executive Session: There is no executive session. Next Regular Meeting: July 19, 2023 @ 6pm Regular Meeting Adjourned: Chair Raymond asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Comm. Walsh made the motion and the Chair 2nd the motion to adjourn at 6:52 pm. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Richard Liberatore Recorder