Airport Commission

Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission Meeting Minutes September 20, 2023 LOCATION: City of Fitchburg Legislative Building TIME: 6:0 PM Attendees: Airport Commissioners: Chair Clayton Raymond, Commissioner Beth Walsh, Commissioner David Ginisi, Commissioner Richard Liberatore. Other in attendance: Airport Manager Peter Kettle, City Solicitor Vinny Pusateri, Mayor Steve DiNatale and Gale Associates Jackie Marks and Matt Caron. 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 July Minutes. Motion was made by Commissioners Ginisi, 2nd by Commissioner Walsh to accept. All in favor, 4-0. 23-09-01 Action Items from Previous Meeting: Utility Expansion Study: Mgr. Kettle reported that he did speak with MassDot and the FAA and they will not support any utility cost for a private venture. Mgr. Kettle continued to say that FAA grant funding would be available if the City was building a hangar complex for lease to aircraft owners. Mgr. Kettle is putting together a construction quote on 20 T- Hangars and 20 Box Hangars and will present his findings to the Commission and the City Council. Mgr. Kettle believes that the City could recover the cost for these 40 hangars in about 15 to18 years. Action – Mgr. Kettle Minimum Standards: Chair Raymond stated that the Commission will discuss this in the regular agenda under Old Business. Action- Chair Raymond Financial Review: Mgr. Kettle advised the Commission that the City still has not given the Airport Mgr. the information he needs but City Hall is still working on it. Action- Mgr. Kettle / Anne Cravantes Security Badge Request: Mgr. Kettle explained to the Commission that an Aircraft Service Tech came on to the Airport to do an annual service but did not have the required liability insurance policy which prevented him from doing the service. Mgr. Kettle demonstrated that the Minimum Standards document and its required policies have to be accepted by all who want to do business at our Airport. Action- Mgr. Kettle Correspondence to the Commission: There were none. Project Review- Gale: Monthly Project Update Gale Representative Jackie Marks made the monthly update presentation. Environmental Assessment and Wildlife Hazard Assessment: AIP 3-25-0018-XX-2022 Jackie explained that the next round of dawn, mid-day and dusk surveys are scheduled for October 11th thru the 13th and may include two evenings of small animal trappings. Gale is currently in the process of preparing the Environmental Assessment draft. This draft will be prepared for preview and discussion with the Commission at the October meeting. A public notice announcing the EA will be prepared for posing by October 1st. Similar to the Master Plan project and the DBE program, this announcement should be noted on the Airport page of the City Website. Gale Associate Matt Caron spoke about the Utility Expansion Project. Gale has been speaking with Phalen Construction regarding the Master Plan and why hangars are in specific locations. Such as general aviation is closer to Crawford Street and the larger Box hangars are closer to the main runway. Matt continued to say that this was the best plan to separate General Aviation from the Corporate Aviation. Phalen Construction are working together with Mgr. Kettle to come up with a quotation to build 20 “T” Hangars and 20 Box Hangars which will be presented to the City Council for a loan of about one and a half to two million with a pay back over 15 to 18 years. Airport Mgr. Kettle did say that he has received some layout designs for the hangars and was still waiting for additional information from the company before presenting this information to the Commission and City Council. Fitchburg Pilots Association (FPA): Airport Mgr. Kettle received notice that the FPA who would like to have another Young Eagles Event on October 15th running from 10 to 2. The Commission would need to approve this event. Chair Raymond made a motion of approval and Commissioner Walsh 2nd the motion. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-09-02 New Business: RFP for Non-Aviation Land Lease: Airport Mgr. Peter Kettle explained to the Commission, with the Airport Master Plan completed and approved by the FAA, Mgr. Kettle believes that this is the best time to put out the RFP for the Non-Aviation Land Lease at the Airport. The RFP has been submitted to Mary Delaney, the Chief Procurement Officer for the City, and she will begin putting it together as soon as she gets more information from the Commission as to how we want to present the RFP. Both the Mayor and City Solicitor believe that this RFP for the Non-Aviation Land will bring in valuable revenue to both the City and the Airport. Action- Airport Mgr. Kettle Procurement Requirement Vote: Airport Mgr. Kettle received a letter from Mary Delaney in regards to the process needed f or publishing the RFP to interested and qualified participants. Mary explained that there is an alternative route we can use that will allow us to test the market and identify interested parties through a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI). Mary continued to say that the RFEI would serve to determine the level of interest and provide us with a pre-qualified list. We can then better consider all proposals and decide which ones are viable. The Commission all agreed that this alternative proposal ideally would work best for us. Chair Raymond made a motion to move forward on the Alternative Plan and Commissioner Walsh 2nd that motion. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-09-03 After a brief discussion of the two parcels in question, the Chair amended his motion to include proceeding with the declaration that the land area available is 519,759 sq. ft. and 178210 sq. ft. as surplus property not for Aviation use. Chair Raymond made the motion to include both parcels and Commissioner Walsh 2nd that motion. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-09-04 Old Business: RFQ Update: Airport Mgr. Kettle informed the Commission that there was just one applicant and that was Gale Associates as the Airport Consultant. Chair Raymond praised Gale for their tireless commitment for the betterment of our Airport and the Commission looks forward in continuing our relationship with Gale. Chair Raymond made a motion to continue the Gale Consulting contract and his motion was 2nd by Commissioner Walsh. All in favor, 4-0. 23-09-05 RFP Update: Mgr. Kettle explained to the Commission that two individuals were interested in the 12,000 sq. ft. lot next to hangar #10 but only one, Mr. Joseph Spinelli responded to the RFP. Mr. Joe Nagle who is a present tenant on the Airport in building hangar #10 also shown great interest in building on that 12K sq. ft. lot but within a three year time period Mr. Nagel has never moved forward in an attempt to make claim to that parcel. The Commission felt as though we had given Mr. Nagel ample time to build on that property and we also feel that the 12,000 sq. ft. lot should rightly be awarded to Mr. Spinelli. Mr. Spinelli did speak to the Commission members and explained what he was going to build on the lot and what he was hoping to do in the future for the Airport. Chair Raymond asked for a motion from the Commission to grant the 12,000 sq. ft. lot next to hangar 10 to Mr. Spinelli. Commissioner Walsh made the motion and Commissioner Ginisi 2nd that motion. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-09-06 Action- Mgr. Kettle Land Lease N Number Holdings: City Solicitor Pusateri stated to the Commission that the final edit of the Land Lease Agreement was sent to the City and Attorney Pusateri needs to verify the this final edit is correct. This document for the Life Flight Hangar can then be adopted. Action- Mgr. Kettle / City Solicitor Minimum Standards 2.3: It was reported by Chair Raymond that this document is still being managed by the Chair. Action- Chair Raymond Crawford Street Safety- Nick Erickson: Mgr. Kettle has been in contact with Commissioner Erickson from the City DPW and Commissioner Erickson did speak with MassDot who will be conducting a street safety analysis in the very near future. Commissioner Erickson will have more information for the Commission at the next meeting. Action- Commissioner Erickson / Mgr. Kettle P.P.G.: Mgr. Kettle reported that the Powered Para-Glider group are requesting use of the Airport again for Sept. 25th to Oct. 2nd. Mgr. Kettle is waiting for a response from the group Action- Mgr. Kettle Financial Review: Approval of Commitments and Abatement's Mgr. Kettle had nothing to report at this time. Action- Mgr. Kettle Executive Session: There is no Executive Session scheduled. Next Regular Meeting: October 18th, 2023 Regular Meeting Adjourned: Chair Raymond asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting and Commissioner Walsh 2nd the motion to adjourn at 6:50 PM. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Richard Liberatore Recorder