Airport Commission

Fitchburg Municipal Airport Commission Meeting Minutes November 15th, 2023 LOCATION: City of Fitchburg Legislative Building TIME: 6:01 PM Attendees: Airport Commissioners: Chair Clayton Raymond, Commissioner David Ginisi, Commissioner Richard Liberatore and via zoom, Commissioner Beth Walsh. Other in attendance: Airport Manager Peter Kettle, and Gale Associate Representatives 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 October Minutes. Motion was made by Commissioner Ginisi, 2nd by Commissioner Walsh to accept. All in favor, 4-0. 23-11-01 Action Items from Previous Meeting: RFP for Non- Aviation Land Lease: Airport Mgr. Peter Kettle spoke on the progress be made. He attended a meeting of the City Property Committee, where a vote was taken for the Airport to pursue plans to develop the Non-Aviation side of the Airport. Mary Delaney, City procurement Officer made a proposal to send out an RFEI to see who might be most interested in building on this property. The RFEI will be sent out early January and will close at the end of March. Action- Mgr. Kettle / Mary Delaney Land Lease N Number Holdings Update: Mgr. Kettle spoke on the update. The Land Lease Agreement has been released by the City Solicitor. Med Flight had a ground breaking ceremony and construction started soon after. The footings have been poured and the contractor intends to erect the hangar in about two and a half weeks. His goal is to have the project completed by the end of February. Action- Mgr. Kettle / N Number Holdings Correspondence to the Commission: Airport Mgr. Kettle did receive an email from Joe Spinelli which he shared with the Commission. In the email Mr. Spinelli aired his concerns regarding the expense of building his hangar in today's financial market. Mr. Spinelli explained that the Commercial Banking Market funds have all but dried up and the regular banks are asking for very high interest rates, 8% instead of 3% earlier on in the year. Mr. Spinelli went on to say that he is willing to continue the approval process to get this property ready to go. He would sign the Land Lease Agreement and pay for the first full year of the Lease up front and during that time we can see what happens to the Commercial Loan Market. Mr. Spinelli stated that if he does not start his project in 18 months he would be willing to terminate the Land Lease and the City could re-market the property. He could also market that land to any developer who is not in need of financing and transfer the Land Lease to the new party. Airport Mgr. Kettle explained that the parcel was 160 x 80 and it would hold a hangar and jet parking. Rent for this parcel was $500 a month and Mr. Spinelli is prepared to honor this agreement for 18 months as he keeps watch f or the Commercial Loan Market to improve. Airport Mgr. Kettle stated to the Commission that a vote was needed for this agreement to happen. The City Solicitor will make the appropriate changes to the Land Lease Agreement that will identify these terms in the Lease. Chair Raymond was in favor of the new terms set by Mr. Spinelli adding that Mr. Spinelli has been more than cooperative in putting together a workable Land Lease. Chair Raymond made the motion to accept the proposed terms to the Spinelli Land Lease Agreement and the motion was 2nd by Comm. Liberatore. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-11-02 Action- Mgr. Kettle / Attorney Pusateri Project Review- Gale: Monthly Project Update Gale Representative Jackie Marks made her monthly update presentation. Environmental Assessment and Wildlife Hazard Assessment: AIP 3-25-0018-034-2023 Jackie explained to the Commission that the last round of Wildlife Surveys took place on October 26th and 27th. Gale has provided a draft copy of the Environmental Assessment to the commission and would be giving a presentation to the Commission at his meeting. Jackie added that Gale would be looking for a vote to allow them to forward the Draft EA to the FAA and MassDot for internal review. Utility Expressions Study: Gale Associate Jackie Marks also spoke about the Utility Expansion Project, noting that the Airport Mgr. Peter Kettle has been coordinating with Phalen Construction to determine the return on investment for the City for construction of hangars. There is no update on that this month. Other Items: The Airport's annual Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) meeting with the FAA and MassDot took place on October 11, 2023. FAA and MassDot agreed to accept a grant application for the design and permitting for the reconstruction of the Airports Main Apron in FY- 2024. The scoping meeting for this project is scheduled for November 30, 2023. Gale EA Draft Presentation: Jackie Marks from Gale started her presentation of the EA Draft by giving the Commission an overview of the different categories that were explored during the Environmental Assessment and what proposed actions were going to take place. Jackie spoke of the future proposed developments and growth at the Airport and how this future change would effect the environment moving forward. Jackie did explain to the Commission that the goal for this evenings meeting was to get a vote that would allow Gale to submit the EA Draft to the FAA and MassDot for their review and comment. Chair Raymond asked for a motion that allow Gale to present the EA Draft to FAA and MassDot. Commissioner Liberatore made the motion with Commission Walsh second, all were in favor 4-0. 23-11-03 Fitchburg Pilots Association (FPA): The Pilots Association had asked the Commission and had filed documents with the FAA to allow them to put Solar Panels on the roof of their hangar. The FPA has yet to hear back from the FAA but the Airport Mgr. wanted to keep the Commission updated on the issue. Action- Daniel Walton / Mgr. Kettle New Business: Veregy Solar Farm: Recently Airport Mgr. Kettle attend the MAMMA Conference in Plymouth and had the opportunity to speak with representatives from the Veregy Solar Farm. Veregy would come out to survey our available land and then present their findings to the Commission. Mgr. Kettle continued to explain that this Solar Farm Company had newer technology where by which they produce Solar Energy and then store this energy in reserve. It is a different concept than what most Solar farms are offering. The Airport would be purchasing energy from this reserve at a much lower cost than we could get from our local Unitil provider. Chair Raymond thought that this might be a good avenue to pursue as in the past we were getting nothing substantial from other Solar Farm Companies we had spoke to. Airport Mgr. Kettle would reach out to Veregy for a survey and presentation at our next meeting. Action- Airport Mgr. Kettle Big Tex- Gate: Airport Mgr. Kettle explained to the Commission that Big Tex Trailer World on Crawford St. is leasing land that is airport property. The issue is that there are gates on the property that are not being locked that threatens the security of the Airport. The City Solicitor and Airport Mgr. discussed the Airport Security with the manager of Big Tex and it was agreed that certain gates that lead to the Airport must be secured each night. City Solicitor Pusateri has drawn up a new Land Lease for the Big Tex property and he has excluded additional security fencing in the Lease. Chair Raymond made a motion to move forward with a proposed Land Lease excluding any additional security gates or fencing. Commissioner Ginisi 2nd the motion. All in favor, 4-0. 23-11-04 Action – City Solicitor / Mgr. Kettle Hangar / Building 1 and Hangar / Building 18 Lease: Mr. Corley and Mr. Woodford are Leasing Hangar 1 and Hangar 18. According to the Airport Mgr. Peter Kettle the tenants are again delinquent on rent charges. Payment or a partial payment is made only after receiving a notice from the Airport Mgr. Airport Mgr. Kettle is proposing to the Commission that we instruct the City Solicitor to draft a letter to Mr. Corley and Mr. Woodford stating that rent is due in full at the beginning of each month. Motion by Commissioner Walsh to have the City Solicitor review the terms of the Lease for non payment of funds owed to the Airport and to take steps to terminate the Lease in the future. Chair Raymond second the motion. All were in favor, 4-0. 23-11-05 Action- City Solicitor / Mgr. Kettle Old Business: Minimum Standards 2.3: It was reported by Chair Raymond that this document is still being managed by the Chair. No action at this time. Action- Chair Raymond Crawford Street Safety- Nick Erickson: Airport Mgr. Kettle has been in contact with Commissioner Nick Erickson from the City DPW and Commissioner Erickson is still waiting to get a report from the MassDot survey. Action- Commissioner Erickson / Mgr. Kettle Financial Review: Approval of Commitments and Abatement's Airport Mgr. Peter Kettle spoke in regards to City owned Hangars for Leasing and the financing that would be involved. Manager Kettle spoke with the people at Phelan Construction and they quoted a price of about $2 million to construct a box hangar structure approximately 81 ft x 375 ft. The construction would be two sets of six Box Hangars housing 12 aircraft. Mgr. Kettle continued to say that rent would be $500 a month for 12 units totaling $6000 a month and $72,000 annually. This means the return on our investment would be about 35 years. Mgr. Kettle asked the Commission if this is something they wish to pursue Chair Raymond believes that we can't grow if you don't ask for funding for something that will show a strong profit in years down the road. Manager Kettle will present this idea to the City some time in the new year. Action- Mgr. Kettle Executive Session: There is no Executive Session scheduled. Next Regular Meeting: December 20th, 2023 at 6pm. Regular Meeting Adjourned: Chair Raymond asked for a motioned to adjourn the meeting. Motion by Commissioner Liberatore and second by Commissioner Walsh at 7:11 pm. All were in favor. Respectfully Submitted, Richard Liberatore Recorder