Board of Aviation Commissioners

Minutes of the August 10, 2017 Monthly Meeting of the Michigan City Aviation Board of Commissioners Call to Order: Meeting called to order at 6:00 PM in the terminal building at the airport. Members Present: Greg Poulin, Doug Buell, T.Y. Okosun. A quorum was present. Members Absent: Kirk Hunter Others Present: Jessica Ward- Airport Manager, Paul Shaffer- BF&S Minutes: 1. The minutes of the July 20, regular monthly meeting, were emailed. Motion to approve: Doug Buell Second: T.Y. Okosun Motion Approved. Reports: Financial- Reported by Jessica Ward: Account Balances: Our current account balances are in front of you. We have used 81% of our gas/electric account as of August. I am going to call NIPSCO and see if I can negotiate the rate for the rest of the day. Fuel Sales: Overall, we sold 5,006.6 gallons of 100LL for a total of $16,181.65, 4,710.4 gallons of Jet A for a total of $10,118.07 and 132.6 gallons of Swift Fuel for a total of $363.23 in July. We sold 251.6 gallons of self-service based 100LL, 2,779.6 gallons of self-service transient 100LL, 2,677.5 gallons of self-service based Jet A, 23.9 gallons of self-service transient Jet A and 132.6 gallons of transient self-service Swift Fuel last month. We sold 185.7 gallons of full service based Avgas and 1,789.7 gallons of full service transient Avgas. We sold 279 gallons of full service based Jet A and 1,730 gallons of full service transient Jet A. Year to date we have sold 33,932 gallons of fuel for a total of $98,245.76. Our self-service Avgas fuel price is $0.23 less than Porter County and La Porte and $0.01 more than Knox. Our full service Avgas price is $0.28 less than Porter County and $0.33 less than La Porte. Our self-service Jet A price is $0.05 more than Knox and our full service Jet A price is $0.33 less than Porter County and La Porte. Our Swift fuel prices is $0.23 less than La Porte. Airport Manager- Reported by Jessica Ward: 1. Purchasing Policy: Bill and I are working on that next Thursday afternoon. 2. Oshkosh Week: We were really busy with the Pancake Breakfast and Oshkosh week back to back. 3. Taxiway Crack Sealing: Reece Seal Coating will be out here the week of Tuesday, September 5 to do the taxiway crack repair. 4. Terminal Drywall Crack Repair/Painting: We had 4 proposals sent for painting the terminal building and fixing drywall cracks and pop outs. The building hasn’t been painted since it was built and it is much need of a repair. There was discussion about the different proposals. Precision Painting had a very thorough proposal and also included an interior  decorator to help pick a new paint color scheme for the building. Motion to Approve Precision Painting for $7,921.00: T.Y. Okosun Second: Doug Buell. Motion Approved. Airport Development- Reported by Paul Shaffer 1. AIP 20- Improve Runway 2 RSA/RPZ- Remove US 20 (CatEx & Design) Part A: a. Approve FAA Partial Pay Request No. 5 on AIP 20 for Federal $18,245.00, State $810.90, Local $1,216.33. Motion to Approve: Doug Buell Second: T.Y. Okosun. Motion Approved. b. The environmental document is nearing completion and is on schedule to be submitted by October 1, 2017. c. We are now above 500 operations. We will continue to get operations until the environmental is turned in. The more operations we can find the easier time we will have when it comes to getting construction dollars. d. Jessica, Kirk and BF&S met with NIRPC to pitch the project. While no funds were promised they did agree to include the airport into their comprehensive plan update. This could prove to be a valuable tool to show the validity of the project with NIRPC support. 2. FY 2017 NPE Funds: The FAA requested a roll of the airport’s FY 2017 NPE funds. Christina is having a difficult time leveraging the additional discretionary funds without the environmental document and the runway length justification being accepted by the FAA. These documents, while not required for the next phase, do provide a level of comfort the FAA needs to move to the next step. We first resisted the roll but after some discussion we reached an agreement that would allow the project to keep the same construction schedule. The expectation will be that the balance of the road lowering design and the road lowering construction will be placed on the FY 2018 discretionary list to keep the project moving forward. The complete environmental document and the runway length justification will be submitted prior to October 1, 2017 for Bobb Beauchamp’s consideration in order to remain on the discretionary list. The Airport Layout Plan update showing the project was submitted to Mike Brown on August 1, 2017. 3. FY 2018 Funding Request: Federal: $4,213,767.60, State: $234,098.20, Local: $234,098.20, Total: $4,681,964.00. In order to have bids in hand we will need to have the road lowering designed. We will need to work through the timing of the design and cash flow. All expenses incurred would be reimbursable if interim financing is possible. We would try to keep the window on the reimbursement as short as possible. Jessica suggested we talk with the Mayor to see if local financing is possible for reimbursement later to keep the project moving. 4. Hangar Development by Skydive Windy City Update: Reported by Jessica Ward a. They finally have an occupancy permit. b. Troy had a geo-thermal heating/cooling system installed in the hangar but didn’t ask for board approval to bury the tubing behind his hangar. Troy understands he may need to lease the land behind his hangar that contains the tubing and apologized for having it installed without permission on airport property. T.Y. suggested the board wait to make a decision at the next meeting when Kirk is there to get his input as well. Charging Troy annually for a land lease for this land at half the rate was also discussed moving forward. c. There was a skydive incident in the beginning of August that the airport didn’t find out about from Troy, but rather from others in the community. The board would like Troy to submit an incident report to Jessica within 24 hours of any future incidents on or off the field. d. T.Y. Okosun stated that it was brought to his attention that Troy used a right traffic pattern to land and there was a near miss with another aircraft also in the pattern. He stated that he spoke to Troy about the incident and Troy said that South Bend ATC vectored him to avoid traffic which is why he did a right traffic pattern. Jessica was asked to speak to Troy and request that he uses a left traffic pattern as depicted for this airport in the future. 5. UST Repair Update: ATC discussed 3 different options for the BOAC to consider for UST Compliance solutions. Option 1: Replace the UST sumps with new sumps/piping and install at an increased elevation- 24 inch raise: $95,000.00. Option 2: Clean to patch and repair the UST sumps: $52,500.00. Option 3: Dewatering UST Cavity: $67,000.00. The full replacement, option1, is the most comprehensive choice. Option 2 has the most risk of not fully stopping the flooding of the sumps over a long period of time. Option 3, dewatering the UST pit, can be managed by onsite personnel through a NPDES or municipal sewer permit. The continuous operation of the dewatering system warrants operation and maintenance efforts which may incur consistent man hours to keep the system operating and the longer the system operates the more likely component replacement such as pumps, filters, etc. will be needed. The board discussed these solutions and feel that Option 1 is the best solution. The board members wanted to wait until next meeting when Kirk was there to get his input as well to make the final decision. Old Business: 1. Hangar Inspection Checklist: Jessica has gotten comment back from the fire marshal and is meeting with Bill Nelson next Thursday afternoon for completion. 2. Complaint & Petition from Indiana Paging Network Regarding Skydive Aircraft Taxiing: Bill Nelson received a letter from Bill Eisele’s attorney pertaining to this issue. T.Y. Okosun discussed the mediation between Bill Eisele and Troy. He stated that Troy made more concessions and feels Troy has done tremendously well in his attempt to be a good neighbor. A letter will be sent to the FAA requesting their guidance into the situation before a determination, if any, is given from the BOAC. New Business: None Claims Docket: Amount: $26,855.59 Motion: Doug Buell Second: T.Y. Okosun Motion Approved. Correspondence: 1. Letter from Bill Eisele regarding skydive aircraft taxiing complaint and petition Public Comment: None Adjournment: There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:20 pm. Motion: T.Y. Okosun Second: Doug Buell Motion Approved.