Airport Commission

AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING Monday, December 17, 2018 at 4:30 pm Murfreesboro Municipal Airport Terminal /Administration Bldg. 1930 Memorial Blvd. Murfreesboro, TN 37129 MEETING MINUTES IN ATTENDANCE: COMMISSION MEMBERS: Steve Waldron, Chair Clay Cook John Polk Butch Jones Bill Shacklett, City Council Member Nick Lenczycki, MTSU Aerospace Department- Ex Officio Darren Gore, Assistant City Manager- Ex-Officio GUESTS: Mark Foulks, Chief of Murfreesboro Fire and Rescue Department Jim Gardner, Murfreesboro Aviation Frank Stephenson, Based Customer Mark Baker, Based Customer Mike Jones, Mike Jones Aircraft Sales Ronnie Martin, City Council Member Ben Weatherford, Leadership Rutherford STAFF: Gary Whitaker, Assistant City Manager David Ives, Assistant City Attorney Chad Gehrke, Airport Manager Prayer and Pledge of Allegiance lead by Commission Member Gail Zlotky. 1. CALL THE MEETING TO ORDER: Steve Waldron called meeting to order. 2.Review final floor plan for the New Terminal Chad Gehrke presented to the Airport Commission a final floor plan for the new Terminal which will be a part of the contract document with Smith Design Build. Mr. Gehrke stated that he does not have a final site plan yet. He did report that Matt Taylor from SEC had worked with Darren Duckworth of ATKINS to resolve the conflict between the two projects and the layout of the parking lot. Mr. Gehrke stated that Clay Cook had brought up a good idea to create an area to park cars that are here left over night or for multiple days that is in a secured area. Mr. Gehrke stated that with the new floor plans the Airport Commission can see the building moved further east by several feet putting the building 5 to 10 feet off of the apron. On the airside this widens the area between the Terminal building and the circle which creates room for delivery of mail and packages. He stated that it also added six additional parking places up front near the Terminal into the circle. Mr. Gehrke showed the sidewalk on the north wing of the building where transients will be able to have access through a secured gate. Mr. Gehrke discussed with the Airport Commission the north wing and the new drawings of the smaller board meeting room now in the north wing and large storage area for various shaped tables and chairs and other conference meeting items. He also showed that a men’s and women’s restroom was installed on the north end as well. Mr. Gehrke stated that in the lobby those restrooms changed a bit to make room for water heaters etc. Mr. Gehrke stated that the two stairwells to the raised observation area were still in place. He stated that it was a Codes issue that was a reason for this. Mr. Gehrke described a new feature in the lobby which was a high-top work table/furniture piece that would serve as a charging station. It also has two video screens that face the airside and landside doors. These screens would be used to greet customers, point them to meetings in the Business Center Conference room etc. Mr. Waldron said the he hopes that this furniture piece would be able to rotate and move if necessary. Mr. Gehrke stated that the circular desk in the middle of the lobby was replaced with the new Operations and service desk now positioned under the southern most stairway. Mr. Gehrke stated on the south wing men and women’s restrooms were added. Flight Planning is now a nook/station in the hallway. Mr. Gehrke stated that there is a closet with a stacked washer and dryer for cleaning any towels etc. from the pilot lounge. In the lease space he showed how this area may be built into five offices or so. Mr. Waldron said that these changes do not impact the overall footprint of the building. Mr. Waldron and the Airport Commission discussed other various items associated with the plans including the need for closed circuit TV which allows pilots to view the apron and their hangar. The Airport Commission discussed the desire to keep the smaller board room flexible so that it can be used for various purposes. No large executive board table that can not be moved. Mr. John Polk asked about the fence around the Terminal. Mr. Gehrke reviewed the location of the fence and where and how the secured access would work to secure the airfield. Clay Cook moved to approve the latest final version of the floor plan for the new Terminal. John Polk seconded the motion. All voted in favor. Gary Whitaker thanked the Airport Commission for their work on this and how excited he is to see this project get new life and get this facility up and going. There has been great press coverage and very positive feedback. The Airport Commission and Gary Whitaker discussed various positive aspects of this new facility. 3. Airport Manager’s update of TDK Hangar Project and installation of utilities in the the Taxiway F Development Area: Mr. Gehrke reported that all three-phase power has been pulled and is in place. He also said that the gas line location had been identified. Interior of the office area is coming along with the drywall. Mr. Mark Baker updated them on other various aspects of the building status. Mr. Gary Whitaker talked about the coordination of the airport and new McKnight Park Maintenance Facility. Mr. Waldron asked Mr. Gehrke to inform the public about the TDK Hangar. Mr. Gehrke described the dimensions of the hangar bay and office space. He explained that this was a land lease with the City of Murfreesboro. Vanderbilt Life Flight was the main tenant in the hangar at this time along with TDK and their need to store their aircraft. Mr. Waldron stated that there will be a new entrance gate for future hangar customer development and emergency access. He stated that the hangar will revert to City ownership in 30 years. 6. Airport Manager’s report regarding sale of surplus property and federal land release: 7. Airport Manager’s report of the status of various projects: John Polk asked about the electrical work at the end of the north end of the runway. Mr. Gehrke stated that all of the conduit has been installed underground. Soon two poles will be removed that are near the centerline of the runway. Above ground wires will be removed at some point so there will be just a few lowered poles that will be in place to support lighting Dejarnette Lane. Mr. Gehrke reported that the FAA was still going through the process to close out the NDB system. He hopes to hear from the FAA before the end of the month on when that facility can be shut down. Mr. David Ives reported that the address for the TDK Hangar will be a Dejarnette address and a temporary sign will be placed up at that end of the airfield until a permanent sign can be constructed. Mr. Waldron asked if the state had any information about the status of the Economic Development Grants. Mr. Gehrke replied that he would call and see if there was any new information at this point as to when an announcement may be made. Mr. Waldron and Mr. Gehrke discussed the timing of approval of the financials. Mr. Gehrke stated that he was not counting on the State Economic Development Grant being awarded for this project. Mr. Gehrke reported that MTSU was advertising for consulting services to create a master plan for their Airport Campus facilities. Nick Lenczycki reported that an accrediting body came through and evaluated the program and the facilities and has reported their findings. Mr. Lenczycki stated that according to the report the aircraft maintenance program needs 5 times the size of the existing hangar space. The pro-pilot program is in desperate need for space. He reported that 60 to 70 instructors will be working out of 6 offices this coming semester. They have identified space for additional offices and a large classroom by connecting the Jean A. Building and Flight Sim Building. Mr. Gehrke described how the Miller Lanier hangar is maxed out for space. Mr. Gehrke stated that MTSU is looking for somewhere around 20,000 square feet of hangar space for their maintenance program. Mr. Gehrke said how important it is to work with MTSU on these plans are start to identify where these large facilities might be located on the field. Mr. Gehrke reported that he met with MTSU and Murfreesboro Aviation. He reported that the new task that they agreed on during their meeting was for the pilots, instructors, students to conduct and complete their engine runups and all preflight/takeoff checklists in the runup areas. This should eliminate some of the delays that are occurring at the end of Taxiway A. Mr. Gehrke stated that this identified that a large area needs to be constructed for just runup areas. He stated that what we are witnessing is a substantial increase in operations and this is increasing the number and length of delays on the ground as well as in the pattern. Mr. Gehrke reported that he had attended two meetings lately, one regarding the John C. Tune Airport and the other the Smyrna Airport. Both are reporting 25% plus increasing in operations due to flight training. Mr. Gehrke applied the flight hours invoiced to students from MTSU and Murfreesboro Aviation and entered those numbers into the formula that the Murfreesboro Airport has used to calculate operations. He reported that MTSU in 2004 billed 14,193 flight hours and Maxair at the time billed 2,065 flight hours. In 2017 MTSU billed 18,300 hours and Murfreesboro Aviation 9,750 hours. Mr. Gehrke stated that during one hour of flight there is at least one takeoff and one landing conducted. He stated that during many of these billed flight hours though students worked on landings and conducted numerous touch and goes. He stated that he reviewed the fuel sales information and this increase is evident in those numbers as well. Mr. Clay Cook described an area off of the main parallel taxiway at the PDK Airport just outside of Atlanta that has a designated runup area to help eliminate delays. The Airport Commission discussed various scenarios when delays occur. They agreed that in our planning for upcoming projects we need to identify and include creating and paving areas designated for runups. Mr. Gehrke was asked if the runway incursion issue was discussed. Mr. Gehrke stated that the topic was discussed. When asked about how clear the regulations were in defining the regulations he stated that there are various levels of “runway incursion.” He said the least offensive of the runway incursions is when one aircraft positions on to a runway when another aircraft was already established on that runway. Mr. Gehrke said that this issue is being addressed in stages. The first stage is to eliminate the calls on the radio from one pilot to the other chastising them for being on the runway at the same time. Mr. Gehrke said that MTSU is going to train their pilots a certain way to not get on the runway until their other aircraft is off the runway. Mr. Gehrke stated the key to his understanding is good communication between pilots. A pilot announces to the other pilots his intentions and then does what they say that should not be a problem here just as it is at a towered facility. Nick Lenczycki thanked Mr. Gehrke for starting these communication meetings and believes this will only help the efficiency of the airport operations. 8. Consider any other business to come before the Airport Commission: Gary Whitaker mentioned the fact that he has a meeting the next day with a potential buyer of the property out front. He described how there will be space for a new relocated Airport sign. Gary Whitaker and David Ives discussed that the new sign will reflect the look of the new Terminal and that there will be a sign package that they will be putting together to better inform the public and emergency first responders where to go to various companies, hangars, etc. No other business was discussed 9. Consider next date for Airport Commission meeting: The Airport Commission agreed to meet January 14, 2019. 10. Adjournment The Airport Commission adjourned.