Airport Board

11/5/2023 SPRINGFIELD - ROBERTSON COUNTY JOINT AIRPORT BOARD Regular Meeting Minutes – October 11, 2023 Springfield - Robertson County Airport; Springfield, Tennessee Board Members present: Jerry Converse, Edison Guthrie, Gina Holt, Paul Nutting, Janice Wallace, Lewis Walling Board Members absent: Chris Simpkins Ex-Officio Members present: Billy Vogle, Kim Brickles for Ryan Martin Airport Staff present: Brian Urbach, Lynn West, Mark Stoesser Chairman Paul Nutting called the meeting to order at 8:04 am. Six members of the board were present for a quorum. Chris Simpkins was absent. Paul Nutting asked if a member of the public wanted to comment on any part of the meeting agenda. Airport Manager Brian Urbach reported that no one had registered in advance to make public comment. No public comment was made. Board member Janice Wallace will resign at the end of this month and today’s meeting will be her last. Paul Nutting thanked her on behalf of the board and presented a plaque to her in recognition of her service. The minutes of the September 13, 2023 regular board meeting were sent to board members prior to the meeting. Gina Holt made a motion to approve the September 13, 2023 minutes as presented. Janice Wallace seconded the motion; and it passed unanimously by a voice vote. Edison Guthrie gave the Treasurer’s Report for August 2023. There was a total of $319,435.24 in the two bank accounts at the end of the month. Some of the repair costs the month were for the lightning damage and they will be reimbursed by insurance. There have not been significant expenses for the airport vehicles this year. Brian Urbach said the courtesy car is economical and is not being used regularly. Paul Nutting said the county has already paid its share of the budgeted quarterly expenditures for airport employee benefits in advance. The intent of the airport, however, is to bill the county and city only for actual expenses incurred for each quarter. The county will be credited in the second quarter billing for any over-payment made in the first quarter of the fiscal year. The city will be billed for its proportionate share of actual employee benefit costs. Janice Wallace made a motion to accept the Treasurer's Report. Gina Holt seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously by a voice vote. Brian Urbach gave the Airport Manager's Report for September. The airport had 2,558 flight operations in September compared to 1,425 in September, 2022. There were 7,580 gallons of 100 LL fuel and 1,114 gallons of Jet-A fuel sold. There are 34 people on the waiting list for a Page 1 of 3  11/5/2023 hangar. There are still runway lights and cameras damaged from the June 29 lightning strike in need of repair and the replacements have been ordered. The replacement costs will be reimbursed from insurance. The TDOT financial audit had one finding and it has been addressed and accepted, so the audit was passed and closed. A new walk-through gate will be installed on the fence near the Highland Rim Aviation building. A “K-9 Scent Games” was held at the airport for dogs and their owners over a two-day weekend, with approximately 80 dogs participating. There will be a Halloween-themed airport event on Saturday, October 21 highlighted by a helicopter dropping candy in the field. Almost all of the damaged aircraft have been removed from the AMF salvage yard. The yard will be empty by October 31. The airport T-hangars are fully rented. There will be a 4% price increase in non-commercial hangar rental fees beginning November 1. There have been discussions with a company interested in a land lease for its aviation related business. Brian Urbach has talked with company representatives twice, once with Lewis Walling present and once with Paul Nutting present. A committee of Lewis Walling, Edison Guthrie, and Chris Simpkins was appointed to continue negotiations with the business. The vacancy on the airport board created by Janice Wallace's resignation will be publicized on the airport, city and county websites. Brian Urbach presented a proposal to initiate a volume discount program for purchasing fuel. He said many airports have a volume discount program. He suggested a tiered system. For example, after purchasing 500 to 999 gallons, the customer would receive a $0.05 discount or rebate per gallon. A check would be mailed to the purchaser in the following month. Other levels would be 1000 to 1,499 gallons for a $0.10 per gallon discount, 1,500 to 1,999 gallons for a $0.15 per gallon discount, and 2,000 or more gallons purchased in a month would receive a $0.20 per gallon rebate in the next month. If this program had been implemented nine months ago, it would have returned $1,900 to the fuel purchasers. That equates to about 4% of the fuel sales. The past month had two companies that would have qualified for such a program. He thinks it might bring some flight students here to purchase fuel and increase sales. The board members discussed how a discount program would work. A trial period for a discount program was suggested to see how the program would actually work. Janice Wallace said pilots are very interested in airport locations with places to eat and with the lowest fuel prices, so the program might draw pilots needing fuel. A plan for the program will be prepared and the board will vote on it at the November meeting. Ideally, a discount program would draw enough additional sales to cover the discounts awarded. Paul Nutting said the state grant contract for the above ground fueling system construction project may be ready for signing before the November meeting. The estimated engineering costs by GMC had to be reviewed by the state. Paul Nutting requested a motion to add to the agenda an item to authorize the airport board chairman to sign the state grant contract for the above ground fueling system construction project. Janice Wallace made a motion to add to the agenda an item to authorize the airport board chairman to sign the state grant contract for the above ground fueling system construction project. Jerry Converse seconded the motion. The motion Page 2 of 3  11/5/2023 passed unanimously. Janice Wallace then made the motion to authorize the airport board chairman to execute the grant contract with TDOT for the new fueling system construction. Edison Guthrie seconded the motion; and the motion passed unanimously. Tom Jones said Highland Rim Aviation is now a fully approved FAA Part 141 flight school. HRA is one of the two independent flight schools in middle Tennessee that is not associated with a college. There being no more business to discuss, Chairman Paul Nutting adjourned the meeting at 8:43 a.m. with the consent of the board members. Respectfully submitted, Edison Guthrie Secretary - Treasurer Page 3 of 3