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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-11-05 Minutes New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 1 NEW HANOVER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING November 5, 2014 CALL TO ORDER The New Hanover County Airport Authority met on Wednesday, November 5, 2014, at Wilmington International Airport, 1740 Airport Boulevard, Wilmington, North Carolina. Chairman Perritt called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. Airport Authority members present were John Perritt, Chairman; Tom Barber, Secretary; Donna Girardot, Dan Hickman, Carter Lambeth and Thomas Wolfe. Also present were Jon Rosborough, Airport Director; Julie Wilsey, Deputy Airport Director; Jim Morton, Finance Director; Gary Broughton, Operations Director; Whitney Prease, Facilities Director; Rose Davis, Executive Assistant; and Steve Bright and Amy McLane, Talbert & Bright, Inc. Absent from this meeting were Jonathan Crane, Vice-Chairman, and Wanda Copley, New Hanover County Attorney. Guests present included Hal Reichardt, Joe Metz, Bill Cherry, Julian Rosemond, Hank Jones and Floyd Price. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Authority has reviewed the minutes of the Regular Public Meeting on October 1, 2014. Mrs. Girardot MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Barber, to approve the minutes of the October 1, 2014 Regular Public Meeting as submitted with one typographical correction. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Perritt opened the floor for public comments and Floyd Price addressed the Authority regarding his concerns over the performance of the FBO, AviatMall. Mr. Barber suggested staff develop a benchmark against which to identify whether or not AviatMall is performing pursuant to their contract. Mrs. Wilsey responded that staff has been meeting with Mr. Mansoor, owner operator, who is showing progress and providing objectives and dates. Mrs. Wilsey stated staff would continue to follow-up with Mr. Mansoor. In response , as outlined in his lease, is not required to pay any rent yet; that rent was waived for the first three months and the rents for September through December were deferred until CY2015, at which time the deferred amounts will be paid in equal amounts over 12 months. Some discussion followed. SPECIAL EVENTS Mr. Broughton updated the Authority on the recently held Aviation Day/5k Run/Fly-In/Pancake Breakfast giving kudos to Chief Taylor and the ILM team, both operations and maintenance, for th their planning and coordination of the Aviation Day event on Saturday, October 11. Mr. Broughton thanked both FBOs for their participation, and in particular, Air Wilmington for their hosting the Pancake Breakfast for the Fly-in. There were 25 event participants and 13 fly-ins, along with the Jones Racing Company 5k run, which had 160 runners. Jones Racing has already New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 2 expressed interest in planning another run for next year. Mr. Broughton shared lessons learned regarding the need for an emcee or announcer to guide the public along to different events as well as planning a shorter event and planning ahead regarding budgeting and marketing. Mr. Morton reported that the cost of the event to the airport was about $8,000 and that it was free to the public. Mr. Broughton expressed interest in having this event happen more regularly, whether annual or not, depending on the wishes of the Authority, but encouraged the FBOs in the meantime to host more Fly-Ins and that ILM will participate and assist in any way they can. Mr. Broughton updated the Authority on the recent Mass Casualty Exercise which is required every three years with kudos to Operations Specialist Brian Rostholder and the team he put together, including Lt. Dustin Stream and J.T. DiMauro, Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF). There were 18 mutual aid participants in the event and US Airways as our airline representative at the event. Chief Taylor plans an official briefing in the next week or two to go over lessons learned and issues that arose during the exercise. Mr. Broughton advised that the Cape Fear Fair and Expo is ongoing and that Skip Watkins reported on Monday that fair attendance stood at 12,000. Mr. Watkins indicated Halloween, as well as inclement weather last Saturday, had an impact on attendance but he expects good weather for the remainder of the week. Mr. Barber shared that he recently witnessed a run organized by Colin Hackman, President of Go Time, and Mr. Hackman told him he would love to be considered for future races. Mr. Broughton agreed that Go Time hadan event at ILM and they did a great job. Chairman Perritt thanked staff forholding the Aviation Day event and stated he enjoyed the event and meeting the people. Chairman Perritt stated one of the challenges for the event was the short time frame with the FAA approval and then the marketing perspective and encouraged staff to reach out to other airports with similar events to compare notes. FINANCE REPORT September 2014 financials, cash report and summary of accounts. Mr. Morton recommended the approval of a five year contract extension with Wilmington Business Development (WBD) for $2,209.27 per month with a 2% annual escalator. Mr. Lambeth MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Wolfe to approve the Finance action item above. After some discussion, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Mr. Morton advised the Authority he had written copies of the FY2015 annual audit report for their information and review. Mr. Morton advised the Authority regarding parking at ILM and explained that the Short Term Lot has started to overflow over the last 8 months on Wednesdays, and now on Tuesdays as well. Mr. Morton stated the Short Term Lot is designed for drop off and pick up so when it fills up completely full, you get complaints from meeters and greeters. Mr. Morton suggested the way to manage the parking is to raise the rate in increments of $1, and pointed out that it has been 4 ½ New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 3 years since ILM has raised the parking rates. Mr. Morton stated this rate increase should push some inventory back into the Long Term Lot to open Short Term up for drop offs and pick ups to minimize complaints. Mr. Morton recommended adjusting the parking rate in the Short Term Lot, January 1, 2015, from $15 to $16 per 24 hour period (day) and evaluate the situation again in June. If there is still an issue in June, we can raise the rate another $1. Discussion followed. Mr. Barber MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Hickman to raise Short Term Parking from $15/per 24 hour period (day) to $16/per 24 hour period (day) starting January 1, 2015. The MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Mr. Morton updated the Authority on the scheduling of internal audits of ILM tenants starting with Air Wilmington which is currently in progress. Audits will be scheduled going forward for rental car agencies, FBOs and the food and beverage concessions and these audits are done in- house by the Finance Department. Mr. Morton reported on the paperless initiative which started with the parking lot noting that to date ILM has saved 16,000 pieces of paper per year, and just in the parking lot alone, Mr. Bielec is saving about $100/month on printer cartridges by doing things electronically. Chairman Perritt reported there has been some discussion on the board previously, with no action taken, about moving into an ipad world for information and documentation flow and asked the Authority members to think about that down the road, if the board ever wants to become electronically driven. FACILITIES At the request of Chairman Perritt, Mr. Prease elaborated on the Runway 24 Wildlife project explaining that there will be pipe installed in the ditches on the approach end of RWY 24 and the project is scheduled to begin in February 2015. Mr. Prease explained this project was funded, not only with FAA entitlement funds, but also AIP discretionary funds in the amount of $4.7M. Regarding the old rental car facilities, Mr. Prease reported findings from the asbestos inspections indicating that 4 out of the 6 facilities has asbestos and will require a remediation and he should have a scope of work in November. Mr. Barber asked what the close-out process was and Mr. Prease stated it is required for the rental car companies to do an environmental due diligence and test around each facility to make sure each facility is clean. Mr. Prease stated that ILM will take care of the asbestos but any environmental impacts as far as significant ground contamination will be removed by the tenants. Mr. Prease reported that the evaluation of the RWY 6 glideslope has been rescheduled for November 17 if they can coordinate it with Flight Check. Discussion followed. Mr. Prease announced that S.T. Wooten, the contractor that completed the $5.4M rehabilitation project for RWY 17/35, submitted for an award for airport paving projects and won the Ray Brown Airport Paving Award for the highest rated airport pavement project in 2014 by the National Asphalt Pavement Association. S.T. Wooten staff will be going to Florida in 2015 to New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 4 receive this award and ILM will also receive an award. Chairman Perritt pointed out regarding the Observation Area that there is more to that project that is still being costed out. Mr. Prease reported that the cost for the proposed 24 x 24 metal frame shelter was around $40,000 and did not include any concrete or concrete footers. Staff would like to reevaluate other options from local contractors. GOVERNMENT Mrs. Girardot reported to the Authority that we now have a new US Senator, a new Congressman and two new County Commissioners. Mrs. Girardot stated she and Mrs. Wilsey would be looking at Federal legislation that they need to discusswith Congressman Rouzer before January and look at any legislative agenda items on the local level to talk to General Assembly members before January when the General Assembly goes into session. Mrs. Girardot addressed the Authority regarding the US Chamber of Commerce and the Coalition for a Prosperous Future Resolution and recommended the Authority support and endorse this resolution and sign on as a member of the Coalition. Mrs. Girardot MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Lambeth to endorse the Coalition for a Prosperous Future. Discussion followed. The MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Mrs. Wilsey updated the Authority on the recent NCAA Region 1 Meeting held at ILM October th 24 and thanked Talbert & Bright for sponsoring lunch for that group. The NCAA reported this was the biggest group they had in quite some time. Mrs. Wilsey reported on the Coastal Resources Commission meeting with Governor McCrory indicating the two reports the Authority should be most concerned about had to do with the EPA rulings on the wetlands and the downstream definitions and the coastal insurance rates for the eastern part of the state. ILM applies for wetlands permits and some of the definitions cause concern. Regarding the insurance rates, Mrs. Wilsey pointed out that the wind and hail and storm insurance is very expensive for the airport. Regarding upcoming legislative events, Mrs. Wilsey advised the Authority of the AAAE Legislative Conference where the North Carolina Airport Directors will brief the elected officials, which is set for March 3 & 4, 2015, and there is also the NC Legislative Day in Raleigh with the state legislators on March 11, 2015. Mrs. Wilsey advised that Mr. Broughton chairs the legislative committee for the NCAA so he will be putting together that legislative agenda for th March 11. Mrs. Girardot advised that she will be representing the Authority on the TAC from now on. Chairman Perritt thanked Mrs. Girardot for reinvigorating the Government Committee with all that is going on right now. MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Mr. Morton update New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 5 rate of 80% on Pre-Roll ads through Time Warner Cable is well above the national average of 65%. feedback. Mr. Morton stated that staff is still receivTV commercial. To enhance frequency we are condensing the 30 second spot down to two 15 second spots. This will allow one 15 second spot to be viewed at the beginning of a series of commercials and another to be vie attention when recording their favorite shows. PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT Mr. Morton recommended Rees Architects to design the first flex space building and staff will begin contract negotiations. Mr. Barber MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Lambeth to move forward with Rees Architects. The MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. nd Mr. Morton reported on leads developed at the 2 Annual NC Foreign Trade Promotion Conference in Wilmington. Mr. Morton updated the Authority regarding the FTZ application stating the consultant was unable to continue due to health reason and that Mr. Morton would be working directly with Lori Fuller with the State to get questions answers and to keep this moving forward. ILM was a magnet sight under the umbrella. OPERATIONS REPORT Mr. Broughton made a presentation to the Authority regarding airport security measures, TSA requirements and identification badges required by everyone inside the AOA, or airport pilots do not need to be badged but do need to be within sight and sound of a badged individual. Mr. Broughton also stated that security violations can now go against the individual with the badge versus just the airport and that could result in fines up to $11,000. Chairman Perritt pointed out that badges are specific to the issuing airport and meaningless at other airports. Using charts for illustration, Mr. Broughton reported total passengers handled, seats available and customs traffic for October 2014. Mr. Broughton stated that he had just received Joseph revenue and yield was up for that period of time. Mr. Broughton pointed out that after the Fuel Price charts were sent out in the agenda, he was notified by Air Wilmington that the price of Avgas dropped .49/gallon and JetA dropped .30/gallon and both FBOs reduced their prices accordingly. The JetA average went down to $5.69 and Avgas average went down to $6.09. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 5, 2014 Page 6 Mrs. Wilsey recommended that the Authority approve a pilot program for the Food Trucks to start immediately Monday Thursday, 10 am 3 pm, starting in December and for staff to negotiate a flat quarterly fee. Mr. Barber MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Hickman for staff to move forward with the pilot program for Food Trucks. After a brief discussion, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Mrs. Wilsey recommended the Authority approve the proposed 2015 Authority Meeting Schedule.Mr. Lambeth MOVED, SECONDED by Mrs. Girardotto approve the 2015 Authority Meeting Schedule as proposed. The MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Mrs. Wilsey announced that an Air Service 101 will be offered in January for new Authority members while Joseph Pickering is in town for the January Authority meeting. Mrs. Wilsey shared another conceptual rendering of the Wall of Fame for Authority review. UNFINISHED BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS Mr. Joe Metz, from New River Air Station, addressed the Authority hoping to share information about what may be happening from the Air Station to ILM or be able to take information back to Mr. Metz pointed out the Air Station Commander thinks of Wilmington as the local community and wants to keep harmony and good will with the community. Chairman Perritt thanked Mr. Metz for coming and welcomed the military air traffic to ILM. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Lambeth MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Wolfe to adjourn. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Dr. Crane was absent. Chairman Perritt adjourned the meeting at 6:30 p.m. Prepared by: Respectfully Submitted: Rose M. Davis _______________________________ Thomas C. Barber, II, Secretary Date of Approval: December 3, 2014