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2012-11-07 Regular Meeting New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 1 NEW HANOVER COUNTY AIRPORT AUTHORITY REGULAR PUBLIC MEETING November 7, 2012 CALL TO ORDER The New Hanover County Airport Authority met on Wednesday, November 7, 2012, at Wilmington International Airport, 1740 Airport Boulevard, Wilmington, North Carolina. Chairman Kays called the meeting to order at 4:57 p.m. Airport Authority members present were Charles Kays, Chairman; Tom Barber, Vice-Chairman; John Lennon, Secretary; Carter Lambeth; and Al Roseman. 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; Wanda Copley, New Hanover County Attorney; and Steve Bright, and Amy McLane, Talbert & Bright, Inc. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The Authority has reviewed the minutes of the Regular Public Meeting on October 3, 2012. Dr. Roseman requested that the third full paragraph on Page 4 be amended to indicate that written customer feedback should be provided to the marketing committee for review. Mr. Lambeth MOVED, SECONDED by Dr. Roseman, to approve the minutes of the October 3, 2012 Regular Public Meeting as amended. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. ITEMS BY THE PUBLIC There were no comments from the public. SPECIAL EVENTS Mr. Broughton shared details of the FAA required Table Top Disaster Drill held October 11, 2012. Mr. Barber attended and participated in the exercise. A discussion occurred about designating a Family Assistance Center. The Family Assistance Center is a place for family members to locate temporarily in the event of a crash situation until the airlines take control and relocate relatives offsite. Staff is pursuing onsite options available. It was suggested that staff make the exercises more realistic to allow each attendee to voice the actions they would take in a real situation and encourage everyone to participate. There was a great turn out but only a few people voiced concerns during the exercise. Mr. Broughton provided an update on the Cape Fear Fair and Expo indicating that final numbers are not in yet but attendance was estimated between 32,000 and 33,000 which is up 10% over last year. The Fair was closed 2 days due to Hurricane Sandy but requested an extension of one day to be open on Sunday which added another 2,300 customers. FINANCE REPORT Mr. Morton reviewed actual revenue and expenses for the month of September. for the month of September. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 2 Mr. Morton r Other items to mention, Mr. Morton reported continuing to finalize list for projects to put in PFC. Currently up to 40 projects which is around $8.2 million. Mr. Barber initiated a discussion about how funds are invested, the amount of return on the investments, and the difference between the Money Market account at BB&T and the investment account with NC Cash Management. Mr. Morton indicated we are limited as to what we can do with public dollars. Dr. Roseman suggested that Mr. Morton check banks quarterly for better rates. Mr. Morton indicated he had copies of the final audit and they were distributed to Authority members. A brief discussion was initiated by Dr. Roseman regarding fees charged for airline employees and others to park in our parking lots. Mr. Morton responded that airline and TSA employees are charged $10/month and crew members are charged $25/month. A brief discussion followed regarding the audit and whether ILM had cured the FAA deficiency. that it has since been cured. On Page 26 it mentions ILM has taken corrective action. Dr. Roseman asked how long ILM has been using Lanier Whaley Craft accountants. Mr. Morton Dr. Kays asked if we had any reason to consider anyone else as accountant. Mr. Morton indicated that the accountants have done a great job and they know our business. The audit was provided to the County, Local Government Commission, FAA, ILM staff and Airport Authority. FACILITIES Mrs. Wilsey discussed two action items 1.A Work Authorization for Talbert & Bright to design the storm water conveyance pipeline from the new rental car facility site to the pipeline along Trask Drive. Cost includes survey, geotech, design and permitting and the bidding process. The cost for design is $35,500 and the site consultant services will not exceed $26,300. The work is all a CFC eligible expense. 2.Accept a NCDOT grant to match our Federal AIP 45 grant. The grant reduces our local share from 10% to 5%, a savings of $222,624. The Federal grant is for the extension of RWY 17 and TWY A. Mr. Lambeth MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Barber to approve the facilities action items discussed above. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Mrs. Wilsey updated Authority members on current projects to include Kerr Avenue Fence, TWY B, C, J & G, and Extension of RWY 17. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 3 Last year ILM had a Taxiway A Project AIP 44 which added the paved shoulders. That paving project came in about $650,000 under budget. Staff talked to the FAA last month about using the surplus in that grant and amending the actual description of the grant so that we could get LED taxiway lights in that project and also get some of the primary circuits that serve that taxiway system. The FAA was open to that idea and staff will initiate the grant amendment paperwork. A brief discussion followed about how well Talbert & Bright handled this project and kept it under budget and how well Steve, Amy and Julie work with the FAA and what a good reputation and report Talbert & Bright has with the FAA. There was further discussion about the transition from the FAA Atlanta office to Memphis and 2013 will be written out of the Memphis office and Mr. Rosborough commented that there has been a good transition plan developed. Ms. Wilsey continued her facilities report with an update on the Water Project with NCDOT. The State Project Manager will be here Friday. Staff is going to hand off the information, plans and specs for review so we can get that locked in with them and set a bid date for early 2013. The Utility Authority indicated they would have the line on Castle Hayne Road at our connecting point sometime in June/July of 2013 and staff plans to have our project completed at the same time. GOVERNMENT Mr. Rosborough commented on the elections and their impact. From a National basis, what will impact us is a status quo congress with a Republican House, a Democratic Senate and the same President. So the same issues are there. The fiscal cliff is there. The Bush tax cuts are running st out January 1. Sequestration is still on the table unless something is done in the lame duck session over the next 80-90 days. All types of strategies are being developed to deal with that from both sides of the aisle. There will be some changes on the committees - Transportation Infrastructure John Mica, out of Florida, was a good Chair from the Transportation and Infrastructure basis but he has to rotate off. Since it is a Republican House, probably the Vice Chair will roll into that position and that will be good for the airports. Leadership selection for all committees will have an impact. If sequestration goes into play, then it is a required across the board cuts. Sequestration will impact aviation by 8.2% overall but it will not impact AIP funding. MARKETING AND PUBLIC RELATIONS Mr. Morton provided an update on the website using Google Analytics. We are up 19.2% this month compared to last year. That primarily comes from refreshing the website and keeping it updated and we have been doing that with new photos and updating the Home page. Regarding Social media, up 16% and Twitter is up 80.7% over last month. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 4 Staff did something new and put videos on You Tube about military planes which stirred up interest. The #1 viewed video, with 602 views, was of a Coast Guard plane doing landings. Mr. Carter commented it would be good to add some of the Harriers coming through. City website. Google was the #2 referral and then Facebook and WWAY rounded out the top 4. Staff has also worked with Linked In to reach pilot groups. This is a good way to communicate with International pilots to promote the Customs facility. A disc updated during extreme weather and the part staff played in keeping flight statuses updated during Hurricane Sandy recently. Dr. Roseman shared several items of interest and discussion followed about ways to promote ILM more often and utilize public relations updates about awards and events happening at ILM versus advertising whenever possible to increase awareness and take advantage of free PR. Dr. Roseman requested he be notified whenever ILM gets an award so that it can be promoted in the local media. Dr. Kays questioned whether it would be advantageous to develop a protocol for a quarterly press release. Mr. Barber suggested staff could do this monthly during the weekly staff meeting to gather happenings worth sharing with the public. Mr. Morton mentioned that a quarterly newsletter has been previously discussed. Ms. Wilsey reminded all Business Park story was printed about 4-6 weeks ago in the Wilmington Business Journal and was picked up by News 14. PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT Mr. Morton updated Authority members on planning and development projects. Last month the Board approved design work for the Business Park up to $50,000 to move forward with Paramounte and work has started and ended up being about $40,500. Mr. Morton reported there has been some discussion with people in the development fieldabout the possibility of a feasibility study regarding the proposed hotel. Referrals were received from this group and from Mr. Lennon and they were contacted to see what would be involved money wise, etc. There was a brief discussion about what ILM and the Authority is willing to do regarding the land and about the need for a feasibility study to determine if there is a demand for a hotel in this area. Mr. Morton indicated that staff is just exploring this now to gather information. Mr. Morton indicated that Summit Smith and the VA Clinic plan to get a Certificate of th Occupancy by November 30 and the VA would be moving-in during December and January and hopefully begin seeing patients in February. A discussion followed about the positive impact of the VA Clinic opening soon and that this may be another good PR opportunity. Mr. Morton indicated that the VA would have an Open House in the beginning of February and that there would be a media event then. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 5 Mrs. Wilsey shared that the NC Division of Aviation is doing an update to the Aviation System Plan. Tt to as many pilots as possible to get feedback on the NC Airport System. She asked if anyone was interested in receiving this to pass on to pilots they know. OPERATIONS REPORT Using charts for illustration, Mr. Broughton s for the month of October, including fuel price comparisons, fuel flowage amounts, airfare comparisons with MYR and RDU, total passengers handled and total seats available. Mr. Broughton indicated that fuel flowage for September was up 28% from September 2011and that this is again predominately due to the military traffic and the military contract with Air Wilmington. Dr. Kays noted that there was a spike in June and Mr. Broughton indicated that was due to extra military flights and an Ocean exercise. Dr. Roseman asked if the runways were checked periodically for deformities and Mr. Broughton responded that Operations Specialists walk along the edges of the runways and safety areas periodically and drive the runways daily. There was discussion about the increased military traffic and potential damages to the runways and how those have been addressed and remedied, especially with the Harriers, and how disabled aircraft are removed from the airfield by the FBOs and how staff escorts the airplane and assesses damages when it lands and after FBO clears the aircraft from the runway. There was a discussion about ILM airfare comparisons to NY and ours being consistently higher. Mr. Broughton indicated he emailed the Delta Airline manager of pricing who indicated they would monitor but for now they are satisfied with the fares out of ILM. Mr. Broughton reported the total number of passengers handled in October was 67,600, which is 9.1% less than October 2011 and 2.3% less than October 2010; and the total passengers handled year-to-date was 671,275, which is still flat versus last year. October 2012 was 84.5%. aircraft were cleared, which was 18% less than October 2011; and 244 persons were cleared, which was 29.8% less than October 2011. Year-to-date, US Customs has cleared 1,293 aircraft, which was 11.2% less than 2011, and 7,063 persons, which is 13.7% less than 2011. Mr. Broughton reported the total number of seats available during the month of October was 39,999, down 10.8% from October 2011. Year-to-date available seats are up 3%. Mr. Broughton provided a Hurricane Sandy recap of events. Staff participated in conference calls three times a day with the National Weather Service starting on Thursday before the storm operations and maintenance staff, the airlines, as well as any other tenants, were invited to participate. The airlines all showed up. This allowed the airlines to keep up with what the updates on weather were so they could decide what to do with their fleet the night before. New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 6 Staff also participated in International FAA conference calls twice a day during the storm. It was worldwide but mostly the international airports and carriers that were looking at NY and PHL and it kept everyone up to date on what those airports were doing, particularly NY. Mr. Broughton reported that locally at ILM we cancelled 10 flights as a direct result of Hurricane Sandy. That included three PHL and two LGA trips daily starting Sunday and then resumed normal operations on Wednesday. probably 750 just on those 10 flights. Mr. Rosborough shared an article in October 26, 2012 issue of the Great Wilmington Business Journal about Mr. Barber. Mr. Rosborough shared the good news that US Airways is going to start daily service from ILM into DCA, seven days a week beginning February 1, 2013. ILM currently has Saturday and Sunday service which will be retained and the new service Sunday Friday means that ILM will have seven day, daily service with Sunday having 2 flights a day. Flights will depart from DCA at 5:30 pm, landing at ILM at 7 pm and leave ILM at 7:45 pm and arrive at DCA around 9 pm. This will provide great connections domestically to the Northeast. The majority of government and business traffic will use this flight to D.C. Mr. Morton indicated we had final approval to send the press release to the media tomorrow morning. Dr. Kays and Christopher White of GE Nuclear are quoted in the press release. Mr. Morton responded that staff has a roll-out plan to add this information to TV spots, radio, and other advertisements already in place. Regarding domestic airfare statistics, Mr. Rosborough shared that the FAA reported 2nd quarter domestic airfares went up 4.1% over the same period for 2011. The FAA has tracked this back for 18 years and the average airfare for all airports domestically in 2012 is $385.00/roundtrip. The average airfare went from $297 in 1996 to $385 in 2012 which represents a 30% increase over 18 years or 1.7% per year. The airlines are still struggling with their bottom line and that is why ancillary fees have played a key role in a positive outcome for survival. Mr. Rosborough reported there is another storm coming into the northeast and some flights are already being affected. High winds, rain and snow mixed and potential for more flooding in New York area indirectly cascades down to us and impacts on our service. Mr. Broughton responded that we have 1 flight cancelled today but that none are cancelled for tomorrow andthe airlines are watching the storm closely. ITEMS BY THE PUBLIC There were no comments from the public. OLD BUSINESS Dr. Kays initiated discussion about the loss of airport consultant, Dick Masters, who is retiring June 31, 2013 and Mr. Rosboroughs retirement in 3 years and the need to investigate the use of a consultant to examine resources and opportunities in order to choose their replacements New Hanover County Airport Authority November 7, 2012 Page 7 appropriately. Dr. Kays reported that he, Mr. Barber, and Mr. Rosborough have met with 2 aviation consultants and their scopes of work are somewhat different. A list was shared with all board members for discussion, deletion and addition of items to talk about further tonight and at next months meeting. Mr. Lennon indicated that he would like for the new consultant to specifically target better utilization of the customs facility. Dr. Kays indicated that the Authority would continue discussion with consultants to get a uniform proposal to present to the full board and perhaps even have the consultants come in to speak with the group if necessary. Mr. Lambeth shared that Flying the Caribbean would be a good publication to advertise in to promote the customs facility. Mr. Morton indicated he would look into that and see if we are already advertising in that publication. Mr. Barber expressed his thanks to staff and authority members for their condolences at the passing of his sister-in-law. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business to discuss at this meeting. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Board, Dr. Roseman MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Lambeth to adjourn. Upon vote, the MOTION WAS APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY. Chairman Kays adjourned the meeting at 6:23 p.m. Prepared by: Respectfully Submitted: Rose M. Davis _______________________________ John D. Lennon, Secretary