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Aviation Advisory Board Minutes - 01/18/2007P MINUTES AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD January 18, 2007 PRESENT: Sid Gills, Chairman Martha Harvey Elizabeth O'Malley Jon Rivkin Kenneth Armstrong John Burrus I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by John Burrus at 5:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL CITY CLERK'S O FFICE ff�� Date � (rte -Zw-( By _12�a, Time Board Members City Staff Members were asked to make sure that they had signed in for the meeting. Kenneth Armstrong was welcomed as a new Aviation Advisory Board member, replacing Vernon Nesmith. III. APPOINTMENT OF CHAIRPERSON Major O'Malley nominated Mr. Sid Gills to be the chairperson, while Mr. Rivkin nominated Mr. Curtis Harrelson. There were no further nominations. Mr. Gills received a majority vote of 3 -1 in his appointment to the Aviation Advisory Board Chairman. Mr. Gills abstained from the vote. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes from the November 16, 2006 meeting were presented. Mrs. Harvey made and Mr. Rivkin seconded the motion to approve the minutes. All were in favor. AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD January 18, 2007 Page 1 of 4 N V. REGULAR AGENDA 1. Municipal Airport • Taxiway "C" Rehabilitation — Mr. Burrus noted that the City Council had taken action to initiate engineering work for Taxiway "C" repairs. This action was made possible by the FAA's agreement to allow the City of Wichita Falls to begin using 2007 Entitlement funds earlier than in previous years, despite the lack of a long -term lease. Major O'Malley inquired about the completion date of the repairs. The anticipated project schedule provided by URS Corporation indicates that actual repairs should begin in mid - spring of 2007. However, other factors, such as the extent of repairs, will have an impact on the length of this project. It was estimated that the repairs may run as high as $500,000. • Summary Information from the Joint -Use Conference — it was noted that Ms. Morris attended a civilian/military joint use conference in December of 2006. The conference gave Ms. Morris insight on how other airports and the military interact. Furthermore, the conference gave Ms. Morris the opportunity to acquire future contacts with both civilian and military personnel. The Aviation Advisory Board inquired about the status of the joint -use agreement and the long -term lease of Air Force property. Mr. Burrus stated that this should become a priority in the very near future, given discussions with the City Manager. The Board discussed the possibility of sending the Council a letter of support for beginning lease /joint use negotiations. The letter would also ask the Council to include the joint -use agreement and long -term lease as items in the upcoming Council strategic planning process. All members of the Board strongly supported this measure. In addition, Mr. Gills stated that since the March 2007 Town Hall meeting was scheduled at Kickapoo Downtown Airport on March 15, 2007, the Aviation Advisory Board should consider holding its next meeting at the Airport on that same date. Board members could then attend the Town Hall meeting immediately afterwards to discuss aviation issues with the Mayor, City Council members, and the City Manager. • 2007 Military Airports Program Grant — Mr. Burrus stated that staff recently submitted a second Military Airports Program (MAP) grant. The focus of this application was a new terminal building, valued at $12,000,000. The City's cost of the project is estimated to be $600,000. The application requests that the MAP funds be made available for this project in 2010 and 2011. Mr. Burrus explained the logic behind this decision. It was noted that the 2006 MAP awards centered on non -AIP eligible projects, such as hanger construction. Another consideration was that the FAA would not support reconstruction of runway 17/35 at this time. Finally, the request was made in the future to ensure the likelihood of available funds. This decision was based on the money available to be programmed for 2007: $4,000,000. MAP and Entitlement funds would be used to pay the balance on a new terminal. AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD January 18, 2007 Page 2 of 4 Mrs. Harvey stated that she had concerns with the level of service being provided at the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport. She questioned the logic of building a new facility, but not addressing poor customer service issues and the high pricing structure of American Eagle. Mr. Burrus stated that this was not the first comment that he had received on this issue, and that these were concerns shared by the public. Mr. Burrus stated that, in his opinion, the only method to effectively deal with the American Eagle issue was competition. Unless a second airline provided service to /from Wichita Falls, there would be no motivation for American Eagle to change their present methods of operation. Mr. Armstrong stated that the City should give consideration to building its own airport facility separate from Sheppard AFB. There was general discussion on this viewpoint. It was noted that new facilities take many years to complete the environmental review process. As a result, the lease issue with Sheppard AFB would still have to be resolved. Further discussion illustrated that services currently provided by Sheppard, such as fire and rescue, would have to be funded at the sole expense by the City. 2. Kickapoo Downtown Airport • Status of Construction Projects — Mr. Burrus noted that the AWOS project was on schedule: the FCC approved the frequency and equipment was due to arrive soon. Construction is anticipated to be complete by mid - April. The Hanger Area Taxiway Improvement project was falling behind schedule due to weather and construction delays. While the bulk of the work has been completed on the storm water detention pond, the gate and weir system had to be re- constructed because it was originally set too high for the pond to properly drain. While there is still a chance for the project to be completed by the July 2007 deadline, more aggressive scheduling and construction by the contractor will be required to complete the project in the appropriate time frame. Delays on the current hanger taxiway work will require notification to tenants because the February 7`h deadline for that segment of work will not be met. • Update of Minimum Standards Project — none of the Minimum Standard committee members were present. As a result, no discussion occurred on this topic. VI. ITEMS OF CONCERN TO BOARD MEMBERS Mr. Armstrong stated that there was a strong need for taxiway lighting at Kickapoo Downtown Airport. He noted that the reflectors on both sides of the taxiways do not provide the delineation for nighttime operations, which could result in safety problems. Mr. Armstrong suggested that staff visit with other Kickapoo tenants to gauge the need for this project. Mr. Burrus stated that staff would visit with other tenants to determine AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD January 18, 2007 Page 3 of 4 N whether there is an immediate need for taxiway lighting. If the lack of taxiway lighting is determined to be a safety issue, then staff will work with URS Corporation to re- address the need for taxiway lighting. Mrs. Harvey stated that there is a strong need for a lighted entrance sign at Kickapoo Downtown Airport. She said that the entrance to the facility is very difficult to find at night. Mr. Burrus stated that this project would be eligible for Routine Airport Maintenance Project funds from TxDOT, and this was a project that may be considered later in the year as budget funds allow. Mr. Gills invited all members of the Aviation Advisory Board to attend the Aviation Safety luncheons held at Luby's Cafeteria on the second Tuesday of every month. A brief overview was given on some of the topics that had been covered during the last year, as well as topics that will be covered in the near future. Mr. Gills also asked all Aviation Advisory Board members to attend the March 15 Town Hall meeting at Kickapoo Downtown Airport. Future Aviation Advisory Board meeting for the 2007 calendar year were set as follows: March 15, May 17, July 19, September 20 and November 15. VII. ADJOURN The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m. Mr. S4Gills, ATTEST: John Burrus, Director of Aviation, Traffic & Transportation AVIATION ADVISORY BOARD January 18, 2007 Date Date Page 4 of 4