HomeMy WebLinkAboutFairhope Airport Authority Meeting Minutes 04-11-2023Minutes of Fairhope Airport Authority
April 11, 2023
The Fairhope Airport Author ity met April 11, 1023 at 5:00PM in the City Hall
Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street.
Present: Chip Groner, Chairman, Jack Burrell, Pel Henry, Don Lagarde, Don Ward
and Will Bruce. Amy Pearson was absent. Also present was Josh Myrick, Attorney.
Cynthia A Boothe took the Minutes.
The Minutes of the March 14, 2023 regular meeting were considered and
approved with a motion by Jack Burrell, second by Will Bruce and unanimously
passed.
Continental Aerospace Report: Nick VanHouten reported that they have been
very busy, and things are going well with good fuel sales.
Airport Manger's Operations Report: Dave Friedel st ated that there is an
upcoming Special Ops Command Exercises coming up and the advance personnel
will be arriving at Gulfport and Mobile the end of April through the beginning of
May with an exercise beginning on the 6th of May. Fairhope will not be involved
with that exercise and are considered an alternate site. He will be meeting with
the planners of the exercises to see what can be expected. There will be another
advance team that will be arriving in September for an October 5th to Nov 17th
exercise that will involve the Fairhope Airport. He will report back at the next
meeting with more details after his meeting with planners.
Dave reported that he had picked up the Virtower equipment and will work with
Kyle on getting it installed with the help of a lift at the location chosen. He will
then meet with the company officials to get the equipment online and learn the
different reports that can be generated.
Dave stated that the back-up generator has been repaired and seems to be
working well now.
Dave said he had spoken to AO Electric about the ramp lighting project and got a
quote of $18,000.00. He will speak with Amy about budgeting.
Dave st ated that he had received the Operating Certificate from the FAA
inspection and will post it behind the counter at the FBO.
Dave reported that the Hansen Group had received approval from the FAA to
install a model of a P-51 to use as a wind vane.
Engineer's Report: Jordan Stringfellow
Te rminal Building Update:
Jordan went over the Floor Plan revisions stating that she has tried to make sure
that the FAA will not have any questions about the layout. She is hoping to have
everything ready for the project bid to go out by May ist and bid opening on June
1 st . Jordan stated that she needed an approval for the Engineering Proposal for
Construction Ser vices. Pel Henry made a motion to approve the Proposal, second
by Don Ward and unanimously passed.
Runway Project Update: Chip Groner stated that he had talked with Frank Farmer
of the FAA, and he suggested that the Authority should probably make sure that
they would be using the same engineering firm for the desig n as they will be using
for the construction phase of the project. The contract for Volkert will be up in
nine months and Chip asked the Authority if they felt they should reach out to
engineering firms now in case a new firm would be taking over for the
construction phase.
Josh Myrick stated that Volkert is under contract until February 2024. Prior to
expiration the Authority usually prepares and sends out an RFP to engineering
firms. The Master Agreement with Volkert does not have any penalties or
cancellation fees. If the Authority is inclined to request early termination, the
Authority would have to first meet with Volker t to discuss any issues they feel are
leading them to ask for termination and to compensate Volkert for any work that
has been done to date. When looking at RFP's the FAA guidelines state that you
. must first look at qualifications, not price. Any price discussions would take place
after the best qualified firm is selected.
Jordan stated that if another firm is selected that they should be able to oversee
the construction phase from her design as it would be very similar to the design�
from any other engineering firm. She also said that ALDOT had recommended
they move forward with the desig n so that the plan would be shovel ready for
approval next year, but there is still a small chance it could be approved this
summer only if the plans are. ready and bid out by July. But if the contract is
terminated now that won't happen.
After a group discussion it was decided that Volkert would continue the design
process. A motion was made by Don Ward to go ahead with an RFP for
engineering firms, second by Don Lagarde and unanimously passed.
Hangar Updates: Jordan went over the Updated layout plan for the East Side
showing the addition of lot P-16B, updated fuel farm layout and the shifting of the
Terminal Building a little to the west.
Sarah Hicks of Partner Architecture stated that the fuel farm for the ROI Hangar
has been shifted a little to the North to make it more accessible.
A motion was made by Pel Henry to approve the new layout plan, second by Don
Ward and unanimously passed.
Jordan went over the new lot P-16B layout that Jacob Cunningham has requested,
and it is almost ready for Josh Myrick to do a lease agreement.
Jordan went over the preliminary proposal for lot P-42 including its location on the
Southwest Side layout plan of the Airport followed by Scott Peters representing
Golo Adven tures who went into more detail about their proposed plan for lot.
A group discussion followed including the Southwest layout plan, lot P-42 and the
proposed lease, and the state of the construction road and the repairs needed to
make it usable for traffic and construction on the Southwest Side.
A motion was made by Will Bruce to approve the proposal for lot P-42 pending
review by Josh Myrick for any material changes that may be requested for the
lease, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed.
Treasurer's Report: No Report.
Legal Report: No Report.
Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Chip Groner stated that the annual DBT
AWOS service contract is up for renewal at a cost of $6,490.00. Chip and Dave
have not been able to get satisfactory service for repairs so Chip will be calling the
company president to see what can be done about the level of service the Airport
has been receiving. Jack Burrell made a motion to give the Chairman, Chip
Groner, the authority to sign the renewal at his discretion, second by Pell Henry
and unanimously passed.
Other Business: Don_ Lagarde stated that with the new insurance deductibles that
are on the renewal recently signed that the Airport Authority has about
$450,000.00 in deductible exposure so the Authority's insurance agent, Coley
Boone, has suggested a stop-gap plan that would pick up most of the deductibles
if needed. The cost of the policy would be about $25,000.00 to $30,000.00. After
a brief discussion, it was decided to table this for further discussion.
Comments from the General Public: Vince Boothe said that when he was an
Authority member that when the lease agreement was approved for the Hansen
Group that they were required to put in a construction grade road only until the
Authority developed that property and if they were not required to have a Phase I
Environmental study then that was a mistake. He also stated that the Authority
needs to find out what percent Volkert will charge for Construction Services fees.
Will Bruce stated that he wanted to keep The Civil Air Patrol in mind as they are
still looking for a place to hold meetings. Chip Groner stated that there may be
some space available at the end of one of the T-Hangars but since there are still
negotiations ongoing with Continental it could be October before that space is
available.
Adjournment: There being no further business a motion was made by Don Ward
to adjourn, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed.
Chip Groner, Chairman