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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Aviation Advisory Commission - Meeting Date: 10/8/2014 MINUTES AVIATION ADVISORY COMMISSION GLENDALE MUNICIPAL AIRPORT 6801 N. GLEN HARBOR BLVD - SUITE 201 GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85307 AIRPORT CONFERENCE ROOM OCTOBER 8, 2014 6:00 P.M. I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:05 p.m. by Chair Victoria Rogen with the following Commissioners present: Walt Chaney, Quentin Tolby, Leonard Escudero, and Joe Mascaro. Also present were Walter Fix, Airport Administrator; Basil Allen, Glendale Airport Tower II. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING Commissioner Chaney motioned to approve the September 10, 2014 meeting minutes as written. Commissioner Escudero made the second. The motion carried 5 - 0 III. REQUEST FOR CONTINUANCE OR WITHDRAWAL OF ITEMS. None. IV.AIRPORT BUSINESS Mr. Fix provided updates on the following: 1. Annual "Take Your Kids to Work Day" Event • City of Glendale staff participated in the event, which was held on October 2nd and was a huge success at the Airport. 80 to 100 kids and parents were in attendance. • Participants visited various sites in the city. This was the first time the Airport was included as part of the event. • There were twelve aircraft on display, including helicopters, a gyrocopter and light aircraft. • Airport Management Assistant, Ms. Cindy Turski, did a fantastic job coordinating the event at the Airport. • Airport tenants gave their time and some donations toward the event. This was very much appreciated. 2. New Business in Terminal Office Suite#203 • America's Best AMT Crash Courses, LLC has decided to not move forward with the lease at the Airport as they have chosen to go with a smaller suite at Goodyear Airport. 1 V. SUMMARY OF CURRENT EVENTS Mr. Fix reported on current airport activities: 1. Construction Projects/Grants • Runway Slurry Seal Project: This Friday, the final walk through will be done and if all is well, the project will be officially closed. The contractors did a great job. • Apron and .Lighting Project: The contracts are scheduled to go before Council for approval on October 28th. There is one contract with Combs Construction and one with C&S Engineering. • In the past, the FAA grant coordinator was located in Los Angeles. There is now a grant coordinator/planner stationed at the local FAA district office who Mr. Fix will be working with from now on. Chair Rogen inquired if the runway slurry seal project came in on budget and Mr. Fix replied in the positive. Mr. Fix stated that the budget was increased to include the restriping of the taxiway centerline, which was approved by the ADOT. 2. Budget/Expenses/Revenues • Rates and Charges: The newly proposed Rates and Charges schedule is on the City Council agenda for January 2015 for review and approval. Prior to that, Mr. Fix will again review the land lease rates, which were established in 2002 and increased annually per the CPI. A formal appraisal may need to be completed in order to ensure the Airport is in line with market rates. • John F. Long donated most of the land for the Airport. Recently, Mr. Fix was approached by the Long group to set up a charitable donation for the Airport in the range of$50,000 yearly. A first check of$9,000 for 2014. will be sent soon. In 2015, a full $50,000 should be received. The funds will be used towards the Airport shortfall, which for 2014 so far is approximately $140,000. Currently, the shortfall is made up by the City's General Fund. Once the Airport breaks even, the funds can be used as seen fit for Airport needs. Staff is very appreciative of the donation. 3. Airport Business Activity/Economic Development • Mr. Fix has been speaking with an individual who would like to put in a light sport aircraft facility at the south end of the Airport, which will consist of a small hangar, office and apron. Flight training will be offered at the site. Mr. Fix should be receiving the business plan soon. Chair Rogen asked for clarification of light sport aircraft. Commissioner Tolby explained that the aircraft has less than 100HP, the payload cannot exceed 320 lbs and only a driver's license is required for a medical certificate. Commissioner Chaney added that there is a limit of 10,000 ft., 500 miles a day, no night flight and no instrument flight. • Mr. Fix met with the principal partner of Valley Aviation Services two weeks ago. At this time, Valley Aviation Services is offering the hangar sales to existing tenants. So far, out of 103 hangars, 11 have been sold. 2 • November 1St, the hangars will be available for purchase by the general public. Valley Aviation Services expects to sell all hangars within a year. Commissioner Escudero asked if this situation requires more staff oversight of the hangars as they are sold to individual buyers. Mr. Fix replied in the negative. Mr. Fix explained that once 51% of the hangars in a building are sold, the lease will be assigned to a hangar association. • Airwest Helicopters continues to move forward with Easyfly Aviation, the private company from China, in regards to the helicopter training program. Over a few years, they expect a to achievement enrollment of a few hundred students. 4. Land Use Planning/Zoning/Airspace Safety • Mr. Fix and Mr. Gruber met with the attorneys for the developers currently interested in the undeveloped parcel of Camelback Ranch near the Airport. Mr. Fix noted that this is the third or fourth developer who has been trying to get the parcel rezoned to residential by the City of Phoenix. Mr. Fix and Mr. Gruber were very clear in their opposition to the development due to the proximity to the Airport. Mr. Fix announced that on October 21st, the developer and their attorney will be holding a public meeting regarding the rezoning request. Details will be sent to all Commissioners, who are encouraged to attend. Commissioner Escudero inquired if the FAA could get involved in the Camelback Ranch issue. Mr. Fix stated that the location of the land does not lend itself to FAA involvement. However, Mr. Fix has spoken to Mr. Tony Garcia at the Los Angeles FAA office regarding the situation. Mr. Fix noted that some time ago, the City owned the parcel, but sold it. Mr. Fix hoped that at some point, the City could repurchase the land. Mr. Fix commented that ADOT might be willing to give the City grant funds to do so. Commissioner Escudero asked if Luke Air Force Base (LAFB) could get involved. Mr. Fix explained that LAFB would not be directly involved in the discussions, however, would certainly support the City in its stand against residential development on the parcel. • Mr. Fix stated that next week, there will be a kick off meeting for a Wildlife Study to be conducted at the Airport. ADOT has federal grant funds to conduct the study for twelve airports in Arizona and six reliever airports in the valley. The Glendale Airport has not had any critical airstrikes, but it is beneficial to conduct the study. 5. Super Bowl XLIX Planning • Mr. Fix attends the Planning Meetings. An FAA outreach meeting was held today at Sky Harbor, which was attended by FAA representatives from all over the country. The FAA has plans for managing the departure routes. More information will be provided at the November meeting. 3 • Sky Harbor has its own in-house, web-based reservation system for the Super Bowl arrivals/departures. The Glendale Airport will couple with the Phoenix system. • The Glendale Chocolate Affair will be held the same weekend as the Super Bowl. 6. Arizona Airports Association Fall Conference/Western Region Airport Property Managers Conference • Mr. Fix attended the conference and was a panel member along with Airport Managers from Scottsdale, Goodyear and Chandler. Discussion centered on hangars, leases,revenues and more. The conference was very interesting. • Tomorrow, Mr. Fix will attend the Arizona Airport Association Fall Conference at the Thunderbird Global School of Management. Ms. Brenda Fischer, the City Manager, will deliver the opening remarks. The Airport- based Civil Air Patrol Color Guard will participate as well. 7. Proposed FAA Hangar Storage Policy Update • The comment period ended on October 6th. As of this morning, there were 2,311 comments posted. Mr. Fix noted that it will take some time for the FAA to go through the comments and announce any decisions on their proposed policy. 8. Air Traffic Operations/Instrument Flight Procedures Production/Based Aircraft • Mr. Fix reported, for Mr. Gillies, that there are now 9 F35's at LAFB and there should be a total of 14 by the end of 2014. Training will begin in spring. • Mr. Allen reported that in September, there were approximately 4,656 operations for the month, which was a 19% decrease from last September. Mr. Allen attributed the decrease to the eleven day runway closure for the slurry seal project. Chair Rogen asked if the FAA checks on the operation reports. Mr. Allen replied in the positive, noting that the FAA does perform random audit counts at airports and does monitor the operations counts for unusual changes in numbers. VI. CALL TO THE PUBLIC No comments. VII. NEW BUSINESS REQUESTS (Future Agenda Items) Commissioner Tolby stressed the need for clarification of the specific role of the Commission. Commissioner Tolby requested more information in regards to the issues on which the Commission should be advising City Council. Commissioner Escudero stressed the importance of Commissioner attendance at the public meeting regarding Camelback Ranch if possible. Agenda suggestions included: 4 • Presentation from the new Airport restaurant operator. • Clarification of the role of the Commission, specifically in regards to advisory function. VIII.NEXT MEETING TIME The next meeting will be held at 6:00 p.m. on the second floor Conference Room of the Airport terminal building on Wednesday,November 12, 2014. IX. COMMISSION COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS None at this time. X. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned by consensus at 7:22 p.m. The Aviation Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of October 8, 2014 were approved at the Co ission Meeting of November 12, 2014. -431 Walter L. Fix, A.A.E. Airport Administrator 623-930-2188 5