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1999-03-15 Regular MeetingAirport Advisory Committee March 15, 1999 6:00 p.m. Borough Conference Room MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER The Airport Advisory Committee regular meeting of March 15, 1999 was called to order by Stosh Anderson, Chairman, at 6:00 p.m. in the Borough conference room. II. ROLL CALL Present Absent taff uests Stosh Anderson Robert Himes Patti Kirkpatrick Charles Barber Ruth Lovejoy Tom Manninen Arlene Mauldin John Chya Dean Andrews Don Rossiter Don La Chance A quorum was established. III. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA Chair Anderson proposed amending the agenda as follows: 1. Under New Business add Kodiak Island Borough budget aviation line item; add Election of Officers, and Airport Utility Services. 2. Change section VI to NEXT MEETING DATE; make section VII COMMENTS, and add section VIII ADJOURNMENT. Agenda was approved as amended. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 1. Update on transfer of Airport from the Coast Guard to the State Chair Anderson provided a brief overview of the committee's responsibilities and duties. He stated that the committee meets when members feel it is necessary, although the guidelines say they need to meet four times per year. Lt. Cdr. Don La Chance, U.S. Coast Guard Environmental and Fire Protection Branch Chief, provided a brief update on the transfer of the airport from the Coast Guard to the State. He stated that the property section in Alameda, California was handling this matter. Currently Alameda has submitted documents to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). La Chance thought there was a possibility that BLM may not want to purchase developed land. If BLM fails to purchase the property, the next step would be to turn it over to the Government Surplus Agency (GSA) who would handle the sale of the property. La Chance thought this process was sixteen to eighteen months away, possibly summer of 2000. Dean Andrews, Andrews Airways, inquired about the utilities at the airport. Andrews stated that with the unusually cold winter this year, he has had pipes freeze and when he tried to find them, he was unable to due to incomplete or inaccurate utility easements. He felt it was important to do a complete survey of the utility easements when the weather clears. It was agreed that they would discuss the utility easements in more detail later in the meeting. Chair Anderson clarified for the new members that the Coast Guard wanted to divest ownership of the airport property and was proposing a land transfer to the state. The Coast Guard would retain portions of the buildings such as the crash basin and access the water treatment plant, and the utilities. Lateral utility lines would be owned by the State. Andrews stated the crash basin was the only place to pull out floatplanes. He said it was functional, though not in good condition. La Chance stated that the Coast Guard does not maintain the crash basin; however, the state occasionally does improvements. Borough manager, Tom Mamm~en, was concerned that the utility easements were inaccurate. He stated the assembly at this time was uninterested in pursuing development at the airport; however, he said there was a need for future development at the airport. In response to Charles Barber, Manninen stated Alaska Airlines sub-lease the property and building from the state. Currently, Alaska Airlines was considering taking out the bear case and expanding the baggage handling area. Chair Anderson further clarified that the Coast Guard was the property owner and leases to the state who in turn sub-leases to vendors such as Buskin River Inn and Alaska Transfer. He stated the state charges a different rate for aviation and non-aviation businesses. In response to Barber, Chair Anderson stated that the assembly's position on the Mark Air Terminal was to buy the terminal if it was cost effective, which proved not to be. He stated that while there was a need for a bigger terminal, there was no rush as Pen Air owns their building and there was no other airline carrier coming in to Kodiak. Discussion was held on fire protection for the airport. In response to Chair Anderson, La Chance stated that if the state purchased the airport, then the state would provide fire protection services. La Chance explained that the Coast Guard would be willing to share the costs of fire protection with the state once the land changed hands. Manninen advised that recommendations from ECS would be available on Apri18 or 9 and discussed by the assembly at their next work session. He stated that the City of Kenai was required to have a 3-4 minute response time available full-time. He said Kenai provided fire service with full blown mock-up drills on a regular basis. Don Rossiter explained that the Coast Guard's primary mission was to provide services to the Coast Guard and crash support to the airport and was not in the business of providing services to personal entities. He stated the city was responsible for the Buskin River Inn and other businesses in the area and could request assistance from the Coast Guard. (NOTE: The area was in Airport Fire Protection Area, contracting with the city for fire protection services.) Rossiter understood the state had no plans to acquire fire protection training and without the fire protection to the airport, there would be no planes coming or going. Rossiter moved that the Borough manager look into maintaining adequate protection at the airport as set forth in Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) guidelines, part 139 Certification and Operations: Land Airports Serving Certain Air Carriers. Seconded by Mauldin. Motion carried unanimously. Chair Anderson directed manager Manninen to discuss with the assembly the issue of who would be responsible for fire protection at the airport when the property is sold. 1. Guest Speaker Borough Manager, Tom Manninen, gave a brief update on the Mark Air Terminal, explaining the Assembly decided not to purchase the Mark Air Terminal, though they felt the terminal had potential as a source of revenue. In response to Manninen, Chair Anderson stated the city owned the city airport and floatplane facility with air traffic control by city ordinance and was monitored by the FAA. He stated the borough contributed funds to the city airport. Chair Anderson thanked Manager Manninen for coming. Chair Anderson asked each person present to introduce themselves. Stosh Anderson -Commercial Fisherman and Pilot. Don Rossiter -Fire Chief, USCG Station Arlene Mauldin -Alaska Airlines Manager -Kodiak Dean Andrews -Andrews Airways operating out of Lilly Lake Charles Barber -Joined the committee due to his concerns about the Mark Air terminal. Don Lachance -Environmental and Fire Protection Branch Chief, U.S.C.G. L Chair Anderson advised that the city has a similar advisory committee that is under the public works department; however it has been inactive for some time. He said there has been talk of reorganization of the committee with John Sullivan the chief administrator. 2. Kodiak Island Borough Aviation Line Item Budget Chair Anderson advised there was a line item budget for $12,000 which was included in the annual Borough budget. He said the funds were set aside for improvements to the crash basin and have been carried forward each year. It was agreed that Manninen would check to see if the funds were still available and how much was left. Barber wondered if funding was needed at the village airports. Chair Anderson stated that the village airports were under the state that provided the funding. He said the municipal airport was not FAA approved and two years ago the city started the preliminary steps to become FAA approved for trident basin. He stated the city does allocate funds for maintenance and improvements. He explained that the fencing of the municipal airport was an ongoing project and needed for safety reasons. Barber moved to inquire of the City as to what their needs were at the municipal airport regarding fencing. Mauldin seconded the motion. Chair Anderson directed Manninen to discuss this issue with City Manager, Bill Jones. 3. Election of Officers r n announced his intent to ste down as chair. He asked for nomi i Chair Ande so p nat ons for the seat of chair and vice-chair. Mauldin inquired of the duties of the chair and vice-chair. Chair Anderson stated the duties were to communicate with Borough staff, monitor ongoing projects, keep committee members properly informed and make sure the committee continues to meet on a regular basis. Andrews stated he would consider vice-chair. Mauldin moved that the elections be postponed until the next meeting to give the new members time to learn more about the committee and its duties. Seconded by Andrews. 4. Utilities Andrews stated his main concern with the airport was with the location of the utilities and who was responsible for maintaining the utilities. La Chance stated the Coast Guard did a survey to support the divestiture and he would find out where those surveys were. V. Next Meeting Date L L Next meeting was scheduled for April 5, 1999 at 6:00 p.m. in the Borough conference room. It was asked that the following items be placed on the agenda: 1. Old Business: Election of Officers Utilities Fire Protection Airport Plan 2. New Business: Foreign Trade Zone It was agreed that Charles Barber would be appointed to act as vice-chair until the next meeting when elections would be held. VI. COMMENTS It was clarified that Manninen would find out what steps the state was taking to ensure continuity during divestiture of the airport property, specifically how it pertains to FAA guidelines, Part 139. L L VII. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:37 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: Patti Kirkpatrick Assistant Clerk Stosh Anderson, Chair