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1994-05-25 Regular Meeting Airport Advisory Committee May 25, 1994 12:00 Noon Borough Conference Room MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER The Airport Advisory Committee regular meeting of May 25, 1994, was called to order by Wayne Stevens, Chairman, at 12:06 p.m. in the borough conference room. H. ROLL CALL Present Absent Staff Guests Jacque Bunting John Chya Rachael Miller Jim Moffet Wesley Campbell - Lee Robbins Jerome Selby (for Cmdr. Miller) Dan Dorman Mike Machulsky Scott Schleiffer Wayne Stevens Mike Waller A quorum was established. The members introduced themselves. Mr. Stevens explained that the committee hadn't met in over a year. He stated that this break was the result of a meeting with the Assembly in August of 1993 where the committee had asked for guidance and didn't receive a clear direction from the Assembly. He indicated the committee needed to be rejuvenated and needed to come up with recommendations to the Assembly. III. ACCEPTANCE OF AGENDA The agenda was accepted as submitted. IV. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The May 11, 1992 meeting minutes were accepted as submitted. V. ITEMS OF BUSINESS i 1) City's Request for Funds Mayor Selby outlined the funding request from the City of Kodiak. He indicated that the city had recently designated the harbormaster to oversee municipal airport and planned on putting the, burden of running the airport on the users. He stated that the city was looking for other funding sources and had asked the borough to sign over the $14,000 it collected annually on property taxes at municipal airport. He indicated that the request was before the committee for discussion. He stated that the Assembly Airport Advisory Committee Page 1 of 6 May 25, 1994 needed input from the committee as to whether the money would be spent at state airport or municipal airport. Mr. Stevens asked for a refresher on prior discussions with the city regarding the Airport Advisory Committee's involvement with municipal airport, not just state airport. Mike Machulsky stated that the city had indicated they did not want any input from the committee. He further stated that when the committee was formed, there were many members who were municipal airport/general aviation users. He indicated that the committee's discussions had been steered back to state airport because that was the main reason for the group. He indicated that most of the municipal users quit the committee at that point and also stated that the city had made it clear they did not want the committee's help regarding municipal airport. Jacque Bunting stated that there was a committee at the city that was trying to find solutions at municipal airport. He stated he believed Tom Walters and Joel Wattum were on the committee. Mr. Stevens acknowledged a guest, Jim Moffet, manager of the Kodiak Tower. The committee discussed the proposal. Scott Schleiffer stated that he was confused and asked why the borough was already collecting the money if it was city airport money. Mayor Selby indicated that the borough was the official tax collector for the city for property taxes and wrote the city a check for their portion. He stated that there was a borough mill on planes and a city mill on planes. Mr. Schleiffer clarified that the $14,000 represented the borough's portion of the tax on planes. Mike Waller asked how many planes were at municipal. Mayor Selby indicated that there were perhaps 21 to 24 planes. Mr. Bunting stated that there were now only about 3 planes at state airport Mr. Machulsky asked Mr. Waller where he did his flying. Mr. Waller indicated that he used municipal airport. He stated that he thought the money should go to municipal and stated that if the money was coming out of town, it should go back to town. Mr. Machulsky asked if the costs for maintaining municipal were known. Mr. Bunting indicated that he thought the cost for snow removal was about $15,000. Mr. Waller stated that the municipal airport had limited funds and had no access to federal money. He stated that he didn't agree with the way municipal airport was going to be operated and didn't think the harbormaster should be in charge of running the airport. Airport Advisory Committee Page 2 of 6 May 25, 1994 w 0 :d Mr. Machulsky stated that there should be some money given back to municipal if that's where the money was coming from. He stated that the main concern of the t committee previously was the lack of services at state airport. He stated that users couldn't be attracted if services were not upgraded. He pointed out that if the committee funded municipal airport today under a scenario that no one liked, it would be something that would be difficult to defend in the future if it wasn't working. He suggested that perhaps the city needed to address the committee to cover some of the issues. Mr. Waller stated that if municipal was going to be operated the way the city was proposing, all the users would move to state airport. Mayor Selby stated that he heard that a gate was going to be installed which required ID cards for access to municipal airport. Mr. Bunting stated that there was no clear cut policy at either airport. He stated that people without ID cards at state airport tried to go across the ramp to Penn Air and that it was illegal. He said municipal was the same way. He stated that buying fuel at municipal was also a problem. He indicated that the locals knew where to go for services but the transients didn't know where to go. Mr. Stevens agreed with Mr. Bunting and indicated that the whole problem with Kodiak's airports was that they were small pockets that take care of local interests rather than attracting people to Kodiak. Mr. Waller stated that the money collected from general aviation should go back to general aviation even if it would be for state airport. Mr. Schleiffer stated that the issue of ID cards was separate but needed to be addressed. Mr. Machulsky stated that was true at state airport, but if someone needed services, they needed an ID. Mr. Schleiffer suggested that wherever the plane was tied down was where the money should go. He stated that the borough didn't have a lot of cost involved at state airport, but indicated that users might start moving to state airport. He stated that maybe it was an accounting problem. Mr. Machulsky stated that Mr. Schleiffer's suggestion would be a good solution but that he wished it were that easy. He stated there were snow removal problems at state airport. He indicated that some users used municipal, downtown, lily lake and state airport. Dan Dorman stated that eventually commercial operations off municipal were going to end. He stated that he didn't think the airport should be shut down, but care should be taken in its development. He stated that if the city offset the cost, then everyone would go to municipal. He indicated that if the state offered free parking in the revetments at state airport then everyone would shift there. Mr. Dorman stated that if money was spent at state airport on general aviation, then users would probably move there. Mr. Bunting stated that there was no protection at state airport because the state took no liability. Airport Advisory Committee Page 3 of 6 May 25, 1994 Mr. Machulsky brought up the people with significant investments at municipal. He then stated that he had heard those same people say that if they had services at state airport they'd be out there. Mr. Bunting pointed out that the state had opened all the revetments last winter and had kept them clean. Mr. Stevens stated that there was $14,000 available and suggested that the items being discussed be prioritized with associated costs with an effort to make state airport more hospitable to general aviation. He indicated that previously there was no funding available and he would like to consider putting some energy into state airport. He stated he understood that the taxpayers had an interest in seeing the money go where they were, but suggested that a door for opportunity at state airport could be opened. He pointed out that municipal airport had some serious deficiencies and stated that the building around it would continue and would cause conflicts down the road. He stated that if space could be made available and inviting, then the committee would have done part of what they were charged to do. Mr. Schleiffer stated that he was amazed at how many people lived so close to municipal. He agreed that in the long run there would be complaints. He then asked why there wasn't an FBO at state airport and then suggested that perhaps there wasn't enough business for one to operate there. Mr. Bunting stated that Penn Air had sort of assumed the FBO responsibilities at state airport. Mr. Machulsky stated that an FBO did more than just sell fuel. He stated that since 1986 he had been appalled to see how many times people broke laws at municipal. He said he did not consider municipal to be a safe operation. Mr. Stevens stated that part of the reason there was no FBO at state airport was because there had been no clear plan regarding development. He said that the state had been approached by individuals wanting to build a hangar facility. He indicated that a plan needed to be put together by the community and then they could work with the state to achieve their goals. Mr. Bunting, stated that a person could not afford to build and sell fuel at state airport. He said he didn't know how to solve the problem. Mr. Dorman stated that the push at municipal was due to the amount of barriers at state airport. Mr. Machulsky stated that the committee seemed to perk up the ears of the area planners from the state when they met with them last fall. He indicated he felt the state would like the committee to have a larger role at the state airport. He agreed that there were roadblocks at state airport. He pointed out that in the meetings with the state the committee had the ear of those making decisions and stated that if the committee were to hel approach the state with some concrete proposals then they might be able to get some P . Mr. Bunting indicated that there was land available, it was just a matter of getting facilities to >t. Airport Advisory Committee Page 4 of 6 May 25, 1994 Mr. Stevens entertained a motion to write a letter to the city indicating that the money would be used at state airport for general aviation needs. Mr. Machulsky suggested that the city be invited to another meeting to address the issue. He stated that there were some concerns by general aviation users over the current management of municipal airport. He stated he did not feel comfortable in funding something the committee knew nothing about. Mr. Schleiffer asked if the $14,000 was an annual figure. Mayor Selby indicated that it was an annual figure. Mr. Schleiffer suggested that the money could be given to the city for one year only with the idea that the allocation would be reviewed again the next year. He stated that the money could be tied to the city group getting with the Airport Advisory Committee to discuss their plans for municipal airport. Mr. Waller indicated that it might soften the blow to the city in that the money would still be used for general aviation. Mr. Schleiffer asked if the taxes were based on the value of the aircraft or on the value of the land as well. Mayor Selby indicated the taxes were based only on the value of the aircraft. Mr. Dorman stated that he didn't want to see the airport in town close but expressed that developing municipal airport was not the way to keep it open. Mr. Waller suggested the committee table the proposal in order to get more input. Mr. Dorman made a motion that the money be spent on general aviation needs at state airport. He indicated that if some of the municipal users moved out to the state airport that some of the problems at municipal might be cured. He suggested that snow removal would be helpful at state airport to give general aviation users access to their planes. Mr. Schleiffer asked if the borough was prepared to spend the time to develop the idea with the state. Mr. Machulsky suggested that the committee request that someone from the state sit on their team, as was the case with the previous Airport Task Force. He stated that it would be appropriate to get the state back in sync with the committee. Mayor Selby indicated that normally people from the state would come down for meetings and indicated that the borough could work with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to arrange that. Mr. Schleiffer clarified that the committee was suggesting that the $14,000 be spent on general aviation needs at state airport. Mr. Bunting asked where the municipal airport would get the money for snowplowing. Mayor Selby indicated that the plowing would probably have to be subsidized through the city's general fund. Mr. Bunting seconded the motion to use the money for general aviation at state airport. Mr. Stevens called for a roll call vote: Airport Advisory Committee Page 5 of 6 May 25, 1994 Wayne Stevens AYE Mike Machulsky AYE Jacque Bunting AYE Dan Dorman AYE Scott Schleiffer AYE Mike Waller AYE None were opposed. VI. COMMENTS The committee discussed their meeting schedule. Mr. Machulsky suggested that they meet quarterly in the evenings. He stated he would like to come up with a plan for state airport as the state seemed attentive to the committee's concerns. Mayor Selby indicated that the borough would contact the state regarding the plowing issue at state airport. Mr. Machulsky explained that the lease for state airport had been stuck at the state offices for four months. He stated that Murph O'Brien at DOT had been particularly helpful in getting things moving with the lease. The next meeting date was set for Monday, July 18, 1994 at 6:30 p.m. in the borough conference room. VII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 1:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted by: UI& dAd U'`- -� R chael V. Miller ° Way e Stevens, C airman Secretary RECEIVtD j U j_. 191994 ,CODW, i;LANC) t t�R��UGr CLERKS OFFI(T Airport Advisory Committee Page 6 of 6 May 25, 1994 Q Dan Dorman made a motion that the money be spent on general aviation needs at State Airport. He indicated that if some of the municipal users moved out to the State Airport that some of the problems at municipal might be cured. He suggested that snow removal would be helpful at State Airport to give general aviation users access to their planes. Scott Schleiffer asked if the Borough was prepared to spend the time to develop the idea with the State. Mike Machulsky suggested that the committee ask that someone from the State sit on their team, as was the case with the previous Airport Task Force. He stated that it would be appropriate to get the State back in sync with the committee. Mayor Selby indicated that normally, people from the State would come down for meetings and indicated that the Borough could work with the Department of Transportation (DOT) to arrange that. Mr. Schleiffer clarified that the committee was suggesting that the $14,000 be spent on general aviation needs at State Airport. a Jacque Bunting asked where the municipal airport would get the money for snowplowing. Mayor Selby indicated that the plowing would probably have to be subsidized through the City's general fund. Mr. Bunting seconded the motion to use the money for general aviation at State Airport. Mr. Stevens called for a Roll Call vote: j Wayne Stevens AYE Mike Machulsky AYE Jacque Bunting AYE Dan Dorman AYE Scott Schleiffer AYE Mike Waller AYE None were opposed. [- e 'Z rN 41AY, u 199 UGH i i I