HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-08-2024 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting MinutesMinutes of Fairhope Airport Authority
October 8, 2024
The Fairhope Airport Authority met October 8, 2024 at 5:00PM in the City of
Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street .
Present: Don Ward, Chairman, Pel Henry, Jack Burrell, Amy Pearson , Will
Bruce, Chip Groner. Len Strickland was absent. Also present was Josh
Myrick, Attorney and Dave Friedel, Airport Manager. Cynthia A Boothe took
the Minutes.
Before the meeting started, Don Ward, Chairman wanted to thank his last two
predecessors, Chip Groner and Pel Henry, for all their hard work and stated
that his tenure as Chairman would be a lot easier because of the great job that
they did .
The Minutes of the September 10, 2024 regular meeting were considered and
approved with a motion by Jack Burrell, second by Pel Henry and unanimously
passed.
Airport Manager's Report: Before Dave's report , Don Ward, Chairman ,
stated the Aviation Council of Alabama met in Auburn last week and voted
Dave Friedel, as Airport Manager of the Year for the State of Alabama and the
Airport Authority is very proud of Dave for this great accomplishment and
appreciates all the things he does for the Airport.
Dave stated that the traffic count for August was 7139 , and the count fo r
September was 5397.
He also stated that the fuel numbers for September were 18,106 gallons for
Jet-A and 4,974.80 gallons for AV-Gas. He said that the cumulative total for
the year is running close to what it was last year.
Dave reported that for the transition in October that Continental will collect all
T-Hangar rent for the month and split it with the Airpo rt Authority.
Dave reported that the Authority is receiving hangar leases back and
beginning November 1st, the Airport Authority will collect the monthly rent
payments.
The option has been given for either ACH or Credit Card payments (with a
charge to cover fees). Dave is working with BancCard, Trustmark's agent, to
get this set up.
Dave said that there was a fuel tank inspection by Titan, fuel provider for
Flightline First, and there are some issues, but they will be corrected during
refurbishment. Rebel Services has a quote to fix the issues noted by Titan and
Perry Brothers has a quote to reline the tanks.
Dave stated that he called the City of Fairhope to schedule sweeping starting
next Monday night for three nights and that NOTAM is published.
Continental Aerospace Report: No Report.
Engineer's Report: Luke Hicks stated that the environmental testing related
to the existing fuel tanks will be done on October 15th before the new FBO
takes over.
Luke reported that the Terminal Building was in the close out phase and is
almost completed.
Luke said he is working with Dave Freidel to settle on bid dates for the Taxiway
Lighting Project.
Luke stated that all the pre-applications have been submitted. He said that if
the Runway Project is going to be funded next year that they would announce
it in December.
Luke stated that the Seal Coat Project will be pushed until Spring of 2025.
Treasurer's Report: Amy Pearson stated that they are working on getting all
the online banking services set up for ACH and Credit Card payments.
Legal Report: Josh Myrick stated that he had heard from Vince Boothe who
wants to assign his lease to Cutting Edge Builders of Alabama, LLC, which is
owned by Don Lagarde. After a group discussion, a motion was made by Pel
Henry to allow the assignment of Vince Boothe's lease to Cutting Edge
Builders of Alabama, LLC, with a $10,000.00 construction deposit and restart
the timeline for construction to take place. There was a second by Chip
Groner and it was unanimously passed.
Josh presented a new Aircraft Storage Agreement which will be the Authority's
lease for T-hangars. The new lease is similar to what Continental had with
some information added from other airport's leases. He would like to get it
approved by the Authority and authorize the Chairman or the Airport Manager
to sign the leases as they come along as long as the lease remains unchanged
from what the Authority approved. A motion was made by Will Bruce to
accept the lease as presented as the Standard Aircraft Storage Agreement for
Continental's previous customers. A second was made by Pel Henry and it
was unanimously passed. A motion was made by Pel Henry to allow Dave
Freidel to sign the leases as long as there are no modifications, a second by
Chip Groner and unanimously passed.
Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Don Ward stated that there was a
discussion last month about reducing the liability requirements for insurance
for Flightline First . He said that a binder listing the Airport as an additional
Insured was received from Titan, but he stated that Titan is in the process of
renewing their insurance policy and did not have a copy of the new policy in
hand, so there has not been an opportunity to review the policy. Don would
like to table this item again until next month to allow the policy to be reviewed
before making a recommendation to the Authority. Jack Burrell made a
motion to authorize Pel Henry and two other Authority members along with
Josh Myrick to research the insurance issue and make a recommendation
once reviewed. A second was made by Pel Henry and it was unanimously
passed.
Don stated that the ACH and Credit Card issues are still being worked on and
that it is taking longer than was originally anticipated.
Other Business: No Report.
·., I
Comments from the Advisory Council Members: Russ Kilgore stated that
the Aviation Council Conference in Auburn was an opportunity for all the
Airports represented to meet with the FAA and the State Aeronautics
personnel. He stated that the Council is helping to get the Airports permanent
funding for the State to offer more grants to the Airports. The goal is to get
$25,000,000.00 in funding annually for the State. He also stated that it was a
great conference and mentioned Dave winning the Airport Manager of the
year.
Comments from the General Public: Erik Cortinas, Building Official for the
City of Fairhope , stated that he has received several calls from Jordan about
construction questions from her customers concerning hangar projects . He
said that if any Authority Members have or get questions about the
construction of the hangars at the Airport to refer the questions to him so that
Jordan and the Authority members will not have to try to get answers to these
questions when they should be talking to the Building Department. Also, he
stated that impact fees are required on permits and that the City had an
Impact Fee study done and the impact fees will be increasing so it is
important that the customers building at the Airport are made aware of these
fee requirements when budgeting for their projects. Erik also mentioned that
there will also be some Building Code updates next year.
Adjournment : A motion was made by Pel Henry to adjourn the meeting,
second by Chip Groner and unanimously passed.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:47PM .