HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-12-2025 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting MinutesMinutes of Fairhope Airport Authority
August 12; 2025
The Fairhope Airport Authority met August 12, 2025, at 5:00PM in the City of
Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street.
Present: Don Ward, Chairman, Pel Henry, Ronnie Holyfield, Will Bruce, Len
Strickland, and Jack Burrell. Susana Freeman was absent. Also present was
Josh Myrick, Attorney and Dave Friedel, Airport Manager. Cynthia A Boothe
took the minutes.
The Minutes of the July 8, 2025, Regular Meeting were considered and
approved with a motion by Jack Burrell, second by Pel Henry and unanimously
passed.
Airport Manager's Report: Dave Friedel reported that the traffic count for July
2025 was 7,864 which is the highest count since installing Virtower.
Dave stated that he did a walk through today of the terminal building with
Ethan, GMC, and Crucible to address a few minor issues within the warranty
period as it has been almost a year since the Authority accepted the building.
All parties are still very happy with the building.
Dave reported that the hangar with the Viking Aircraft appears to be making
progress with repairs and looks like it has been washed. Josh Myrick stated
that he had sent Shad James a certified letter after the June meeting informing
him of the deficiencies of his lease agreement but feels the letter has gone
unclaimed as he has not received the signed green card or the letter stated
that it is unclaimed. Don Ward asked Josh if the letter could be hand delivered
by Dave and Josh stated that it might be the best solution as Dave would be
able to confirm that the letter was delivered.
Dave stated that he has some quotes for potential projects when the Authority
is ready for them.
Don Ward stated that what Dave was referring to is the notification he
received from the FAA that the Fairhope Airport had received an earmark from
Senator Britt's office for $500,000.00. There was already a meeting scheduled
with the FAA for the following day, but the FAA did not have any information
about the earmarked funds. Don was notified later that the FAA found out that
the money has been earmarked but is not "official" yet. It is not known when
the funds will become official.
Dave stated that he has quotes for the AWOS project, fencing and some gates
whenever the Authority is ready for them.
Flightline First Report: Ethan Mc Donald reported that the fuel sales for July
were 7,594.3 gallons of AV-gas and 18,820.9 gallons of Jet-A for a total of
26,415 gallons. He also stated that he did price comparisons, and the
Fairhope Airport has the lowest prices in the area.
Ethan stated that they are planning to reduce the number of hours that the
FBO is open during the construction of the Runway Project and will be open
from 8:00am until dark.
Aspire Aviation Report: No Report.
Engineer's Report: Jordan Stringfellow stated that the Runway Project has
been approved, and the Pavement Maintenance Project has been approved,
so she has asked Josh Myrick to prepare two resolutions to actually award the
contracts to the Contractors for each project. The Runway Project is being
awarded to Wiregrass Construction Company for 6.1 million dollars, and the
Pavement Maintenance Project is being awarded to Figures Construction and
Development Inc for $535,900.00. The funding for the Runway Project is 95%-
2 ½-2 ½ and the Pavement Maintenance Project is 75%-25%.
A motion was made by Len Strickland to award the contract for the Runway
Project to Wiregrass Construction, second by Pel Henry and unanimously
passed.
A motion was made by Len Strickland to award the contract for the Pavement
Maintenance Project to Figures Construction and Development Inc, second
by Pel Henry and unanimously passed.
Don Ward asked if both projects could be done at the same time to shorten
the construction period and Jordan stated that she would do whatever she
could to arrange it if possible.
Jordan stated that the FY2026 Pre-Applications are due on September 26th
and what she submits may change because of the earmark, but the three
projects that have been discussed are the replacement of the AWOS for
$250,000.00, an access road on the East Side with utilities for $1,000,000.00,
and a taxiway on the Southwest Side for $500,000.00.
Don Ward stated that the problem with building the new access road on the
East Side right now is that there is a big area that needs to be filled in before
the road can be built. There has been talk about moving the big dirt pile at the
south end over to the East Side to fill it in. Don asked Jordan about how much
it would it cost to fill in that area and she stated that it would be about
$150,000.00 to $200,000.00 worth of earth work to get it filled in. If the dirt at
the south end proves to be suitable it should cut the cost quite a bit.
Treasurer's Report: No Report.
Legal Report: Josh Myrick stated that all of his things were covered under
Jordan concerning the two resolutions.
Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Don Ward stated that he needed to
appoint a nominating committee for the slate of officers for the coming year.
The committee will present a slate of officers at the September meeting for a
vote, and the new officers will take office at the October meeting. Don asked
Will Bruce and Ronnie Holyfield to be the nominating committee.
Other Business: No Report.
Comments from Advisory Council Members: Russ Kilgore mentioned that
the Aviation Council Conference has an upcoming meeting and that there will
be an Alabama Aviation car tag available as soon as one thousand people sign
up to get one. The proceeds of the tag will be used for aviation scholarships.
Comments from the General Public: No Report.
A motion was made by Pel Henry to adjourn the meeting, second by Will Bruce
and unanimously passed.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:44PM.
�· ' Don Ward, Chairman