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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-09-2025 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting MinutesMinutes of Fairhope Airport Authority September 9, 2025 The Fairhope Airport Authority met September 9, 2025, at 5:00PM in the City of Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street. Present: Don Ward, Chairman, Jack Burrell, Ronnie Holyfield, Pel Henry, Len Strickland, and Will Bruce. 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 August 12, 2025, Regular Meeting were considered and approved with a motion by Pel Henry, second by Len Strickland and unanimously passed. Airport Manager's Report: Dave Friedel reported that the traffic count for August was 8,375, which is five hundred above July's previous record. Dave stated that Moody's has started prepping for the Lighting project by pulling old light bases from the taxiway. Dave reminded the Authority that the Aviation Council of Alabama conference is in Muscle Shoals this year. The board has requested that Fairhope consider hosting the conference in 2026. Dave reached out to the Grand Hotel for pricing. The host fee is $15,000.00 and the event would bring 150 to 200 aviation professionals to the area for three nights. At least one offsite venue would be needed for a dinner, and other events may be needed depending on the schedule. The Authority may want to ask Foley to co-host and possibly hold an event. The room cost at the Grand Hotel would be approximately $300.00 a night and may be too expensive for some of the smaller airports to afford. Dave will check with ACA about pricing. After a group discussion, it was decided that if the ACA does not feel that the pricing is prohibitive then the Authority could see if the City or others would be willing to help with the host fees. Dave stated that Ky le Klinner has stepped up since the transition last fall to take on mowing the entire field, spraying the fence lines, taking out trees in the letters. Hopefully, she will have more information about the earmarked money by then and the Airport can make any adjustments they may need to make. That way the Airport is set up either way whether the earmarked money comes through or not to work with the money that they do have from the FAA and ALDOT to use as intended. After a group discussion, a motion was made by Len Strickland to approve submittal of pre-applications for the four FY2026 projects, second by Will Bruce and unanimously passed. Treasurer's Report: No Report. Legal Report: No Report. Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Don Ward presented a proposed budget sheet for the coming year and went over the proposed Revenues and Expenses expected for the coming year. Pel Henry thanked Don for his hard work in putting together the budget. Will Bruce made a motion to accept the budget, second by Len Strickland and unanimously passed. Don Ward stated that he appointed a nominating committee of Will Bruce and Ronnie Holyfield last month to come up with a slate of officers for the coming year and asked Will Bruce to report on the new slate of officers. Will Bruce stated that the new slate of officers is Pel Henry, Chairman, Len Strickland, Vice Chairman, Don Ward, Treasurer, and Will Bruce, Secretary. Jack Burrell made a motion to close the nominations, second by Pel Henry and unanimously passed. Jack Burrell made a motion to accept the slate of officers, second by Ronnie Holyfield and unanimously passed. Other Business: No Report. Comments from the Advisory Council: No Report. Comments from the General Public: No Report. infield that are an issue to the temporary runway, and taking on any maintenance that is asked of him. Even though he is not present at the meeting, Dave wanted to publicly thank him for the hard work he does to keep the Airport running smoothly. Dave reported that he received a Letter of Intent for Lot 27-B on the East Side along with a check for $10,000.00 as a deposit. He will have six months to sign a lease. Dave stated that Ethan McDonald was unable to attend the meeting but gave Dave his fuel numbers for August. There were 9,457 gallons of AV-gas, 27,854 gallons of Jet-A, with a total of 37,311 gallons sold. Flightline First Report: No Report. Aspire Aviation Report: No Report. Engineer's Report: Jordan Stated that the Taxiway Project has begun. The preconstruction meeting for the Runway Project has been set for next Tuesday at 2:00PM. Jordan has spoken to the contractor, and he will complete the widening of the taxiway for use as the temporary runway and then plan to shut down the runway for construction in the middle of October. Jordan stated that they have the contract for the Seal Coat Project and the preconstruction meeting for that will probably be the week of September 15th. Jordan stated that last month there was discussion about projects for the upcoming year 2026. They are Replacing the AWOS, Construct East-West Access Road, Phase I, and Construct Access Taxiway for the Southwest Side. She will also submit for reimbursement of the Taxiway Lighting System & Guidance Signs. Jordan has not heard any more information about the $500,000.00 earmarked money for the Airport and thinks it may not be accessible until the new physical year and might roll into the FY2026 money that the Airport is applying for now. Jordan recommends that the Airport go ahead and submit for all three projects as pre-applications for each project. The applications are made in September and Jordan finds out in mid­ December to early January what they intend to fund when they send out go- Adjournment: A motion was made by Pel Henry to adjourn the meeting, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:58PM.