HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-18-2025 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting MinutesMinutes of Fairhope Airport Authority
November 18, 2025
The Fairhope Airport Authority met November 18, 2025, at 5:00PM in the City
of Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street.
Present: Pel Henry, Chairman, Jack Burrell, Susana Freeman, Ronnie
Holyfield, Len Strickland, Will Bruce, and Don Ward. Josh Myrick, Attorney,
was absent. Also present was Dave Friedel, Airport Manager. Cynthia A
Boothe took the Minutes.
The Minutes of the October 14, 2025, Regular Meeting were considered and
approved with a motion by Don Ward, second by Len Strickland and
unanimously passed.
Airport Manager's Report: Dave Friedel reported that the October traffic
count was estimated at 4,600. The Virtower was out the first week of the
month and there were no touch & gos last week.
The Runway Project is progressing well. On October 27th ALDOT approved
Runway 02/20 at noon and closed Main Runway 01 /19. Traffic fell as expected
but aircraft are still utilizing our Airport including some charters, PC-12, or
King Airs.
ALDOT will be doing an inspection on Monday morning with a full closure on
Tuesday for four hours to remove barricades and will reopen entire Airport for
the holiday weekend. Monday, December 1 st, the taxiway will be closed and
narrowed over a few days. Lighting work will continue for a few more months,
but runway lights are available next week after opening. The painters will do
temporary markings starting on Thursday and after Christmas will come back
for permanent painting.
The Seal Coat Project for the NW and East Ramp will start this week with crack
sealing and then full seal coat.
Dave stated that the owner of the Bellanca Viking that has been inoperable for
quite some time and has no insurance was finally contacted on October 31 st
and Dave informed him that the thirty-day notice started that day and the
plane will be towed out on December 31 st _ The owner is still trying to sell it but
understands that it needs to move on.
Dave checked with Cathy and she has received all but three lease payments
and will check today's mail and let him know if she received any of them. All
others were paid on time.
Flightline First Report: Ethan McDonald was absent, so he gave his report to
Dave Friedel. Dave stated that for October, there was 8,759.7 gallons of AV
Gas and 29,697 gallons of Jet-A fuel sold. Ethan hosted a 99's meeting this
past weekend and he is working with them to repaint the compass rose on the
runway. Ethan will cover the cost of the supplies. The 99's are considering
using Fairhope as their terminus for their annual poker run fund raiser on April
11, 2026, with about fifty guests. Ethan also wanted to thank Jordan
Stringfellow with Volkert for how awesome and easy it has been to work with
her during the ongoing construction project, and he appreciates all her hard
work. Dave expressed his thanks also. The FBO will now be open 7:00am to
7:00pm until Daylight Savings time changes. Ethan has asked that the FBO be
allowed to close for half a day on December 24th and all day on Christmas
Day. Dave told him that was not a problem if the Authority agreed.
Aspire Aviation: No Report.
Engineer's Report: Jordan Stringfellow stated that the Runway Project has
gone exceptionally well and the 30-day window will close on Tuesday the 25th .
The final paving was completed today. The next few days they will be
regrading the shoulders and putting out sod and the temporary striping will
start Thursday. ALDOT will be at the Airport at 8:00am Monday morning the
24th for final inspections if any Authority members would like to attend. Jordan
thanked Dave and Ethan for being easy to work with and appreciates their
hard work.
The Lighting Project and signs are still ongoing and will be finished in a few
weeks. They are still waiting for some of the light fixtures to come in. They are
still waiting for the PAPI lights to come in for installation.
The Seal Coat Project will start tomorrow. They will be power washing all the
old striping before starting the crack sealing and final sealing. They should be
finished with the East Side after Thanksgiving. The West Side will be a little
thicker so it will take longer but should be finished by the middle of December.
Jordan reported that they have had some hand augers done on the mound of
dirt at the southwest end and the material is usable. She has asked the
Geotech to write up a handling procedure so that whenever the Authority gets
a contractor to work with, they will have a procedure to move the material to
the East Side. Pel Henry suggested moving ahead with putting a gate at the
south end to keep people from going out onto the taxi way and access road.
Jordan stated that the EA is nearly complete for the West Side. She said there
is one more round of advertisement that they have to go through which should
be completed by next week when it will go to the City for comment. After the
City signs off on it then they can start the site development process.
Pel Henry asked Jordan if she has heard anything yet about the earmark and
Jordan replied she has not.
Treasurer's Report: Don Ward presented an updated Profit & Loss statement
and went over the changes he is making on the report to make it more clear
and easier to understand going forward.
Legal Report: No Report.
Board Discussion/Approval Requests: No Report.
Other Business: No Report.
Comments from Advisory Council Members: No Report.
Comments from the General Public: No Report.
Adjournment: There being no further business, a motion was made by Don
Ward to adjourn, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed. The
meeting was adjourned at 5:56PM.
<J;tfoH41�/ o1l c/}CJo#-L-Submitted by Cynthia A Boothe