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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-10-2026 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting Minutes.Minutes of Fairhope Airport Authority March 10, 2026 The Fairhope Airport Authority met March 10, 2026, in the City of Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street. Present: Pel Henry, Chairman, Jack Burrell, Susana Freeman, Len Strickland, Don Ward, Will Bruce, and Ronnie Holyfield. Also present was Josh Myrick, Attorney, and Dave Friedel, Airport Manager. Cynthia A Boothe took the Minutes. The Minutes of the February 10, 2026, 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, Airport Manager, report·ed that the traffic count for February was 6,405, up from last year's count of 5,896. The Annual McNeill Aerobatic Fly-in starts tomorrow and they are expecting about twenty aircraft. NOTAMs for airspace and transient PPRs are posted. Dave stated that the Aprons are completed and painting of reflective striping may be next week depending on weather with overnight closures. About the only thing left is the PAPI lights. The tree clearing around the AWOS is underway with minimal disruption to the area, and it will be stacked and burned in the fall after the annual burn ban. Dave said that he had spoken with Robert from Forestry who mentioned that the rest of the West side past the fence is getting very thick. Robert told him that Forestry offers controlled burns to mitigate that. After the AWOS area is clear he will investigate that with Forestry to see how much it would cost. Dave has received three AWOS system replacement quotes and is working with Luke to compare and evaluate and Luke will speak to that in his report. There is a new SASO request for a detailing business from Ted Grundhoefer that will be looked at under Board Discussion. Dave said he spoke with Colony Fence a week or so ago and is waiting for quotes as discussed in the last meeting. Dave reported that the T-hangar fire Extinguishers need to be inspected and get on an annual inspection schedule. Skelton's, who had done that for Continental, gave Dave a $1,600.00 estimate to do the inspections and service. He also spoke with a local company who wanted to initially replace all of them for nearly double that amount. After a brief discussion, of the Authority members, Josh Myrick, Attorney, asked Dave if there was a contract from Skelton's and Dave stated that Skelton's wanted to set up doing the payment by auto pay, but Don Ward thinks that they should send an invoice for payment. A motion was made by Len Strickland to have Skelton's inspect and service the fire extinguishers with the provision that they invoice for their services, second by Don Ward and unanimously passed. Dave also reported that there are some issues with the restroom in the third row of T-Hangers, and he hopes that it is not the grinder pump like the one in row two. Flightline First Report: Ethan McDonald said the Tuesday morning breakfast was not as well attended as usual due to fog again but about twenty to thirty people did show up. Ethan stated that the fuel sales for February were 7,804 gallons of AV-Gas, and 25,993 gallons of Jet-A, for a total of 33,797 gallons. Ethan said that he moved one of the tie-downs from the back to the front of the East Ramp to make it easier to store smaller planes. Ethan is having Ramp lighting installed as it is very dark on the Ramp at night. The electrical has been installed last week and the lights should be installed this week. There are also two streetlights out on Edward Laird Way, and he is going to have them fixed. Ethan mentioned with the situation going on in the Middle East that his fuel cost have increased over a dollar a gallon in the last week. Aspire Aviation Report: Ethan reported for Aspire that in February that they did seventy hours of flight instruction and one hundred thirty hours of ground instruction. They also had two students who did solos. Engineer's Report: Luke Hicks stated that the striping has not been done because of the dew point at night. Hopefully, they will be out there by Monday. While the runway is down, they will also install the rest of the runway lights. Once the PAPI lights are installed they will do a certification flight with the FAA and get them certified. Luke stated that they had the final walk through for the Seal Coat last week. The West area needed a little cleanup work to do, and they will have a construction meeting in the morning to check everything out. Last week Luke sent out the Taxiway Lighting Reimbursement Grant Application to the Authority Members and Josh Myrick has prepared the Resolution. It is an AIG Grant for $169,000.00 that is funded 95% by the FAA, 2 ½% paid by ALDOT and 2 ½% paid by the Authority. There is one for the Authority to sign and one for the City to sign. Once they are signed then Luke can submit the Application to the ALDOT online portal. A motion was made by Len Strickland to sign the Resolution for the Taxiway Lighting Reimbursement Grant Application, second by Don Ward and unanimously passed . The Authority's matching portion of the Grant will be $4,239.00. Luke did not have the AWOS documents with him. He stated that he would do the AWOS next month. Treasurer's Report: Don Ward presented and went over the February Revenue and Expense Report. He stated that everything was pretty much running on budget. Legal Report: Josh Myrick stated that he has the adjustment to the leased area for Lot P-27B. He prepared the amendment to the leased area with the new legal description provided by Luke Hicks. He recalculated all the applicable ground rent for the entire forty year term of the lease. He would like to get a motion to approve the lease amendment so the Chairman can sign it, and Josh can get it to the tenant for the tenant to sign. Don Ward made a motion to approve the lease amendment, second by Len Strickland. Don Ward, Len Strickland, Pel Henry, Susana Freeman, Ronnie Holyfield, and Will Bruce all voted Yea, Jack Burrrell abstained from the vote. Motion passed. Josh reminded the Authority Members that several years ago the Fairhope Hangar Group built their hangar on the Southwest Side of the Airport. At that time, the Authority had utilities run down to the area of the hangar for approximately $76,000.00. The Fairhope Hangar Group has since been repaying the Authority for the utilities with yearly payments of $6,900.00 until the $76,000.00 is paid. Now that there are two LO ls pending for the Southwest Side, Josh wanted to let the Authority know that if those two leases are signed that they would also be responsible for paying a share of the annual $6,900 .00 payment . The allocation for the new tenants as well as the Fairhope Hangar Group will have to be worked out after the leases are signed . If any other tenants build on the Southwest Side, they would also be responsible for a share of the payment. Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Pel Henry stated that he needed a motion to accept the changes made to the Master Plan on the East Side. The changes include changing the lot line for P-27B to increase the size of the lot. There were also changes in the first letter of Lots 27A, 16A, 16B, 19, and 20. They have all been changed from P to E. A motion was made by Len Strickland to accept the changes to the Master Plan, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed. Josh stated that on the Insurance D&O Liability policy that it covers one year and if the claim is made during that year it is covered, but the statute of limitations for most of those types of claims is two years . They offered an extended reporting period which would cover an additional year. Because the policy was approved in February, Josh stated it might be something to look into next year. Don Ward stated that he would call Coley at Thames-Batre to see if they would do an amendment to the policy. Dave Freidel stated that he had a SASO Application for Sterling Wing Aviation Detailing , LLC. The Owner, Ted Grundho efer, has been working and flying with Aspire and cleaning their aircraft as a test run and want to set up his business to clean and detail aircraft at the Airport . The SAS O will need to be approved so that he can get his City Business License and Insurance. Don Ward made a motion to approve the SASO subject to the applicant completing all remaining required paperwork, second by Susana Freeman and unanimously passed. Other Business: Pel Henry stated that the next regular meeting of the Airport Authority is scheduled for April 14th , which is also the week that the schools are out for Spring Break. He said because of the Spring Break holiday that some Authority Members will be out of town and there would not be a quorum for the 14th • After a group discussion, it was decided to move the meeting to April 7th , at 5:00PM at the FBO at the Airport. Comments From Advisory Council Members: Russ Kilgore stated that the Authority has an updated and modern facility at the Airport and the Authority and Volkert should be proud of the way everything turned out. Jack Burrell stated that a couple of weeks ago the Mayor and City Council were in Washington, DC, and one of the things they had on their priority list was to discuss getting further funding for the Airport and they talked with all the local Congressmen and also the two State Senators. They talked about the need for the additional road needed on the East Side and the Road needed for the Industrial Park and all were receptive. Comments from the General Public: No Report. Adjournment: A motion was made by Jack Burrell to adjourn, second by Len Strickland and unanimously passed. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:56PM. I fl� wL s� by Cynthia�