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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-14-2026 Fairhope Airport Authority Meeting MinutesMinutes of Fairhope Airport Authority July 14, 2026 The Fairhope Airport Authority met July 14, 2026, at 5:00PM in the City of Fairhope Council Chambers at 161 N Section Street. Present: Pel Henry, Chairman, Len Strickland, Vice Chairman, Susana Freeman, Ronnie Holyfield, Don Ward, Will Bruce, and Jack Burrell. were absent. Also present was Josh Myrick, Attorney, and Dave Friedel, Airport Manager. Dave took the Minutes. The Minutes of the June 9, 2026, Regular Meeting were considered and approved with a motion by Don Ward, second by Jack Burrell and unanimously passed. Airport Manager's Report: Dave reported that the traffic count for June was 6362 up from May, down from last year. The runway project final inspection occurred with no major issues noted. Project is closing out, still working to schedule PAPI flight check. ACA Conference is in planning for Sept 21-22. $15,000 sponsor fee payment is coming due. Sponsorship allows for 6 tickets, Dave's and 5 others. Susana has said she is interested in attending and anyone else who wants to attend should let Dave know. The conference is two days of aviation industry-related discussions at the Grand Hotel. Sunday's icebreaker dinner is at Oak Hollow Farm. The DBT technician and FAA inspector performed a semiannual AWOS inspection on the 25th of June. New system replacement was discussed and the problem with the phone line not working was confirmed as a bad motherboard port. Rather than spending several thousand dollars fixing it, it will remain NOTAM'd out until the new system is installed. Due to the phone line being down, Dave spoke with an AT&T tech who ported the phone number off the dedicated copper line to his work cell for holding until the new system is installed and moved to cellular service. This will save over $400 per month. DST is aware that they were selected for the replacement and that we are waiting for FAA grant money, then we will contact DBT for installation. Draft minimum standards have been updated including minimum insurance requirements and the SASO permit application which were distributed to board members for review. Multiple Alabama airports were compared and the Fairhope requirements follow closely with them. Discussion followed and Don Lagarde suggested liability minimum requirements being higher. Josh Myrick also weighed in on insurance liability for the authority. Discussion centered on having the minimum requirements flexible for the board to review individual SASO requests in the future. Don Ward made a motion to approve changes to the minimum standards as presented, seconded by Len Strickland and unanimously passed. CAP has moved into end cap unit and is very happy to have it for their storage. The previously discussed and evicted aircraft was moved to an authority controlled tie-down spot for time being. Flightline First Report: Tyler O'Brien reported that the monthly breakfast went well. Fuel sales for the month of June were 7,767 gallons of AV-gas, 31,874 gallons of Jet-A, for a total of 39,64 1 gallons sold. A Cirrus rep reached out concerning an event.at the airport with 40-50 Vision jets for their convention at the Grand later this year. They may potentially have 110-120 jets here next year. Aspire Aviation Report: Quintin Dupper gave the report for Aspire. They have brought online a new aircraft and the Tecnams are leaving. The 2022 Piper Archer has been very well received, and they did more hours in the first half of July than normal full months before. They brought in 7-8 new students with the announcement of the new aircraft. They also dropped their prices and are planning to bring C-172s here. Aspire will be at Oshkosh and hosts a BBQ. He also mentioned that ACA has released a new car tag through the state with proceeds going to aviation scholarships. Dave gave more information on the tag changes and release. Engineer's Report: Jordan Stringfellow reported that the FAA has begun dispersing grant money to several airports, so our AWOS grant should be arriving soon. We applied for the AWOS replacement as well as the taxiway lighting reimbursement. Once received we can contact DBT for the project. ALDOT issued a call for grant preapplications. On August 5th Volkert will meet with ALDOT to review our Capital Improvement Plan. We will keep Taxiway Alpha rehab as our priority project. It will require discretionary funding, so our chances next year are unknown. Fencing quotes are being worked by Dave, the rest of the earmark will go towards land reimbursement. The AWOS project will actually be funded from the earmark money as the FAA likes to use earmark money first. Property map and ALP have been updated with improvements on east side as well as west side property to be transferred/divested shown. We are still waiting on a reimbursable account for the PAPI lights. We cannot schedule a check flight until that happens. Treasurer's Report: Don Ward presented the Financial Statement for the month of June and went over the Revenue and Expenses for the month. He said that everything looks good we have approx. $32,000 profit vs $29K budgeted, ahead for the year. Legal Report: Josh Myrick reported that Len Strickland is filling an unexpired board member term for Don Lagarde and was due to be re-appointed in March 2025, but members are able to continue to serve. Jack Burrell made a motion to recommend to nominate Len Strickland to the mayor. Don Ward seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Josh looked at timelines of Apex Construction lease and construction has not been completed during the period allowed in the lease. Dave stated that the investors are currently looking at what paths are available to continue and complete the project. Don Ward made a motion to have Josh notify the tenant that he is in default of the terms of the lease and give him 30 days to cure. Len Strickland seconded, potential legal paths were discussed, and motion passed unanimously. Board Discussion/Approval Requests: Don Ward presented an update on the land transfer to the city. An initial draft agreement was received from city attorney s and reviewed. The situation was shared with aviation attorney Alan Armstrong, who stressed getting FAA approval before moving forward. An updated ALP was sent to the FAA and an official agreement was received from the FAA approving the transfer to the city. Mike Serra from Third Coast Aircraft presented their SASO application to start renting an aircraft at Fairhope. They operate at several airports and would bring a C-150 taildragger here to Fairhope. They do not employ instructors, so anyone needing a tailwheel endorsement would need to utilize their own CFI. Aspire does not see a conflict in this business as they do not offer similar aircraft, though they do rent their aircraft out. Len Strickland made a motion to approve Third Coast application based on completion of all business requirements. Don Ward seconded and the motion was approved unanimously. Other Business: Jack Burrell stated that the city is looking at a new 140' water tower that will need to be reviewed for airspace issues. Jordan stated it would affect the instrument circling approach minimums. Discussion of the possible changes to the project for FAA approval followed. Comments from the Advisory Council Members: No report Comments from the General Public: No Report. Adjournment: A motion was made by Ronnie Holyfield to adjourn the meeting, second by Will Bruce and unanimously passed. There being no further business, the meeting was adjouI; at 6:05PM. Submitted� Dave Friedel