CEDAR CITY REGIONAL AIRPORT BOARD MEETING A regular meeting of the Cedar City Regional Airport Board was held on Thursday, September 14, 2017 at 8:00 AM in the Conference Room of the Airport located at 2560 West Aviation Way, Cedar City, Utah. PRESENT: Bill McVay, Member Burt Poulsen, Member Vaughn Montgomery, Member Scott Truman, Member Mark Leavitt, Member Terri Hartley, Member Dale Brinkerhoff, Member Jeremy Valgardson, Airport Manager Kathy Dahl, Executive Secretary Blaine Nay, Citizen Mike Mower, SUU Kirt McDaniel, Jviation Rick Sorenson, BLM J.J. McGuire, Sphere One Aviation Clayton, Cheney, Citizen Steve Decker, Cedar City Library Director Lori Bradshaw, Artist Robyn Twitchell, Artist ABSENT/EXCUSED: Jyl Shuler, Chairperson McVay moved, Hartley seconded and motion carried unanimously that in the absence of Shuler, Mark Leavitt be appointed Chairman Pro Tem for this meeting. Leavitt welcomed new Board Member, Vaughn Montgomery, to the Board. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Poulsen moved, Truman seconded and motion carried unanimously that the minutes from the June 8, 2017 meeting be approved. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS GDA No one was present. TSA No one was present. BLM Rick Sorenson, Tanker Base Manager at the Air Center stated that though the center is supposed to be interagency, it is mostly supported by the BLM. He has been pushing to try and get more funding and more staffing. Things have been fairly quiet since the Brian Head fire. They have the same aviation contracts in place that are based out of Cedar City. The equipment has been fairly busy in Idaho and Nevada with fires in those areas and resources have also been sent north to Washington and Montana.
PAGE -2- There was a fire yesterday west of Richfield near the freeway. The fire was caught early and brought under control. Equipment came in from Idaho to assist and it is still located at the tanker base. Until now, they haven t pumped any retardant since July 13, 2017. Sorensen didn t have any statistics to give the Board on the Brian Head fire, but did say they pumped about 500,000 gallons of retardant and had a couple of days where they pumped over 100,000 gallons and actually ran out once. There was a near miss between aircraft that was communication and human related. There were so many aircraft along with the fire and smoke we were fortunate there was only a near miss. FBO J.J. McGuire with Sphere One reported that during the Brian Head fire, they brought in 12 loads of jet fuel with a minimum of 10,000 gallons per load. They also brought in a 3 rd jet truck to accommodate fueling the aircraft. In answer to query, McGuire stated that they fuel all the aircraft for the tanker base, with the exception of the helicopters that came in for the fire, which brought they own fuel and support vehicles. They still collect a fuel flowage fee from the truck supplying the helicopters and did receive between $9,000- $10,000 in flowage fees from the Type I helicopters. Valgardson stated the airport received payments of around $17,000 in flowage fees from the AV gas sales during the fire. Sphere One will hold their annual Fly-In on September 30, 2017. This is a fund raiser for the local scouting troops with a cost of $5.00 per person. The scouts will start breakfast at 8:00 AM and finish up sometime around 11:00 AM. They are encouraging local pilots who have planes on the field to come out and bring their planes for the people attending to look at. There will be plane rides. Last year there were only 6 planes on the ramp, so McGuire would like to see the local pilots participate. She has been working on the military to have them bring in an Apache and set up a recruiting booth, but the negotiations have been on-going for over 4 months, and she doesn t know if they will attend or not. Anyone who brings in a plane will get fuel for the selfserve price off the truck and free breakfast. Sphere One is still working on their hangar project. It is on the agenda later during this meeting. They are making some adjustments to the design, waiting on the engineers to get everything drafted and get a list of requirements and regulations, such as fire regulations, etc. MSC Aerospace No one was present. SUU Mike Mower with SUU reported that they have received all their new Cirrus aircraft and have 12 aircraft in their fixed wing fleet along with the 12 helicopters. All the owned aircraft have been painted bright red. There are still several leased helicopters,
PAGE -3- but as those leases run out, SUU will be replacing them with purchased aircraft. All tail numbers end in SU. They have an option for another 10 Cirrus, but don t see exercising that option until late in 2018 and they probably won t be stationed here. One of the areas SUU is looking at for expansion is Henderson, Nevada. They expect to put between 1500-1800 hours on each aircraft per year. The student to plane ratio currently is 8 students per aircraft. Their program is launching a full Bachelor s of Aviation degree in the spring of 2018 and a Master s in the fall of 2018. They will also have an on-line program with all ground school courses in the spring of 2018, and launching a maintenance program in 2018. SUU has between 220-230 students in the aviation program; half are on the GI bill and the other half are other funding. SUU has scheduled an open house on the evening of September 30, 2017 from 5:00 PM 10:00 PM. They will have a live band, activities for children and the vice-president of Cirrus will be here to welcome the new fleet. They encourage the public to come out. In answer to query from McVay, Mower stated that their communication frequency seems to be working very well. At the open house, they will go over the frequencies and safety protocols. This information was supposed to come out in the last sectional chart, but the only thing that was updated was high activity and flight training. Valgardson stated that it is not an option for the Airport to put the frequency information into our auto surface observation system (ASOS). Our ASOS is an older style and we don t have the capability to record on it. We are in line to get a newer system, and that will give us the capability to type in our own advisories, but we are not sure when we will get that equipment. In answer to query, Mower reported that their safety reports have been good. Valgardson stated that they only thing reported to him has been a few more bird strikes outside of our airspace. He hasn t had any complaints about airspace congestion. SkyWest No one was present. Listed below are the enplanements for the last 3 months compared with the same time in 2016: June, 2017 = 1,185 June, 2016 = 1,165 July, 2017 = 1,323 July, 2016 = 1,077 August, 2017 = 1,279 August, 2016 = 1,123 Jviation Kirt McDaniel reported that the terminal ramp project is being closed out and the final report will be sent to FAA today. The next project is the taxiway and apron rehabilitation project scheduled to begin in April 2018. The contract is with Western Rock Products. The cost is $3,447,916.00, with FAA paying 95% and the City paying 5%.
PAGE -4- The project was broken down into 5 schedules. (1) Taxiway Charlie; (2) Taxiway Alpha; (3) South Apron; (4) Center Apron; (5) Apron rehabilitation that is not eligible for federal funding that paves an additional 40 feet in front of the private hangar area, at about $150,000 which will be paid solely by the City. There will be no additional assessments to the hangar owners for this portion of the project. Our Airport is classified as a Category 3 under FAA requirements, which state that the taxiways are a maximum width of 50 feet. Right now our taxiways are at 75 feet. As the Airport does not have additional funds to do the additional 25 feet and FAA won t pay for them, our taxiways will be reduced down to 50 feet. The additional 25 feet of asphalt will be milled up for a paved shoulder, which is funded by FAA, but it won t be used for aircraft. Taxiways Charlie and Alpha will have the existing 13-15 inches of pavement replaced with a 20-inch section made up of 5 inches of asphalt, 9 inches of base and 6 inches of subbase. It will be designed for frost and heavy aircraft such as 757-200 charter flights as shown in the GDA Masterplan. The existing storm drain piping and catch basins will also be replaced. The South and Center Apron areas will have the existing pavement replaced with 20-inches made up of 4 inches of asphalt, 9 inches of base and 7 inches of subbase and will be designed for frost and planes just under 100,000 lbs. such as Gulfstream GV aircraft. The existing storm drain piping and catch basin will also be replaced. There is a low point where the existing catch basins are located. This design will take everything off the hangars from the east to the west and the low point will be gone. The project is scheduled for a total of 88 working days and will be done in 4 phases. This was done to try to make sure that aircraft that need hangars have access and also that SUU has access to get in and out in other directions. Valgardson also said that the key hole will be left open. During construction, some aircraft may have to parked on the ramp. Valgardson told the board that the phasing of the project can be adjusted if anyone has any suggestions. Again, the project is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2018, possibly around April when the batch plants are open. In answer to query, Valgardson said that this project does not include the east ramp which needs a full reconstruction. We are still competing for funds for that project from FAA and hopefully looking at getting some funding possibly in 2021-2022. AIRPORT MANAGER S REPORT Terminal Wall Mural Steve Decker, Cedar City Library Director, met with the Board to receive conceptual approval for a mural in the baggage claim area at the Airport. The City Council has placed the Heritage Center under the umbrella of the Library, placing literary arts and performing arts together under one roof. This fiscal year, it was suggested that visual arts also be placed under the Library. Mayor Wilson liked the
PAGE -5- idea and gave Mr. Decker a charge to freshen the Cedar City cabinet at the Airport. It was totally redone and will be changed again this coming November. He has looked at various City buildings that could be enhanced. There is gallery space at the Library and City Hall and he is also looking at some kind of visual arts at the Heritage Center, Festival Hall, the Aquatic Center and the Airport. It seemed that the baggage claim area at the Airport would be a good candidate for a mural. An RFP was sent out and received 3 responses. 2 were financial feasible and those 2 artists are here today with the renderings they submitted. Both Lori Bradshaw and Robyn Twitchell are local Iron County residents. The most expensive of the concepts would be under $3,000 and Mr. Decker is looking for contributions. The renderings were reviewed by the Board. The mural would come with a one-year guarantee and cleaning instructions. Financially, Mr. Decker has asked if the Airport could put in some track lighting to enhance the art and Valgardson stated that the Airport budget could fund that. Mr. Decker told the Board that along with the mural, there would be an attribution to the artist and the sponsor. Valgardson stated that FAA would have no problem with an attribution to the artist, but because the Airport is federally funded, he is checking with them on a contribution from a sponsor and if that would be approved. There was some discussion by the Board on possible subject matter for the mural, including airport history, history of Cedar City, highlighting industry and highlighting the area for tourism. Ultimately, the Board felt that they could approve the concept, but because the funding would be through the City the selection of the type of mural should probably come through the City Council. Truman moved, McVay seconded and motion carried unanimously that the Airport Board is supportive of the concept of the mural in the baggage claim area at the Airport and that the actual selection of the type of art be left with the City. FY 2017 Budget Presentation Valgardson did a presentation on FY 2017 which just ended June 30, 2017. He went through the revenues collected. All revenue collected through the Airport stays with the Airport. It is against FAA regulations to move any funds collected by the Airport to any other fund. The Fuel Fee does not include any flowage fees from the Brian Head fire. PFC s or Passenger Facility Charge is a restricted revenue and can t be used for operations, only for the local match for FAA grant projects. In answer to query from Leavitt concerning past years, Valgardson stated that in FY 2016 we did put some money in the bank. FY 2015 we had to take money from the general fund. The goal of every airport is to be self-sustaining. Landing fees were increase in FY 2017. With that increase and also new leases, it has helped to bring up the revenue for the operating budget. Hangar rent revenue is going up. There are just a few that haven t paid and a few raw land leases that still need to be paid.
PAGE -6- Valgardson reported that he had a conference call with the state on the fuel tax and found out that we have not been getting all the money they owe us, so we will be getting a good check from the state soon. At the end of the fiscal year, without the additional revenues that are anticipated to be added into FY 2017, we were able to put $40,000 in the bank. Valgardson reviewed the expense report for FY 2017 with the board. This was a busy year for the Airport. There was a lot of painting done and tires were replaced on the snow thrower and tractor. There was also a lot of asphalt work and building and ground maintenance, plus HVAC issues. The HVAC system is now running as it should, but there are 10 variable flow dampers that are bad and are sending bad information to the system. Rocky Mountain Power did an audit at the Airport and have agreed to give us $5,000 to upgrade the dampers. The Airport crew gets creative in maintenance because we don t have the funds. The salary account is under budget because one of the permanent part-time employees changed his status to temporary, so he is not receiving any benefits. Under the Capital Expenditures we re-stained the Terminal Building, did an LED light upgrade in the FBO parking lot and did the HVAC upgrade. We did over $100,000 worth of capital expenditures in FY 2017. The $52,632 is the money set aside for the local match for FAA projects. We didn t spend the entire amount in FY 2017, but because it is hard to track, Valgardson showed the total amount expended. The Operations Summary shows the difference between Revenue and Expenditures is +$101,024.32. The $52,000 PFC revenue is restricted, so deleting that, the difference is +$49,024.32. Adding in the Capital Expenses and including the PFC fees the entire budget is -$1,479.23. Valgardson stated that there are only 3 airports in the state that are self-sustaining: Salt Lake, Ogden and Cedar City. We operate very lean, but every dollar we take in goes back into the Airport and is used where it is needed. Even though FAA matches all projects they have approved at 95%, we still need to come up with the 5% match and we have a major runway project scheduled for 2021. Raw Land Lead Expansion Sphere One Aviation Valgardson reported to the board that the design for Sphere One Aviation s new building is too big to fit on their current raw land lease parcel. They are asking to add 5 feet on the south, 5 feet on the north and 18 feet on the back into the parking lot to their existing lease. The City has a new surveyor, so we weren t able to get a legal description prior to the meeting, but the surveyor is working on it now. In answer to query from Leavitt, Valgardson stated that the negative effects would be cutting into the parking lot and it would also be 5 feet closer to our vault with the propane tanks. Sphere One does have the option to lease the land, but he is not sure they will be able
PAGE -7- to build inside that 5-foot area because the fire code requires a 20-foot buffer between permanent structures and the propane tank vault. They may be able to do landscaping there, but will possibly have to shift the building closer to the existing FBO structure or reduce the size of the building. There will not be an impact to the existing self-fuel station. Also, a new beacon will have to be installed on a 40-45-foot pole. Sphere One s design shows their new building height at 34 feet. Sphere one will pay to have the new beacon installed until the Airport receives FAA funds for it, then they will be reimbursed. The City attorney would like to do an addendum to the existing raw land lease. Brinkerhoff moved, Poulsen seconded and motion carried unanimously that the board approve the addendum to Sphere One Aviation s existing raw land lease to include the additional footage of 5 feet on the north, 5 feet on the south and 18 feet on the backside. Update of Prairie Dog Fence Project Valgardson reported that FAA has issued the grant for the Prairie Dog Fence Project and the Notice of Award was signed. The Contractor is Taylor Made Fence. The project budget was estimated at $1,000,000 and a grant was received from FAA in the amount of $1,200,000. The bid came in at $850,000, including design. The contract is 45 days and we hope to begin construction within the next 2-3 weeks. Funds saved on this project can be carried over to the ramp/taxiway project. Airport Operations Runway Edge Identifier Lights (REILS) Valgardson explained that the Runway Edge Identifier Lights or REILS on Runway 8/26 are not supported by the FAA. They are not a huge benefit to visual approaches for those who use 8/26. The airport doesn t have instrument approach and the FAA has asked us to do away with them because they feel they are not required because it is not a safety issue. The FAA didn t participate in their purchase, however, so they can t force us to decommission them. Runway 2/20 will always have REILS. We are losing bulbs daily getting power surges. The bulbs are about $65.00 each. If the REILS go out on 8/26, the runway identifier sign also goes out and we don t know why. With the reconstruction of the runway and taxiways all the wiring will be upgraded, but there will be a substantial savings in doing away with the REILS on 8/26. The board discussed this and asked those private pilots in attendance their opinion, and it was felt there was no real reason to keep the REILS on 8/26 in service. Montgomery moved, McVay seconded and motion carried unanimously that the Board support the plan to decommission the REILS on Runway 8/26. Valgardson stated that this issue will have to go to a public hearing and will put it on the agenda of the next Master Plan Public meeting.
PAGE -8- Secure Hold Room Valgardson reported that we have been having issues with the walk through metal detector in the secure hold room for quite some time. There is some interference with the signals so TSA has to do pat downs. The staff discovered that the main electrical trunk line for that half of the building goes under the metal detector and is causing the issue. We need to flip that room around and put the scanner on the other wall. TSA has strict requirements on spacing, so we will be knocking out a wall and will use the existing hallway as part of the secure hold room, which will increase its size. The only time we use the hall now is for charter flights, but we can still send the charters through the sliding glass door. There will not be any impact to the commercial service or the charter flights. This will happen within the next 2-3 months. As there was nothing further, Truman moved, Poulsen seconded and motion carried unanimously that the meeting be adjourned at 9:35 AM