Airport Authority - February 14, 2017
The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held Tuesday, February 14, 2017 at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.
The members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek
Absent: Kilander
Others: Bossart
Chairman Blazek presiding.
Approved the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority Held January 10, 2017:
The minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held January 10, 2017, were approved without objection.
Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $133,067.48:
Dr. Clark moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $133,067.48.
Second by Mr. Pawluk.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $14,716.38 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Taxiway A Reconstruction Project, AIP45.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $3,967.17 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the PFC Application #8, APFC08.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $9,683.57 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Terminal Taxiway and Taxiway A Reconstruction Project, AIP46.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting; Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $34,243.50 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Airport Master Plan Update, AIP42.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Northern Improvement Company:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $364,356.53 to Northern Improvement Company for Partial Payment Request #8 for construction of the Taxiway A Reconstruction Project, AIP45.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Northern Improvement Company:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $245,129.77 to
Northern Improvement Company for Partial Payment Request #5 for construction of the Terminal Taxiway and Taxiway A Reconstruction Project, AIP46.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Fargo Jet Center:
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $8,498.81 to Fargo Jet Center for co-op marketing for the period July -December 2016.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Receive Proposals for 2017 Shelterbelt Restoration and Joe Parmer Drive Tree Replacement:
Mr. Scott Liudahl, City Forester, was recognized and stated last fall we completed a significant portion of the shelterbelt restoration project with the removal of existing trees in the south portion of the shelterbelt. He stated at the authority's meeting in December he was directed to move forward with getting proposals for the next phase of the removal process that would include the west, north and east shelterbelts. He stated he solicited proposals and received only one bid and that was from Cougar Tree Care, Inc. for $154,500 or approximately $9,000 per acre, which is roughly the same as the first phase of removal. He stated there would be an advantage to getting the project started yet this winter.
Mr. Liudahl stated he was also directed by the board to present a plan for addressing the ash trees along Joe Parmer Drive. He stated the two species planted along the drive are green ash and hackberry and are spaced 90' apart. He stated the hackberries would stay in place.
Mr. Liudahl stated he did receive four bids for replacing the ash trees and the low bid to replace 68 ash trees was $32,875 from Opp Construction. He stated there are several other ash areas around the terminal and we may consider keeping those in place for the time being and using an injection method on the larger trees as a management strategy for the emerald ash borer. He stated we might also consider inter-planting different species until such time as the ash trees need to be removed. He stated the two new species they are recommending are Prairie Expedition Elm and autumn Splendor Buckeye.
Mr. Pawluk stated he would never be in favor of removing trees that are still healthy and replace them with starter trees. He stated he would support inter-planting giving those new trees a chance to grow before the ash trees are removed. He stated as far as planting further down the slope he feels that would be a mistake because of the water that can sit in the ditches.
Mr. Pawluk moved to proceed with the addition of trees along Joe Parmer Drive, keeping the healthy ash trees in place.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Dr. Clark moved to award the project for Phase II of the Shelterbelt Restoration (tree removal from West, North and East Shelterbelts) project to Cougar Tree Care based on their bid of $154,500.00.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Clark, Pawluk, Haugen, Blazek voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Kilander
The motion was declared carried.
Chairman Blazek stated one clarification he would like to make regarding the East Shelterbelt is that airport staff and Mr. Liudahl work with the ND Army National Guard regarding their plan for their proposed facility so that we are not planting trees that would interfere with their plans and then have to remove them.
Mr. Liudahl stated he would put together another request for proposals for the inter-planting along Joe Parmer Drive.
Received Request from Altig to Extend Lease in the Eastside Terminal Through 12/31/17:
Mr. Dobberstein stated Altig is a current tenant in the Eastside Terminal and their lease expired December 31, 2016. He stated they are requesting a one-year extension expiring 12/31/17.
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the one-year lease extension through 12/31/17 for Altig, Inc.
Second by Dr. Clark.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Authorized Attendance at the AAAE National Airport Economic Development Conference:
Gen. Haugen moved to authorize attendance at the AAAE National Airport Economic Conference, April 11-13, 2017, Columbus, OH.
Second by Dr. Clark.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Authorized Attendance at the Allegiant Air Annual Conference:
Gen. Haugen moved to authorize attendance at the Allegiant Air Annual Conference, April 25-28, 2017, Las Vegas, NV.
Second by Dr. Clark.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Authorized Attendance at the AAAE Annual Conference:
Gen. Haugen moved to authorize attendance at the AAAE Annual Conference, May 7-10, 2017, Long Beach, CA.
Second by Dr. Clark.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Received Communication from Tom Beaton to Assign Farm Lease to Scott Beaton and Matthew Beaton:
The communication from Thomas Beaton was received and filed without objection. Mr. Dobberstein stated Mr. Beaton is retiring from farming and turning all of his interest over
to his sons Scott and Matthew. He is requesting his farm lease for the 2017 and 2018 crop years be assigned to them.
Mr. Pawluk moved to approve the request from Thomas Beaton to assign his farm lease to Scott Beaton and Matthew Beaton.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Received Request from Jim Shaw to Lease Space in the Eastside Terminal:
The communication dated January 31, 2017 from Mr. Jim Shaw was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the lease on Mr. Shaw's previous space in the Eastside Terminal expired January 31, 2017, and he is requesting to lease a different office (192 square feet) on the second floor in the Eastside Terminal for a term of one year with a 30 day out.
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the lease as requested with Mr. Jim Shaw for office space in the Eastside Terminal for a one-year term.
Second by Mr. Pawluk.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Received Preliminary 2016 Airport Improvement Fund Report:
The Preliminary 2016 Airport Improvement Fund Report was received and filed without objection.
Received Communication from Sixel Consulting Group to Extend Agreement:
The communication from Sixel Consulting Group was received and filed without objection. Mr. Dobberstein stated Sixel Consulting Group has been under contract with the Airport
Authority since 2004. He stated typically the agreements have been three-year terms. He stated the proposed agreement is March 1, 2017 through February 28, 2018 with two one-year optional extension periods.
Mr. Pawluk stated he reviewed the agreement and the one item that stood out to him was the 90 day out for the airport but he felt we would be better served with a 30 day out.
Mr. Dobberstein stated 30 may be too short but 60 days might be more in line. He stated the schedule for meetings with airlines at conferences is sometimes set a month or more in advance. After further discussion, Mr. Pawluk moved to authorize the Air Service Development Agreement with Sixel Consulting Group, Inc. as proposed, with the exception of a 60 day termination clause rather than 90 days.
Second by Dr. Clark.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Receive Update Regarding ARFF Staff:
Mr. Dobberstein stated that two members of our ARFF staff will be called to active duty starting in July and returning to service February 2018. He stated we are planning to hire two
temporary full time fire fighters to cover those shifts. Mr. David Bush, Fire Chief, was recognized and indicated he has a pool of qualified firefighters who would be interested in the positions.
Airport Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized and stated they are continuing to work on the Taxiway A and A-1 design which will be reconstructed this summer. He stated they are going to
meet with FAA officials in Bismarck on Thursday to go over the PFC Application #8. He stated they will review all of the projects included in that PFC application before it is finalized.
Mr. Klein stated the Airport Master Plan is currently at the Bismarck FAA Airports District office for their review but has been delayed due to staffing issues in their office.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we are continuing to work on preliminary plans to address the need for additional ramp space in the cargo area.
Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated at the January 10 meeting Flint Communications was directed to come up with a concept for "selfie" sites in the terminal building. He stated they did come up with a concept of a "photo booth" and the information was distributed to the board members. He stated the estimated cost of this project is $8,000-$10,000, which would come out of the existing marketing budget.
After discussion it was the consensus of the board that Flint Communications be authorized to proceed with the project.
The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the next regular meeting to be held Tuesday, March 7, 2017 at 8:00 a.m.
Time at adjournment was 9:02 a.m.