Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-07-14 Airport Committee Minutes Meeting Agenda City of Bangor Airport Committee Meeting City Manager’s Office rd 3 Floor July 14, 2010 4:00 The following City councilors were in attendance: Gerry Palmer, Pat Blanchette, Susan Hawes, and Hal Wheeler. The following City staff was also in attendance, Rebecca Hupp, Risteen Masters, Tony Caruso and Norm Heitmann. Councilor Palmer opened the meeting. Agenda: 1. Air National Guard Request for Lease Amendment. Airport Director, Rebecca Hupp requested an amendment to the current lease for 50 years new lease. City Solicitor, Norm Heitmann has recommended that we do an amendment to the existing lease that would allow the land lease be for the same number of years as the other parcels in that area. This will be for the parking for the Aircraft rescue and fire fighting station which also provides service to the civilian aircraft. The motion was made by Councilor Blanchette and seconded by Councilor Hawes. Councilor Palmer asked if this would go to Council and Airport Director Hupp responded since it was an amendment it would. 2. Army National Guard Request for Lease Amendment. Airport Director, Rebecca Hupp requested two separate issues that need to be discussed. First is the taxiway area. By amending this area it will be available for Federal funding and reconstruction. So we recommend Council approval. The second issue is for Arm Forces Reserve Training Center on the Northeast side of the runway. They will be installing a fence between their facility and the Airport. Due to rocky nature of this property, the National Guard is requesting a maintenance easement to allow the fence to be installed adjacent to the Airport and access to maintain the fence. So we recommend Airport Committee approval. The motion was made by Councilor Blanchette and seconded by Councilor Hawes. Councilor Palmer asked if any comment, none made so this item was approved for passage. 3. Life Flight Lease. Airport Director, Rebecca Hupp, Life Flight is a current tenant at the Airport. They lease a corporate hangar. This is for the medical helicopter. This is a renewal with some minor adjustments to the lease rate and rental rate. So again, the staff would recommend your approval. This represents a modest 3% increase over the current lease rate. The motion was made by Councilor Hawes and seconded by Councilor Blanchette. Discussion/Questions: Councilor Hawes asked how often is the helicopter out to the Airport. Airport Director Hupp, indicated that it is mostly out here when the weather is bad and the helicopter has to be enclosed. Councilor Blanchette commented on how lucky we are to have this type of service for this area. Councilor Palmer indicated this item was approved for passage. 4. Airnet Lease. Airport Director Rebecca Hupp asked for request for approval for a renewal for the existing lease. Airnet is a company operated by Julie Jones, along with Quincy, a specially trained yellow lab, to assist organizations in search and rescue missions in Maine, as well throughout the Country. She also works closely with Downeast Emergency Medicine Institute (DEEMI). This is a new lease which reflects an increase of CPI 1.7% and City/Staff recommend approval. The motion was made by Councilor Hawes and seconded by Councilor Blanchette. Councilor Palmer indicated this item was approved. 5. Authorization to accept a grant from the Transportation Security Administration. Airport Director Rebecca Hupp explained that we have been looking at ways for the in-line baggage screening for checked passenger baggage at the Airport. This requires special equipment, this grant will allow us to do preliminary development of the design and construction and the bid documents. So we can bid that project when we have the funding. This grand is for $100,000 and does not require a local match. We would recommend Council approval. Discussion/Questions: Councilor Hawes, which other Airports has this feature? Rebecca responded, that is it very common at other Airports. The in-line baggage will be behind the ticket counter. The motion was made by Councilor Blanchette and seconded by Councilor Hawes Councilor Palmer indicated this item for passage. 6. Airport Marketing and Public Relations Update. A. Air Service Development Activities- Risteen indicated that she and Rebecca attended Jumpstart which is like speed dating in the Airline Industry. You have 20 minutes to pitch your ideas. This year they had five appointments. The airlines were more receptive this year than years in the past. She will do follow up at a later date. Discussion/Questions: Councilor Hawes asked where would the new service go to and any new Airlines? Rebecca indicated that at this point it is too premature to say anything. She has to first meet with the existing carriers. Which she has and they could have future expansion. And we are looking at 3 new carriers. Which one destination we are looking at is DCA area. Councilor Blanchette discussing the pricing issue. And indicated that people will complain about it, but when people plan out and compare the prices, Bangor is not always the highest. B. Airport Customer Forum- Risteen indicated that we will be holding our second customer forum this is for our customers that we do business with and who help or support the Airport. We have an ongoing positive relationship with these customers. We give them tours at the Airport and show them what we are all about. At the time of this forum we had a flight that came in, and it was the Dream lifter plane which is a Cargo Plane, it is a 747-400. A large transport plane that carries’s airplane parts. They stopped at Bangor for a crew rest and is parked in the 600 area. Discussions/Questions: Councilor Hawes asked if the customer forum is an open dialogue. Both Risteen and Tony commented that this is a give/take forum giving group and individual sessions with local agencies and staff members. We meet as a group to discuss different ideas from their standpoint and ours. Councilor Blanchette asked when in these meetings do they state any concerns or weaknesses and if they do how do you address this. Tony indicated that this has happened and we do fix it, for example the issue on the push- back, the deicing trucks and the fuel supply. He indicated that this is a joint partnership for the forum. C. Trade Show and Business Development Activities/Events-Risteen indicated one this they did this year was different. They went with the Community Partners/Region Partners and traveled to Florida to put on a lobster bake. 100 travel agencies/industry people. This was to encourage them to send people up North for our summer, fall, ski, and snow shoeing! It again was a Community collaborate effort, we got the lobster at cost. The presentation and question, answer period went very well. Everyone asked great questions and asked about the festivals, itinerary’s, and how long does it take to get to certain destinations. Overall it was a very successful event. We are looking at doing it again with our tourism partners and working with our Hub cities. This particular event was held in Clearwater. We also are participating in all of the Business to Business events. D. Passenger Statistics- Risteen indicated that it was a great June, we were up by 2.7%. We were also up last June too. Over the whole year we were down by .8% Load factor for June was up. Overall Passengers were using us and we are in good demand. Discussion/Questions: Councilor Hawes explained that the improvements at the Airport were very nice. That she has been hearing good compliments about the staff and the services at the Airport. Councilor Blanchette asked about the new law regarding planes being held on the runway. She asked if this was true and how long are they allowed to stay on the plane and if this has happened in Bangor. Rebecca responded and indicated yes, it is a law that planes can only hold passengers on the plane for 3 hours and Bangor has not had any delays like that. Councilor Palmer indicated that this concludes the Public portion of the meeting and we will now go into Executive Session: Personnel Matter- 1 MRSA, Section 405 6A. The motion was made by Councilor Blanchette and seconded by Councilor Hawes.