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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-09-08 Airport Committee Minutes City of Bangor Airport Committee Virtual Meeting September 8, 2020 Meeting Minutes The following City Councilors attended: Airport Committee Chair Dan Tremble, Council Chair Clare Davitt Rick Fournier, Susan Hawes, Gretchen Schaefer, Ben Sprague and Laura Supica. Also in attendance were City Manager Cathy Conlow, City Solicitor Paul Nicklas, Airport Director Tony Caruso and Airport Marketing Manager Aimee Thibodeau. Agenda and Discussion: 1. Airport Improvement Program (AIP) #76 a. Resolve to ratify and authorize the application for and acceptance of a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Airport Director Caruso requested Committee approval of a Resolve to ratify and authorize the application for and acceptance of AIP grant #76. The total grant is for $3,321,487, and will be used to replace our airfield lighting vault and installing a new airfield lighting control monitoring system. We are currently operating with a 1950s-era system that is no longer supported by the manufacturer. The funds will be used to bring the systems up to code and into compliance with FAA Circular requirements. The project is included in our 5-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Sargent Corporation was the successful bidder when this project was put out to bid last year. They have agreed to hold costs to the bid amount. This Resolve is presented as an emergency measure. The funding was announced last week with th a September 15 noon deadline for acceptance by City officials. These are funds from the Cares Act so there will not be a 5% match requirement. If approved by the Committee, the Resolves th will be on September 14 City Council agenda. b. Resolve to appropriate the grant funds from the FAA nd The 2 Resolve is to appropriate the AIP grant #76 funds referenced above. Motions made separately for each, seconded and approved by unanimous roll call vote. The Resolves will be presented to the City Council for final approval. 2. Bald Mountain: First Amendment to Lease Agreement Director Caruso requested Committee approval authorizing the City Manager to execute a first amendment to the lease agreement with Bald Mountain, LLC. allowing a lease assignment to Nate Holyoke Builders, Inc. Mr. Holyoke is Owner and President of both companies and leases a hangar bay at the airport. The current lease is in year 1 of a 5-year term, with an additional 5-year extension option. All other lease terms will remain in full force and effect. Motion made, seconded and approved by unanimous roll call vote. The Order will be presented to the City Council for final approval. 3. Airport Advertising and Marketing a. Airport Statistics – July, 2020 Marketing Manager Aimee Thibodeau reported that July passenger counts increased over June numbers. Allegiant’s load factor is lower than normal because they were bringing in larger aircraft. This might have occurred because the planes needed airtime or because those were the only planes available for this route. Military operations are up 27% over last year. Our GA traffic is consistent with prior months and continues to reflect the lack of Canadian and trans-Atlantic traffic. Strong DOD fuel sales are helping offset decreases in other segments. In response to a question, Aimee indicated that our passenger declines are consistent with other similar airports. b. Marketing Update Our August Social Media numbers show month-over-month declines only because July numbers were so strong thanks to Cargo, the cat. Our Facebook Likes continue to be up 9% over 2019 numbers. Thanks to Chelcie, we are seeing increased engagement on Instagram. We are working on ways to re-align our marketing strategy in this pandemic environment. Since we aren’t able to do tours, we are looking at ways to do virtual touring for classes and other groups that would typically visit the Airport. We are also preparing two new Monty videos. Meeting Adjourned