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Home My WebLink About2020-12-07 Airport Committee Minutes City of Bangor Airport Committee Virtual Meeting December 7, 2020 Meeting Minutes The following City Councilors attended: Airport Committee Chair Clare Davitt, Council Chair Dan Tremble, Councilors Sarah Dubay, Susan Hawes and Jonathan Sprague. Also in attendance were Airport Director Tony Caruso, Marketing & Business Development Manager Aimee Thibodeau and City Solicitor Paul Nicklas. Agenda and Discussion: 1. Maine Army National Guard – lease amendment (helipad) Airport Director Tony Caruso asked for Committee approval for an Order authorizing a 5th amendment to the lease between the City of Bangor and the Maine Army National Guard to include the heliport at Bangor International Airport. The Army Guard is the sole user of this heliport, which is in dire need of repair. The Maine Army National Guard and the City propose to amend the existing lease to include this area which provides the Army Guard with a long term interest in the property so this area will be eligible for Federal funding through the military construction funding program. Motion made, seconded and approved by unanimous roll call vote. The Order will be presented to the City Council for final approval. 2. Airport Improvement Plan (AIP) – grant funding process review Airport Director Caruso reviewed the calendar that the FAA generally follows for review and award of AIP and Discretionary grant funding. A copy of the timeline is attached. 3. Airport Performance/Operations Audit – RFQ review Airport Director Caruso discussed the fact that the Airport receives audits from the FAA, airlines, financial auditors, etc. During his time at the Airport, there has never been a formal performance/ operations audit. We have lots of front line customer facing interactions and financial transactions. We’ve had IT upgrades and have implemented process changes. In addition, we’ve had some internal issues that we’ve addressed. Looking ahead, we want to do an audit that is financial, compliance and process driven. The focus will be on our Airline and FBO services areas to identify business improvements by taking an internal look at compliance at different levels - financial, divisional and IT. The result will be recommendations for process, communication, and compliance improvements. We also want to understand some of the financial risks we face. In the coming weeks, we will be preparing an RFQ to identify firms specializing in audits for airports/FBOs and airlines. While funds were not budgeted for this specific purpose, we have funds available to conduct the audit. 4. Airport Advertising and Marketing a. Airport Statistics – October, 2020 Marketing Director Thibodeau reported that our October passenger numbers were down by 60 % year over year which is consistent with national trends. Airline load factors were only down slightly from October, 2019. We talk with Delta regularly, but no decision yet made on when they will return to BGR. We are ain a better position than some Airports thanks to our strong military operations which showed a 18% year-over-year monthly increase. Fuel sales continue to trend similar to our Total Operations statistics. b. Marketing Update Most aviation conferences are virtual this year, so we are evaluating each and participating were it makes sense. We recently participated in NBAA’s virtual conference (VBACE). Our booth focused on our transatlantic tech stops and what we are doing to keep people safe at the Airport. We just received the list of who visited our booth, what they clicked on and who might need a follow-up. We’ve use this information to assess our participation in future events. Meeting Adjourned AIP project coordination & process summary Time frame FAA Process & Approvals City Process & Approvals AUG - OCT CIP approval from FAA Initial projects identified with cost estimates Federal & State budgeting & funding OCT - NOV Conduct scoping for projects Review CIP with Airport Committee - annual review of upcoming projects Project scoping, environmental coordination, CIP work, initial cost estimating, etc. Consultant holds all costs until contract is signed. All Initial work as required by FAA reimbursable costs. NOV - DEC Project Readiness form to FAA Resolve to accept and appropriate annual entitlement funds Resolve to appropriate carry over funds (if necessary) DEC - JAN Intent to use Entitlement funds to FAA Conduct IFE's APR - MAY Submit grant request/info deadline Issue RFP's Issue RFP's Award bids JUN - SEP Federal Notice of Grant Award(s) Order - execution of grant agreement for specific AIP project(s)