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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-03-31 Airport Committee Minutes AIRPORT COMNIITTEE MEETING . AIltPORT DEPT. ADMIl�TISTRATION CONFERENCE ROOM WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3 l, 1999 AT NOON Present: James Tyler, Chair � Judy Vardamis, Member Mike Crowley, Member Bob Ziegelaar, Airport Director Jeff Russell, Airport Marketing Mgr. Eric Stumpfel, City Solicitor. The meeting was opened by the Chair at 12:07 PM. Items were taken up as per published agenda. Item#1 - Aviation Museum. The Airport Director presented the Committee with a draft version of the proposed Lease Agreement with the Maine Aviation Historical Society. He recommended that the lease be included on the next available City Council Agenda, with a recommendation for passage, subject only to language regarding environmental issues having been finalized by the City Attorney. The Committee voted unanimously to accept the recommendation. Item#2—General Aviation Hangar Project. The A.irport Director briefed the Committee � about recent negotiations with the previous low bidder on the building contract for the facility. Such negotiations produced a final offer to construct the hangar at a cost of $610,623 with an option for internal finish work at a cost of$26,155. This report constituted a briefing of the Committee, prior to submitting the project to the Finance Committee and City Council for final approval. No formal vote was taken but Committee members indicated their support for passage. Item#3 —Policy on Lease or Sale of Land. The Airport Director explained to the Committee that there had been substantial discussion within the City recently regarding a policy about airport land disposition. He further stated that it was his personal view that, in the absence of very strong reasons for selling airport land, it should remain the policy of the City of Bangor to lease airport land. He added that the wisdom of preserving airport revenues had been well proven in the past and that leasing would provide the airport and the City with the � greatest long-term financial stability. Both the Airport Director and the City Attorney cited specific examples of greater financial returns through long-term leases, as well as R.O.I. and real estate appreciation calculations. The Committee requested that the Airport Director confer with the City's Economic and Community Development Director, to develop a proposal for an applicable policy. No vote was taken. Item#4—General Business Overview. Final Committee discussion centered around the airport's efforts in securing additional airline services. Mr. Ziegelaar reported that progress had been made with Comair(one additional flight) and Business Express (two new flights) � and that discussions with Continental Airlines were ongoing. The meeting was adjourned at 1 PM.