AAB minutes: Sept 24, 2008

City of Lawrence
Aviation Advisory Board Minutes
September 24, 2008

Board Chair Rick Bryant called the meeting to order at 6:33 p.m.

1.      Review and approval of August 20, 2008 meeting minutes

The August 20, 2008 Board Meeting minutes were reviewed.  Theresa moved and Gary seconded the motion to approve the minutes.  Motion passed by a vote of 4-0.

2.   Airport Manager's Report

            a. Infrastructure.  Chuck Soules (Director of Public Works/Airport Manager) discussed the special city sales tax election and the city's infrastructure concerns.

b. Airport Entrance Sign.  The board also discussed with Chuck the airport entrance sign proposal.  Chuck will check with Planning regarding compliance with city sign requirements, and staff will prepare a design and cost estimate. 

c. T-Hangar Project. The board also discussed with Chuck and Steve Bennett (Facilities & Structures Manager for Public Works) the T-Hangar proposal.  Rick had re-vamped the financial pro-forma using actual city bond rates.  City staff has received the Board's project plan and is currently reviewing pro forma and rental strategy for concurrence with Board.  The October 22 board meeting will discuss progress and strategy with city staff assigned to project.  At first pass, it appears city staff from City Mgr on down is on board and supportive of project.  Key discussion points center on initial rental price and scheduled increases to meet bond payments.

d. Maintenance Update.  Steve Bennett presented airport maintenance update (attached.)

3.   FBO Report

a. Lloyd Hetrick presented advertising options in two directories that are used by pilots (Accukwik & AOPA).  After some discussion, Lloyd said that he felt the AOPA directory was a better value.  The two year cost of an ad in the AOPA directory is $1,450.  He proposed that the City split the cost of an ad in the directory.  Chuck Soules and Steve Bennett agreed to his proposal.  No action was required by the Board.

b. Lloyd said that he was hopeful that he would gain some additional NASCAR traffic as pilots learn that Signature is the new FBO at Kansas City Downtown.  Ron noted that Signature has a bad reputation among corporate pilots and charges high ramp fees.

c. Lloyd said that the airport's maintenance person had agreed to mill down the hump that still exists on Taxiway A.  He was hopeful that this would happen on Friday.

d. Lloyd noted an overnight fuel increase of 19 cents per gallon.

4.  Meeting Schedule

Rick noted that the Aviation Advisory Board is the only city board that does not have a set meeting time.  After some discussion, it was agreed that the Board would continue to schedule its meetings based on the availability of its members.

5. Art Exhibition

a. Judi Geer Kellas, a local artist who specializes in aviation oriented art, has expressed an interest in holding an art exhibition at the airport.  The Board suggested that we invite her to our next meeting to discuss the possibilities.  Some members thought it might be more appropriate to include this in 80^th anniversary event in 2009. Rick was assigned to follow up with Judi and report back at October meeting.

6. 80^th Anniversary

Rick noted that our 2009 marks the 80^th anniversary of the Lawrence Municipal Airport.  He suggested that we host a public celebration in either May or October.  May coincides with "public works awareness" week while October is the actual date of the anniversary.  There was some preference expressed for the May time frame.  Rick will bring shopping list of suggested plans to October meeting so serious planning can begin.

7. Misc. business

None.

8. Next meeting date & time

October 22^nd, 6:30 p.m.

9. Meeting Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 7:55 p.m. 

Minutes recorded by Bob Newton, Gary Fish and Rick Bryant, edited together by Bob Newton.

Meeting time is 6:30 p.m. in the Richardson Memorial Pilots' Lounge at the Lawrence Municipal Airport Terminal Building.