City of Lawrence

Aviation Advisory Board Meeting

December 11, 2014 Minutes

 

MEMBERS PRESENT:

Dan Born, Jonathan Becker, Richard Haig, Jeff Long, and Cheri Thompson

MEMBERS ABSENT:

Gary Knudsen

STAFF PRESENT:

Charles Soules

PUBLIC PRESENT:

Lloyd Hetrick and Rick Bryant

 

  1. Call to Order:

Richard Haig called the meeting to order at 6:35 PM.

 

  1. The Previous Meeting Minutes:

The review of the October 30, 2014 minutes was continued to the next meeting.

 

  1. Airport Manager’s Report – REIL’s Construction Update:

Rick Bryant reported on the current construction and said that, weather permitting, the project should be done within the next month.

 

  1. FBO Report:

Lloyd Hetrick reported that the recent basketball games had nearly 20 users of the airport.  He reported that the construction had not created any major delays of arrivals or departures.

  1. Five Year Airport Improvement Plan:

Rick Bryant reported on the development of the Five Year Improvement Plan.  There was a general discussion about the priority assigned to some of the proposed projects.   After discussion, it was recommended that certain projects be advanced on the chronological timeline, given that current construction would resolve the need for some of the proposed projects.

There was a discussion of the interplay between FAA grants and funds available from Kansas Dept. of Transportation.   The changing priorities of K-DOT as to what they would fund made a five year improvement plan heavily dependent upon the FAA for support.

  1. Other Business:

There was an informational discussion of the recent FAA decisions about the use of hangars for non-aviation purposes and its impact on FAA funding.   The new regulations would create some problems for the City, should an FAA inspection of some hangars be done.   Bluntly, using a hangar to store boats, cars and for non-aviation purposes at anything but de minimis use, could jeopardize federal funding.   The City’s conundrum is that the hangar leases do not require adherence to FAA regulations and many of the leases are for long terms.

  1. Future Events:

Richard Haig outlined a number of future events that the Board needs to plan.  He suggested much of the work could happen without board involvement because they involved stakeholders are the airport.

 

  1. Adjournment:

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:05 pm.

 

Next Meeting time is 6:30 pm on Thursday, February 5, 2015, in the Richardson Memorial Pilots' Lounge at the Lawrence Municipal Airport Terminal Building.