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Date:  Thursday April 08, 2021 (04/08/21)

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AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA 
Thursday, April 8, 2021 
5:30pm 
Airport Administration Building 
8807 Airport Boulevard 
Leesburg, Florida  

  1. Call to Order
    • Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
  1. Approval of Minutes – March 11, 2021 
  1. Project Update
    • Runway 13/31 Rehab
    • US Customs & Border Protection Office Interior Remodel
    • Air Traffic Control Tower Equipment Upgrade
    • Main Ramp Resurfacing 
  1. Airport Manager Update 
    • City Commission - Airport Impacts/Issues 
  1. New Business 
  1. Adjournment

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Airport Advisory Board Minutes 
April 8, 2021 5:30pm 
Airport Administration Building 
8807 Airport Boulevard 
Leesburg, Florida 

Attendance:                 Tweet Coleman 
                                             Fred Griffin, Jr. 
                                            Alan Reisman 
                                            Bo Wroten

 

Call to Order

Chairman Alan Reisman called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.

Chairman Reisman gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of Minutes from March 11, 2021

Tweet Coleman made a motion to accept the minutes from the March 11, 2021 meeting as written.  Bo Wroten seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.

Project Update

RW 13/31 Rehab:  Wilbur Mathurin from Hoyle Tanner said they are currently hydroseeding.  They will lay sod next week.  Striping will start on Monday and should take 5-7 days.  There will be some clean up to do after that and they are hoping to have the runway open on April 30th.

Chairman Reisman noted that the runway closures were not discussed at the last meeting.  He requested that in the future, all closings should be announced at the meetings.  Wilbur Mathurin said it will close on the 14th at 5:00pm for striping.  He noted that at previous meetings they did mention that there would be incremental closures but they did not know the exact dates at that time.  

US Customs and Border Protection Interior Remodel:  Jack Thompson from GAI Consultants said demolition started on March 22ndand is complete.  They are reviewing submittals and materials.  AM Dean has samples in her office of many of the materials for things like tile and Formica.  They are progressing well.  Chairman Reisman asked if they have run into any unforeseen issues.  Jack Thompson said they only thing has been the contractor hitting a couple of sprinkler lines, but those were repaired quickly.  The project is on schedule. He noted it is going to look completely different when done.

Chairman Reisman asked if they will do a ribbon cutting and allow the tenants and public to do a walk-through of the building.  AM Dean said the City would probably want to do something, but she will have to check with CBP.

Air Traffic Control Tower Equipment:  AM Dean said this project is complete.  There is now a working ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information Service).  The National Weather Service has done their final inspection and signed off on the equipment.  She needs to finalize the close-out documents for the grant.  The FAA is coordinating a NOTAM in regards to the installation of the ATIS being complete.

Chairman Reisman said the Current Issues/Projects section of the monthly report in their packet says some obstructions were removed.  He asked if that was trees.  AM Dean said there was quite a bit of tree clearing done on RW 3 from the PAPI’s to runway end.  That area had been identified by the tower.  They are still waiting for flight services to schedule someone to come out and check the PAPI’s.  That check may be done when they check 13/31.

Main Ramp Resurfacing:  Jack Thompson from GAI Consultants said they are doing final QC.  After that is done, it will be ready for the bid packet to go out which will happen as soon as the Customs project is done.  The Customs work is expected to be finished in June, so the bids could go out in June and be due back in July.   FDOT writes new grants in July so it is possible this project could start at the end of July or early August.  Once FDOT writes the grant it is usually about a 30-day process for the documents to come to the City for execution and then go back to FDOT for final execution.

Airport Manager Update

AM Dean said about a year ago the airport received a CARES grant of approximately $69,000.  The airport has been offered another grant under the new stimulus program.  The total amount is $57,172 with $34,172 of that being specifically designated for the air traffic control tower and the remaining $23,000 available for operating and maintenance expenses.  The grant approval request will be on the April 12th City Commission agenda.  If the Commission OK’s it, the Mayor will be authorized to execute the digital documents issued by FAA. 

Chairman Reisman asked if she has any plans on how that will be spent.  AM Dean said the tower manager has suggested upgrading an existing computer (city-owned, not FAA owned) so that it can be tied into the new voice recorder.  They would also like new shades on the windows.  Another consideration is once-per-month deep cleaning of the tower by an outside janitorial contractor.  He has been talking to RVA about the best way to utilize the funds.  Chairman Reisman asked how the money for operating expenses will be spent.  AM Dean said there are still some areas where trees need to be trimmed and she is considering that as an option.  She will need to get quotes for these areas.  She is not sure where else it may be used.

AM Dean said she has a follow-up to the discussion at the last meeting regarding the lift station and water well on the airport and if they should be charged rent.  She had an informal discussion with the Public Works Director about this and he said there are utility easements for improvements of this nature so it would not be appropriate to charge a fee for those spaces.

AM Dean expressed her appreciation for the Board members.  She knows they all have busy schedules and make the time to volunteer their service to this Board.  She wanted to make sure the Board knows that they are not required to meet every month.  So if there is a month where there are no action items on the agenda, she can get with the engineers and write up a project update report to send out rather than having a meeting.  She just wanted to make sure everyone knows that is an option.  Tweet Coleman asked if the City has the ability for them to meet virtually in those months.  Secretary Pam Hester said the City has the capability, however, right now all City Boards are meeting in person.  She also said the last thing she remembers in regards to public meetings is that the Governor rescinded the emergency order that allowed the virtual option.

Chairman Reisman noted that at the last City Commission meeting, the leases for the car dealerships were approved.  However, the Commissioners indicated that in the future they want to see higher lease rates for those properties on 441. 

Bo Wroten asked how long the waiting list is for t-hangars.  AM Dean said there are currently three different lists, but some people are on more than one of them.  Based on memory, the numbers on the waiting list are around: 1) City t-hangars north of Airport Boulevard – 25; 2) Echo t-hangars – 34; and 3) Box Hangars – 21.  Bo Wroten asked what the process is for getting more hangars built.  He noted that the airport will be receiving $500,000 from the Skybolt lease.  AM Dean said the funds from a long-term lease such as Skybolt are paid to the airport for budget purposes over an extended period.  She has to balance all expenditures and revenues and lease payments go towards that.  So the airport will receive that $500,000 in increments of $25,000 per year over the 20-year term of the lease agreement.  She said the airport does have a healthy cash balance even without the Skybolt payment.  She noted that it is hard to get grant funds for new construction projects such as hangars.  Bo Wroten said it seems that building 10 to 15 more hangars is a better use of the airport’s money than to leave it sitting in a bank.  More planes on the field means more operations, more fuel sold, etc.   AM Dean said she can check with the Finance Department and see if there is a process to use funds for hangars.

New Business

No new business.

Adjournment

Bo Wroten made a motion to adjourn.  The motion was seconded by Tweet Coleman and the meeting adjourned at 5:54pm.

Alan Reisman                                 
Chairman

 Pam Hester                                      
Recorder