Information and Administration
Meeting of August 23, 2007
The regular Board Meeting was held in the Airport Authority Board Room, Airport Terminal Building, Lincoln Airport, Lincoln, Nebraska. Notice was given in the Journal-Star. Board Members present: Phyllis Chambers, John Hoppe, Bob Hampton, Ed Raines and Chris Hove. Also present were:
John Wood, LAA
Bob McNally, LAA
Jon Large, LAA
April McDaniel, LAA
Linda Benda, LAA
Bill Austin, Attorney At Law
Matt Olberding, Journal-Star
Jeff Schwebke, Arnold Heights Assoc.
Robyn Devore, BKD
Chairperson Chambers called the meeting to order and stated a copy of the Open Meetings Act was available for public reference at the back of the Board Room.
It was moved by Hoppe and seconded by Hove to approve the Minutes of the July 26, 2007 meeting. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
Chairperson Chambers asked for airline reports. There were no airline representatives present. John Wood did inform the Board that Northwest has encountered some issues this week between weather, construction at the airport in Minneapolis and the president which has caused cancellations.
It was moved by Raines and seconded by Hampton that the Board approve and authorize Staff to execute Amendment No. 1 to the Cooperative Service Agreement between the Authority and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Wildlife Services, for animal control on airport property for 2008 in the amount of $91, 929.00. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
John Wood briefed the Board on Agenda Item No. 4. He stated he has not received the Lease Amendment back from Lincoln Composites and asked that the Board table this item until next month.
Chairperson Chambers discussed the invitation to attend Lincoln Composites Open House at Building No. 93 in the new Rail Center scheduled for September 10, 2007 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. She asked if any of the Board Members were planning on attending. John Hoppe and Phyllis will plan to attend.
John Wood introduced Robyn Devore with BKD, LLP to present the Accountants Report and Financial Statements for FY 2007. Questions and discussion followed. It was moved by Raines and seconded by Hampton that the Board accept the Accountants Report and Financial Statements for the Fiscal Year ended June 30, 2007. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
It was moved by Raines and seconded by Hoppe to approve the Treasurers Report for July, 2007. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
It was moved by Hoppe and seconded by Hove to approve the Financial Statement for July, 2007. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
Discussion involved combining the Treasurers Report and the Financial Statement into one agenda item with one motion and vote by the Board. Bill Austin said he saw no problem with that action.
John Wood briefed the Board on damage done to the roof of Building No. 5614 leased by Hill Aero during the storm that went through the area Monday. He stated LAA carries property insurance on the building. We are in the process of getting a company out to begin repair work.
John Wood also informed the Board the Board Meetings for the months of November and December, 2007 will need to be changed due to the holiday period that falls on the fourth week of both months. After discussion the November Board Meeting is changed to Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 11:30 a.m. and the December Board Meeting is changed to Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at 11:30 a.m.
John Wood reminded the Board about the ACI Conference scheduled for the end of September in Kansas City.
There being no further business to come before the Board, it was moved by Raines and seconded by Hampton that the meeting be adjourned. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________
John Hoppe, Jr., Secretary
AIRPORT AUTHORITY CITY OF LINCOLN
Study Session- August 23, 2007
After a short break the Board met at approximately 12:30 p.m. for a Study Session held in the Airport Authority Board Room, Airport Terminal Building, Lincoln Airport, Lincoln, Nebraska. Notice was given in the Journal-Star. Board Members present: Phyllis Chambers, John Hoppe, Bob Hampton, Ed Raines and Chris Hove. Also present were:
John Wood, LAA
Bob McNally, LAA
Jon Large, LAA
April McDaniel, LAA
Linda Benda, LAA
Bill Austin, Attorney At Law
Matt Olberding, Journal-Star
Jeff Schwebke, Arnold Heights Assoc.
Chairperson Chambers called the meeting to order and stated a copy of the Open Meetings Act was available for public reference at the back of the Board Room.
Jon Large reviewed the Airport Master Plan details provided by Coffman Associates and their forecasts with the Board. The discussion involved the growth of the airport in general and the demands that growth will have on runway work, pavement repair, general airfield maintenance, etc. over a 20 year planning cycle but concentrating on the next five to six year timeframe.
Some projects are safety related and some growth related. New buildings/ hangars for fixed base operations, north corporate area, etc. will be built as demand dictates. Currently planned improvements for 2009 involve Runway 35 and Taxiway Alpha to address continuing safety concerns in this area of the airfield. The work will also involve some modifications to the end of Runway 14 that take into consideration new FAA design criteria. In 2010 Runway 14/32 will have some work done it to in preparation for it being the only runway available during reconstruction of Runway 18/36 in 2012. These improvements will include relocation of the threshold and the addition of approach lights necessary to accommodate a GPS precision approach. To address additional safety concerns and reduce the potential for runway incursions, a connecting taxiway is planned between the existing E and D Taxiways in 2011. Finally in 2012, Runway 18/36 will have its first major work in over 20 years involving the narrowing of the runway from 200 feet to 150 feet, installation of new edge lighting, and repair/replacement of concrete and asphalt runway surface as necessary. Most of this work is envisioned to be accomplished with the utilization of AIP Entitlement Funds for the Lincoln Airport. The 2012 work on Runway 18/36 however will be extensive enough that the airport will be seeking additional, discretionary, funds from FAA in order to accomplish the work. Those discretionary funds could total as much as 5 or 6 million dollars.
John Wood then briefed the Board on the new transmission line that LES is constructing that will run both north and west of the airport to a new substation off of the southwest corner of the airport at NW 56th Street and Holdrege. In addition, he briefed the Board on a new transmission line to be constructed by NPPD between Columbus, Nebraska, and Lincoln that will also end up at the same substation at NW 56th and Holdrege. Construction of both transmission lines could begin as early as 2008. Each entity is in different phases of design, seeking air space studies to ensure non-interference with airport flight paths, height restrictions, etc.
John Wood then began briefing the Board on issues surrounding National Guard use of airport property. Their interest in a piece of airport property adjacent to the rental car service center for potential construction of a new joint operations center and their general plans to use the remaining undeveloped property in that portion of the airport for future expansion of National Guard facilities.
John then reviewed the issues surrounding the (now Airport Authority owned) old Air Force levee along Oak Creek starting at West Mathes and extending to Interstate 80. Under new FEMA guidelines, this levee no longer meets the requirements to protect the southern portion of Runway 18/36 from the 100 year flood plain and it also helps reduce the amount of 100 year flood plain on the National Guard base. Without the levee structure protecting it, the majority of the National Guard base becomes impacted by the 100 year flood plain. While the Airport Authority, with the concurrence of FAA, could tolerate having the south half of the runway in the 100 year flood plain, the Guard base is an entirely different matter. If the issue is not addressed by the community, it is highly likely that under some future Base Realignment and Closure process, the National Guard base could be eliminated in Lincoln simply because of its existence in a 100 year flood plain.
The City and the Natural Resources District have also been looking at flood plain issues and their desire to construct storm water detention facilities along Oak Creek and Salt Creek to assist the community in general with downstream flooding during periods of high water. Conceptually there seems to be a merging of goals which could be beneficial to all parties concerned by constructing a detention facility just southwest of airport property along Oak Creek. The City and NRD could accomplish their goals of reducing downstream impact from flood waters and the dirt removed to create the detention facility could be used to bring the levee up to existing FEMA standards and restore the protection of the southern half of the airport and perhaps a majority if not all the National Guard base from the 100 year flood plain.
John recommended the airport take a lead role in coordinating with all of the various entities that might be involved in such a project and to move it forward as a project which the airport would participate in not only for its own benefit but the benefit of the community as a whole. The Board agreed that the Airport Authority should begin this process as soon as possible and work toward putting a viable project together with all of the stakeholders involved.
John Wood then briefed the Board on the status and location of the fuel pipeline that used to serve the U.S. Air Force base and has been unused since the base closed in the mid-60s. A portion of the pipeline extends across the northwest corner of the Huskerville property and diagonally across the 100 acres the Airport Authority controls between Huskerville and West Fletcher. If the Airport Authority wishes to develop that property at any time, the pipeline needs to be abandoned otherwise development will be quite difficult. Magellan Pipeline Company is the current owner of the pipeline and has indicated it is willing to discuss the possibility of abandoning that portion of the pipeline that is on airport-controlled property. LAA engaged Olsson Associates to do an environmental check of the ground in the vicinity of the pipeline. That environmental test showed that the pipeline has apparently not leaked as the results of the test showed no contamination. With the Boards concurrence, staff will continue to work with Magellan Pipeline on the potential abandonment of this portion of the pipeline.
John Wood gave the Board a brief history and current status of incentive programs the Authority has in place for helping attract additional airline service. Those incentives include a credit for landing fees for the first full year of new service, a credit for any exclusive use space in the terminal building for the first full year and LAAs spending $30,000 per new additional flight on local advertising, etc. The Board discussed whether any changes to or additional incentives needed to be considered. The Board was then briefed on the possibility of the Airport Authority offering airline under wing ground handling services as a combined ground handler could offer those services to the airlines cheaper than they could provide it to themselves individually. The Board directed the staff to do further research into ground handling and review that information with the Board prior to it making any final decisions.
The last item on the study session agenda was to review the wage and benefits study. Since some members had not had a chance to review the study and the Board had already been in the study session for over two hours, Chairperson Chambers asked that the item be table for future discussion. She also asked the Personnel Committee to look at the study more closely and bring their comments back to the Board.
There being no further discussion to come before the Board, it was moved by Hoppe and seconded by Hove that the Study Session be adjourned. Vote: Chambers, Aye; Hampton, Aye; Hoppe, Aye; Hove, Aye; Raines, Aye.
Respectfully submitted,
______________________________
John Hoppe, Jr., Secretary
