MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held Tuesday, August 25, 2020, at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.

The members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind (via zoom), Linn
Absent: None
Others: Bossart (via zoom), Strand (via zoom)

Chairman Linn presiding.

Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority Held July 28, 2020:
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held July 28, 2020, were approved without objection.

Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $90,819.76:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $90,819.76.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Sixel LLC:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $1,250.00 to Sixel LLC for passenger enplanement fees for July, Allegiant-Nashville.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Flint Communications:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $7,460.39 to Flint Communications for partial payment request for 2020 Airport Marketing Program.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Meinecke-Johnson:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $302,929.20 to Meinecke-Johnson for Partial Payment Request #2 for general construction of the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $2,810.03 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the airfield marking project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $27,252.60 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Car Rental Lot Reconstruction Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $48,515.04 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Cargo Apron Expansion Project – Phase IV.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Northern Improvement:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $677,681.40 to Northern Improvement Company for Partial Payment Request #1 for construction of the Cargo Apron Expansion Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Received Communication from the FAA to lease Office Space in the Eastside Terminal Building:
The communication from Teresa McDaniel, FAA Real Estate Contracting Officer, dated August 17, 2020, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the FAA Tech Ops division currently leases space on the second floor of the Eastside Terminal and they would like to lease additional space. He stated we currently lease 192 square feet to Altig and their lease expires December 31, 2020. He stated we will advise Altig that their lease will not be renewed. He stated the FAA will occupy the space effective January 1, 2021 and add this space to their current lease and we will receive the standard government lease document sometime between now and January 1.
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the request from the FAA to lease the 192 square foot office on the second floor of the Eastside Terminal, and that Altig be advised that their lease will not be renewed.
Second by Mr. Engen.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

NDPERS Update:
Attorney Stacey Bossart was recognized (via zoom) and stated she is happy to report that we finally have a joint meeting scheduled with NDPERS to discuss pension matters. She stated she will be on the call with MaryJo Anderson (NDPERS), Dean DePountis (Asst. ND Attorney General), Shawn Dobberstein, Joan Stading, Jill Minette and Erik Johnson. She stated that is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2 at 2:00 p.m.
Chairman Linn asked that the meeting either be recorded or that someone do a follow-up in writing.
Attorney Bossart stated she will make certain a written follow-up is done.
Gen. Haugen asked for confirmation that the meeting is September 2nd of 2020, not 2021. Considering how long this process has drawn out, he stated he wants to make certain we know what year we are talking about.
Chairman Linn stated the meeting is September 2, 2020.

Airport PEC/ARFF Employee Update:
Chairman Linn stated the Airport Position Evaluation Committee met on August 19 and prior to that meeting each committee member was tasked with going through the job evaluation process for the four ARFF positions. She stated it is a long process so the committee was able to review only one position during that meeting and that was the fire fighter position. She stated the committee decided it would be helpful for two of the members (Jane Pettinger and Don Kilander) to meet with the Fire Chief – David Bush, to get a better idea of the positions in order to continue the process of job evaluations.
Chairman Linn stated the meeting was very interesting and informative. She stated she feels we accomplished what we need to accomplish.
Mr. John Strand was recognized (via zoom) and stated he can tell people it is a learning curve for him but he appreciates the process we are going through and the diligence everyone is bringing to it.

Received Proposed Proximity Agreement with Ryan Companies US, Inc.:
Mr. Dobberstein stated this is a standard Proximity Agreement the City of Fargo places on property adjacent to the airport not only for the airport impact to the property but also for the impact to the property by the COF wastewater lagoons. He stated this is for a tract of land north of 40th Avenue (County 20), east of Hwy 81, for which zoning is being changed from agricultural.
Attorney Bossart stated this is not something the MAA signs off on. She stated we do prepare this because of the potential impact to the airport. She stated this is something the COF would approve but she just wants to make certain the MAA sees that these agreements are being executed between landowners and the COF.

Discussed Status of MOU with the City of Fargo:
Chairman Linn stated the MOU, which became effective January 1, 2020, included a date of July 1, 2020 by which either party could deliver a written notice of termination at the end of the initial one year term. She stated in May the COF requested, and the MAA agreed, to extend this date to September 1, 2020. She stated if no action is taken the MOU will automatically renew for a term of three years. She asked the board members for their comments.
Gen. Haugen stated personally he would like to terminate the MOU. He stated we are continuing the bureaucratic marching of not getting anything done with the COF, and the NDPERS issue is just one example. He stated it is affecting people and those people are our employees.
Mr. Lind (via zoom) asked if we should discuss extending it another six months rather than a three year commitment.
Attorney Bossart stated there would be a three year extension but the MOU allows for the agreement to be cancelled by a party at the end of any calendar year upon written notice of termination delivered to the other party on or before the prior calendar year-end.
Mr. Lind stated we worked long hard hours on this agreement and spent a lot of money on mediation, etc. and it would be a shame to cancel it altogether if we can work through our differences again and try to improve it from its current condition.
Mr. Cosgriff asked Mr. Strand to comment on the city’s position.
Mr. Strand (via zoom) stated we worked with the leadership of the MAA a lot the last several months and maybe we should let all of the MAA members see more of what we are doing in the background so they are more comforted that it is not the bureaucratic quagmire without things being addressed. He stated he is really pleased that we have gotten this far, that going forward we have an agreement we can work on. He stated he thinks that our working relationship is evolving every single month and it is positive. He stated it is what the city and community needs. He stated the COF is entirely on board and committed to the future as evidenced by the regular meetings with the MAA leadership. He feels the COF is on board 100% and comforted that we are not still trying to invent our relationship from scratch.
Chairman Linn stated one of the things that came up at the last meeting was that there are multiple tasks within the agreement that have not been completed yet or resolved. She stated she would be open to have the MAA members rotate attendance of those meetings (Linn and Engen are currently attending). She stated she would be happy to have another MAA member attend in her place on occasion. She stated the suggestion to extend it six months would give us the opportunity to work some of these things out.
Mr. Engen asked Mr. Strand what exactly the airport gets from this relationship.
Mr. Strand stated the airport gets the continuation of the relationship that was established decades ago by city leaders who preceded us and it honors the intention and the spirit of the relationship they established while it clarifies the status of the employees and it also clarifies the independence of the MAA. He stated with the creation of the Airport PEC it takes the issue of employees completely out of the arena of the City Commission and it gives us a long term continuation of a positive working relationship into the future.
Chairman Linn stated she needs to make sure everyone knows that we have had a long term relationship with the COF. She stated Shawn and his staff work with pretty much every COF department so it has been a long term, good relationship. She stated maybe it is just the relationship with the MAA and the City Commission that has been a little mixed up. She stated the MAA staff works very hard to work together with the COF staff on solving problems. She stated that needs to be noted.
Mr. Engen stated one important thing that was left out is that the MAA makes a payment to the COF for services, correct?
Mr. Strand stated, yes, the MAA has services provided by the COF for which the COF is reimbursed by the MAA.
Mr. Engen stated he would agree with Mr. Lind, and moved to extend the MOU to July 1, 2021, understanding that there is still the one year exit, in order to further review and refine the MOU.
Second by Mr. Lind.
Gen. Haugen stated looking at the agreement, if we do nothing at this time the agreement renews for a term of three years, but we can still terminate the agreement at the end of any calendar year.
Mr. Engen stated the reason he suggested the six month extension is that it forces us to resolve issues rather than wait until year end.
Chairman Linn stated after the last joint meeting we had with the COF she brought up the fact that there are situations of which even all of the MAA members might not be aware. She stated she would describe them as inadequate service on the part of the COF or things that are impacting employees because we are not getting timely information or action. She stated we were told that we were supposed to bring those directly to the attention of the Asst. City Administrator. She stated Mr. Strand had indicated that he should be made aware of those things but she stated we have not done that because that would be very heavy handed of us. She stated the one example is the NDPERS Public Safety Plan for the ARFF staff, which has now gone on for 11 months and it is still not done. She stated we will be working closely with the MAA staff on any issues they have with services provided.
Gen. Haugen stated again, we have found ways of doing things cheaper than the COF’s plan, faster, and the airport employees were thrilled at what we had found. He stated every time we try to do government the way government should be done (cheaper, better, faster, better for employees) we run into a roadblock with the COF. He stated that is his whole point here. He asked why we shouldn’t be doing things cheaper, better, faster.
Chairman Linn called for a vote on the motion. Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye. Haugen voted no.
The motion was declared carried.

Airport Construction and Security Update:
There was nothing to report on security.

Mr. Dobberstein stated the car rental ready lot reconstruction is mostly complete and they are waiting for signage.
Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized and stated the contractors are 60-70% done with the underground utility work for the cargo apron expansion. He stated all of the storm sewer, water main and sanitary sewer in place. He stated they are going to be starting on the sewer system for the glycol system. He stated he encouraged the board members to get out to the site and get an idea of the magnitude and complexity of the project.
Mr. Klein stated Olaf Anderson has the foundation in place for the UPS building.

Mr. Terry Stroh, TL Stroh Architects, was recognized (via zoom) and stated things continue to move along with the SRE Building. He stated in addition to the walls we are now seeing columns in place and trusses have been delivered. He stated they are doing some concrete removal and the new fuel tanks should be installed this week.
Mr. Dobberstein stated Hi-Lite Airfield Services out of New York has completed the airfield marking project. He stated they are an excellent company who knows what they are doing and did a great job. He stated Darren Anderson is going to work on getting some aerial photos of the markings.

Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated last week he and Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, had a phone call with the FAA and the ND Aeronautics Commission to review our Capital Improvement Plan as far as what we may be moving forward with in 2021. He stated last year at this time we looked at moving forward with the terminal area study and a terminal expansion plan. He stated because of the virus, terminal studies have basically been put on hold until traffic gets closer to normal. He stated our focus for 2021 will be to engage Mead & Hunt on the terminal apron reconstruction design. He stated all of the concrete north of the terminal building from Gate 1 to Gate 5 is original from 1985 so it is past its useful life. He stated they will be working on a plan to reconstruct it in an orderly fashion, knowing we will need to take some gates out of service at times. He stated this would be done in phases and will probably be a three year project. He stated the original plan was to expand the terminal to the east prior to reconstructing the rest of the apron in order to minimize disruption of existing gates but it looks like that will not be possible.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the FAA is encouraging us to conduct a complete airport environmental review. He stated a complete environmental review will streamline the process in the future for requests we get for projects such as building a new hangar.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we will also probably move forward with our de-icing/glycol pump station force main idea. He stated there are a couple of options with that. He stated we may also look at replacing the boarding bridge at Gate #4. He stated even though the bridge is old it still works fine but it limits the type of aircraft that can access it. He stated the estimated cost of that is $400,000-$500,000.
The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the next Regular Meeting to be held Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 8:00 a.m.

Time at adjournment was 8:44 a.m.