MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY
The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held Tuesday, May 12, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.
The members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn
Absent: None
Others: Bossart, Strand
Chairman Linn presiding.
Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority Held April 28, 2020:
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held April 28, 2020, were approved without objection.
Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $49,002.82:
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $49,002.82. Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Forum Communications:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $221.85 to Forum Communications for the advertisement for bids for the Car Rental Ready Lot Reconstruction.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Wesley Schon:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $1,250.00 to Wesley Schon for independent engineering fee review, Cargo Apron Expansion Project, AIP51.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Flint Communications:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $9,066.39 to Flint Communications for partial payment request for 2020 Airport Marketing Program.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to TL Stroh Architects:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $24,447.94 to TL Stroh Architects for partial payment request for architectural services in connection with the SRE Building.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Received Bid Tabulation and Recommendation of Award from Mead & Hunt for Cargo Apron Expansion – Phase IV:
Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized (via zoom) and stated we opened bids for the Cargo Apron Expansion – Phase IV on April 30. He stated four bids were received as follows:
Border States Paving: Bid not opened
Northern Improvement: $15,941,638.40
Strata Corporation: $17,687,365.15
KPH: $17,818.586.00
Mr. Klein stated the Border States Paving bid was rejected because they did not include the required DBE information in their bid security envelope. He stated that is a requirement in a federal project and the goal for this project is 3.3% DBE participation.
Mr. Klein stated they have reviewed the Northern Improvement bid, found everything in order and recommend awarding the project to them.
Mr. Engen moved to approve the bid tabulation and to award the project to Northern Improvement Company, based on their low bid of $15,941,638.40.
Second by Mr. Lind.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we received good bids for this project and the high bidder was the engineer’s estimate at $18,026,924.50.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Received Bid Tabulation and Recommendation of Award from Mead & Hunt for Car Rental Ready Lot Reconstruction:
Mr. Jon Scraper, Mead & Hunt, was recognized (via zoom) and stated on April 30 we received three bids for the Car Rental Ready Lot Reconstruction Project as follows:
Northern Improvement Company: $572,199.35 M Asphalt:
FM Asphalt:$748,530.95
Border States Paving: $820,025.52
Engineer's Estimate: $648,045.50
Mr. Scraper stated they have reviewed the bid from the low bidder, Northern Improvement, and found the bid meets all of the requirements and they would recommend awarding the project to them.
Mr. Engen moved to award the project for the Car Rental Ready Lot Reconstruction to Northern Improvement based on their low bid of $572,199.35.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Mr. Scraper stated estimated start date is just after the July 4th holiday but they will work with both the airport and the contractor if they have another schedule in mind.
Receive Communication from JP Development, LLP Regarding Sublease of Hangar at 1631 19th Avenue North:
The communication dated April 8, 2020, from Mr. James P. Sweeney, JP Development, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated JP Development owns the hangar at 1631 19th Avenue North, formerly Vic’s Aircraft Sales, and has been doing some extensive remodeling to the building. He stated they are requesting approval of a sublease of the hangar to Mr. Joel Nikle for an initial term of 10 years. He stated he had been visiting with Mr. Nikle about constructing a hangar in the north general aviation area until he learned of this opportunity.
Mr. Jim Sweeney, JP Development, was recognized (via zoom) and stated Mr. Nikle intends to lease the hangar for his private use, housing two small aircraft.
Mr. Lind moved to approve the sublease of the hangar at 1631 19th Avenue North from JP Development, LLP to Mr. Joel Nike, as requested.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
CARES Grant Update:
Mr. Dobberstein stated on May 5 we had the final digital signature for our CARES grant issued to us by the FAA in the amount of $21,637,515. He stated we accepted the grant to be used for operating expenses. He stated airports had three options: 1) use it for operating expenses, 2) use it for capital improvement projects, 3) split the funds between operating expenses and capital improvements. He stated the option we chose was the one highly recommended by the DOT and the FAA Administrator right down through the FAA regional and district offices. He stated about 99% of the airports receiving grants did the same. He stated the grant will reimburse us for operational expenses incurred on or after January 20, 2020. He stated we have 1,460 calendar days from the date we accepted the grant (May 5, 2020) to spend those funds. He stated he worked with Jamie Bullock from the City Finance Office yesterday to start the first draw for the grant. He stated the funds were loaded for us at noon on Sunday to start the draw. He stated the first draw will be to reimburse ourselves for non-ARFF payrolls #3-#10 and the benefits from January-April that are qualified from that January 20 timeline. He stated once the first draw is complete we will then go through and take out the rest of the operational expenses for the 561 account January 20 through current date.
Mr. Dobberstein stated he is still optimistic that in the next year or so, once the dust settles on the CARES Grant, that the FAA will look at redirecting some of the funds toward capital improvements. He stated we have a lot of time before we have to make any decisions on that.
Gen. Haugen stated our PFC collection will be way down. He asked if we are able to use any of these grant funds to reimburse ourselves for those projects in our PFC applications.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we would not be able to use those funds for the PFC program.
Received Update Regarding NDPERS Public Safety Plan:
Attorney Stacey Bossart was recognized (via zoom) and stated she and City Attorney Erik Johnson had a conference call with an Assistant ND Attorney General last week to get an answer on whether the MAA firefighters can move from the NDPERS Main Plan to the NDPERS Public Safety Plan. She stated they did not get an obvious answer but she firmly believes the answer will come back “yes.” She stated she expected a response by Friday but did not get one. She stated in an email stream between Chief Bush and the COF HR Director, she feels like that move will be made for at least the new hires coming on board in the future. She stated we do have a roundtable meeting with COF representatives today at 2:00 pm.
Chairman Linn stated she will be on that video meeting along with Mr. Engen, Mr. Dobberstein and Attorney Bossart.
Received Update from ND Public Health Insurance Trust:
Mr. Dobberstein stated on May 4 we received an email from Brennan Quintus with the ND Insurance Reserve Fund indicating that would be the final communication we would receive regarding the NDPHIT, unless we have expressed interest in the program. He stated he had a conversation with COF Asst. City Administrator Mike Redlinger last week to see if the city had received any of this information as there is a May 15 deadline to authorize Hays Companies access to the BCBS records for the group. He stated Mr. Redlinger indicated there was some type of comparison/analysis going on which we may be presented with at our meeting later today. Mr. Dobberstein stated we do not know all of the details on coverage and cost, but we are interested in getting the information.
Chairman Linn stated this will be one of the other issues to be discussed at the 2:00 pm meeting today.
Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Dobberstein stated we had 1,555 passengers boarded in April, which is down 95.6% over April 2019. He stated YTD we are down 24.4% and we will see this trend continue for some time. He reviewed information on airline schedules as we know them now. He stated these schedules will change once demand comes back and we will see those increases as restrictions are lifted across the country.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the AAAE has been working with the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security to set up some level of consistency amongst airports in terms of virus response so that you are not departing from one airport with one set of regulations and arriving at another airport with a different set of regulations. He stated the problem with that is some state and local requirements may be stricter in some places than others. He stated that the Airline Pilots Association is also working with the FAA mandating that there are consistent cleaning techniques implemented for all airlines. He stated he does not know where that is going to go. He stated it is definitely going to be a challenge going forward.
Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated we have asked an outside firm (ADK Research) to prepare a proposal to conduct a compensation study of our ARFF positions. He stated the comparison should be with other airports our size and also some from our region, even though most of the airports in the region are not the same as we are. He stated we are a 24 hour airport, we have commercial, cargo, civilian and military aircraft, and we provide Index C fire coverage. He stated ADK will put together a proposal before our next meeting. He stated once the study is together we will be able to determine if there is any justification for adjustments in the compensation. He stated it is something the Airport PEC will review or that may not be necessary.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we will start the 2021 budget prep in the next week or so. He stated we may have to consider the possibility of an increase of our mill levy. He stated we are currently levying two mills but are allowed four under state statute. He stated the reason for an increase would be because of lost PFC revenue due to loss of passengers. He stated the PFC funds are used to pay ourselves back for eligible projects that have been completed.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we have received notification from Voxtelesys (tenant in the Eastside Terminal Building) that they will be vacating the space June 30. The Airport Authority did approve allowing Voxtelesys to terminate their lease early and also to refund them $5,000 of their improvements if the space is leased within 90 days of the date they vacate the space.
Mr. Darren Anderson was recognized and stated the FAA has made an adjustment this year for our annual emergency exercise requirement. He stated rather than an actual exercise the FAA has allowed us to do a review of our emergency plan so we will send copies to all of the agencies and stakeholders and ask them to respond within 30 days. He stated the FAA has indicated this will suffice for this year.
The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the next Regular Meeting to be held Tuesday, May 26, 2020.