MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, ND, was held Tuesday, May 26, 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

Chairman Linn presiding.

Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority Held May 12, 2020:
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held May 12, 2020, were received and filed without objection.

Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $25,310.64
Mr. Engen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $25,310.64.
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 Oshkosh Corporation:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $51,680.00 to Oshkosh Corporation for (2) ECO EFT Retrofit Kits for (2) Striker ARFF Trucks.
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.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $2,110.00 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Car Rental Ready Lot Reconstruction Project.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Linn, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen, Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Received Draft Easement from MidContinent Communications for Service to South General Aviation Area Hangar:
The communication from Scott Pede, MidCo, dated May 14, 2020, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated MidCo is requesting an easement to bury fiber line for Dick Springer’s hangar in the South General Aviation Area. He stated they are looking for the standard two foot wide easement. He stated Attorney Bossart has reviewed the draft easement and has provided comments back to them. He stated the final easement will be drafted once the installation is done and exact legal description will be provided and the easement will be recorded with the county.
Mr. Lind moved to approve the request for an easement from MidCo for the installation of fiber for service to the Dick Springer hangar.
Mr. Engen asked if the easement allows for use by others along the way?
Mr. Dobberstein stated he does not know the details of that technology. He stated if it was possible we would certainly allow that. He stated he is not certain if the line will be in conduit or just a direct bury.
Motion seconded by Mr. Engen.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Received Communication from Dick Springer Regarding South GA Hangar Ground Lease Extension:
The communication from Dick Springer dated May 19, 2020, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated Mr. Springer is requesting a ten year extension to his hangar ground lease that expires May 31, 2020. He stated typically we grant five year extensions but we have granted more depending on the condition and aesthetics of the hangar. He stated Mr. Springer's hangar is in great shape and a ten year extension would be warranted.
Mr. Lind stated he has no problem with extending Mr. Springer’s lease ten years as the hangar is in great condition. He stated he would like to see all future hangar leases and extensions include a caveat that all hangars are subject to an annual inspection by the MAA. He stated we need to make certain that every hangar has airworthy aircraft housed in it and that the hangars are used for their intended purpose, not to store other toys. He stated this would pertain to all hangars on the airport. He stated as leases come up for renewal he would like a statement in the lease extensions that there will be an annual inspection by the MAA and if you don’t have an airworthy aircraft in the hangar the lease will not be extended. He stated this airport is out of available general aviation hangar space and we then lose tenants to Moorhead and West Fargo. He stated our job as the Airport Authority is to bring the users of the airport who want to be here and use it for aviation purposes. He stated it behooves us to have more general aviation traffic as that results in fuel sales, increases landings for our air traffic control rating, ARFF rating, etc. He stated he would like to foster our general aviation community and one of the ways to do that is to address the hangars that are not being used primarily for aviation purposes and make them available for aviation.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the leases currently state that the primary use must be for aviation. He stated hangar owners are allowed to store other items in the hangar but the primary use must be for aircraft storage. He stated as the landlord we always have the ability to gain access to the hangars. He stated the FAA also does periodic inspections. He stated he has no problem refining the lease language.
Gen. Haugen stated he would not want to see language that would be detrimental to someone who is building or restoring an aircraft that may not be airworthy for a period of time.
Mr. Dobberstein stated if someone who owns a hangar and does not currently have an aircraft or may not have a current pilot’s certificate for a period of time can always sublease their hangar to someone until they are able to comply with the requirements. He added the leases call for the MAA to be notified of any subleases.
Mr. Lind moved that we change the language in future leases and lease extensions to include annual hangar inspections by the MAA.
Gen. Haugen stated if we already have the right as the landlord to inspect hangars, adding more language to the lease may not be necessary. He stated we just need to advise hangar owners that the airport staff will be conducting inspections each year.
Mr. Lind stated he did call some other airports and asked if they do inspections of hangars and they said absolutely they do. He stated he asked them if they have problems and they all said absolutely they have problems. He stated it is a problem all over the country and he just wants to clean it up. He stated the purpose of the hangars on the airport is to store actively flying aircraft. He stated he does not care if other things are stored in the hangar but there has to be an actively flying aircraft.
Mr. Cosgriff stated we just need to be very careful with the language since the MAA owns the land but not the buildings. He stated the control factor changes when you don’t own the building, but he is confident our attorney will figure that out.
Motion was seconded by Gen. Haugen.
Mr. Cosgriff stated he would like to see the final draft of the language.
Chairman Linn stated she would also like to see how some of the other airports handle this issue.

Mr. Engen moved to approve the ten-year extension to the hangar ground lease as requested by Dick Springer.
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.

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 Eastside Terminal Building Listing Agreement Renewal with CityScapes:
The proposed listing agreement from CityScapes Development, LLC was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated our current listing agreement with CityScapes Development LLC for the Eastside Terminal building expires May 31, 2020. He stated Mr. Rick Flacksbarth and CityScapes has provided this service for a number of years and he would recommend renewing the agreement.
Mr. Engen moved to extending the Listing Agreement with CityScapes Development, LLC for the Eastside Terminal building to June 1, 2021.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Received Communication from ADK Consulting for Market-Based Salary Study for ARFF Employees:
The proposal from ADK Consulting was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated as requested ADK Consulting has provided us with a proposal to provide a market-based salary study for the Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting personal. He stated their proposed fee for this study is $4,200. He stated the Airport Fire Department was formed in October of 2014 so it is time for a review. He stated ADK has listed the airports they would reach out to for comparison and they are similar in size and operations to us.
Mr. Engen moved to accept the proposal/agreement from ADK Consulting.
Second by Mr. Lind.
Chairman Linn stated the MAA has used ADK before and they have been excellent. She stated they do very precise comparisons and the most important is that the evaluations are done on an apples to apples basis. She stated you cannot just use other airports our size or other cities our size.
Mr. Dobberstein stated they take a regional approach and also a look at airports that are very similar in size as far as boardings. He stated it will be a good representative sample.
Chairman Linn called for a vote on the motion.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Discussed Proposed Agreement with the City of Fargo to Extend Notice of Termination Date:
The proposed agreement with the City of Fargo to extend the notice of termination date of the MOU was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the City Commission did approve this agreement at their last meeting. He stated the board members have had a chance to review this proposed agreement which extends the notice of termination date from July 1, 2020 to September 1, 2020 with the possibility of extension to October 1 at the approval of the MAA Chairman and the mayor.
Mr. Engen moved to approve the proposed agreement with the City of Fargo to extend MOU notice of termination date.
Second by Mr. Lind.
Mr. Cosgriff asked if there are any outstanding issues with the city. He stated he knows the NDPERS issue for the firefighters has not been resolved.
Mr. Dobberstein stated that item is next on our agenda. He stated there is also the matter of our ability to get the city to authorize BCBS to release insurance data on our employees for an evaluation on the ND Public Insurance Health Trust.
Gen. Haugen stated the insurance issue is still a big deal and he seems to sense the city does not want us to go that direction because they did not look at that for their own employees, from what he understands.
Mr. Dobberstein stated they had their reasons not to and they believe they have a pretty good plan with BCBS. He stated BCBS is also going to manage the NDPHIT plan. He stated we should have the ability to go out and see if it is an option for our employees.
Mr. Engen stated we have an obligation always to look at what is most efficient for both the employees and the Authority. He stated in doing that, we need pricing information for those benefits for those employees. He stated if we don’t have that we can’t make good decisions or understand the outcome of those decisions. He stated we should push for that information and the city should be more than happy to give us that information as we pay them to provide us a service. He stated if we can find more efficient, cost efficient or better benefits for our employees we should look at that.
Chairman Linn stated we know our employees and we know what they want and need. She stated to explore the options is prudent and the professional thing to do. Looking out for our employees first.
Chairman Linn called for a vote on the motion.
On the call of the roll, members Lind, Engen, Cosgriff, Haugen and Linn voted aye. No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

NDPERS Public Safety Plan Update:
Attorney Bossart was recognized (via zoom) and stated she and COF Attorney Erik Johnson had a phone conference with Dean at the ND Attorney General’s Office. She said this was our second call in a number of weeks on whether or not the airport ARFF employees could move into the NDPERS Public Safety Plan and whether or not that would suck in all of the City’s firefighters and police officers. She stated the answer on whether or not that would affect City of Fargo employees was “No.” She stated the MAA ARFF employees would be able to move into the NDPERS Public Safety Plan.
Attorney Bossart stated one of the questions that came up between she and Mr. Johnson was what that would mean for the COF. She stated she has been told on a number of occasions that this is a lengthy process and would create a lot more work. She stated she would like to know exactly what that means in terms of the process itself. She stated Mr. Johnson indicated he would engage COF human resources and that we would have that information at our next roundtable meeting with the COF. She stated obviously the MAA wants to make certain it is exploring the most cost efficient benefit package they can provide to the airport employees. She stated in her conversations with the Attorney General’s office it does not sound like it is a difficult process at all for NDPERS.
Mr. Dobberstein stated that is what he has been saying since August 2019. He stated it is a very simple process. He stated all we get from the COF is roadblocks.
Attorney Bossart stated one of the things that came up in the conversation with Mr. Johnson after the phone conference with the AG’s office is Section 11 of the MOU which talks about the parties agreeing to explore certain things such as health insurance, NDPERS pension, etc. She stated we are going to have to revisit this section so that both parties are on the same page. She stated Section 11 was included for a reason. She stated at the same time the MAA wants to do the best it can for purposes of the employees when it comes to all of the things listed in the agreement.
Attorney Bossart stated when it comes to the NDPERS issue and moving ARFF employees to the Public Safety Plan, the MAA is an independent political subdivision so under the law absolutely that can happen.
Chairman Linn asked if the ND law would supersede any agreement.
Attorney Bossart stated the MAA is a separate political subdivision so that means under the century code pertaining to NDPERS the ARFF staff can move to the Public Safety Plan with no negative effect on the COF. She stated the Assistant AG could not comment on the MOU.
Gen. Haugen stated what we are looking at again is the COF’s reluctance to consider what is best for the employees and what may be best for the employees, but what they think is best for the city. He stated this is just another control issue we have been fighting for years.
Chairman Linn asked Attorney Bossart to get this Assistant AG to put the information he provided in writing.
Attorney Bossart stated she would ask him to do that.
Chairman Linn stated one of the things that has come up recently in some conversations is what the intent was for the MOU. She stated the intent does not matter unless it is in writing. She stated the only thing that matters is what is in black and white in the agreement.
Attorney Bossart stated she would agree with that.

Discussed Funding Options for Cargo Apron Expansion and SRE Building Projects:
Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized (via zoom).
Mr. Dobberstein stated to review, we received a $10 million supplemental grant for the cargo apron expansion project. He stated we had planned to also apply all of our entitlements, some back to 2018 to current date, which total just over $6.3 million. He added that the federal CARES grant will include a 10% match to make the federal share 100% vs. 90%. He stated in total the entitlements would be $7,508,055. He stated the project is estimated to cost a total of $18.5 million. He stated we were planning to pay for the SRE Building out of our reserves and then pay ourselves back with future entitlement funds as they become available. He stated the FAA representatives in both the Bismarck and Minneapolis offices are still trying to get some additional supplemental funding to add to the $10 million. He stated in the supplemental grant program that had about $1 billion for airports around the country has not all been appropriated and the FAA is looking at how to re-appropriate those unused funds. He stated we believe that we have a shovel ready project and may have a good chance at getting some of those additional funds.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we feel it would be best to apply our existing entitlement funds to the SRE Building then we would be eligible to apply for additional supplemental funding for the cargo apron expansion. He stated we can pay for a portion of the cargo apron project out of our reserves until we get word from the FAA whether or not we are granted additional supplemental funds.
Mr. Klein stated the deadline for the application for additional supplemental funding is June 15, 2020.
Mr. Dobberstein stated that the cargo apron project is estimated at $18.5 but some of the engineering fees have already been paid. He added that we should have word from the FAA on the additional supplemental funding in August or September.
Mr. Klein stated we have not yet received final approval from the FAA on the percentage of the SRE building that will be eligible for federal funding but right now it is 95%. He stated they have a phone call today with the FAA on the supplemental funding.
Gen. Haugen stated he would rely on Mr. Dobberstein and Mr. Klein to get the maximum amount of funding for these projects, as they have worked closely with the FAA on funding projects for many years.
Mr. Klein stated he agrees with Mr. Dobberstein to apply the entitlements funds to the SRE Building to maximize our chance of getting additional supplemental funding.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the board members can ponder the options until the next meeting and we can make a decision at that time.

Airport Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Terry Stroh, TL Stroh Architects, was recognized (via zoom) and stated the delay in starting the SRE Building project was an issue with getting the building permit. He stated we should have had the permit more than a week ago but hope to get that this week. He stated we do have one issue with the excavation for the tanks. He stated they are going to be deeper than we thought so they may have to be moved to a different area, which will result in the removal of some additional concrete. He stated he does not know the exact reasons for the delay in the building permit as it is a simple building. He stated the City of Fargo does have a lot of people working remotely so that may have something to do with it. He stated we are still waiting for rebar so the delay should not impact the project too severely.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we did secure a Builder’s Risk policy with Dawson Insurance for a premium of $8,044.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the contracts with Northern Improvement for the Cargo Apron Expansion Project are ready for Attorney Bossart’s review.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the TSA put out a press release on May 21 on what passengers can expect during their travel this summer. He stated we are working with Flint to get this information out to our passengers.

Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated we have a TSA Precheck enrollment event here in the terminal next week, June 1-5.

Mr. Dobberstein stated the shrubs planted around our entrance sign died over the winter so we worked with landscape architect Jim Hanson to come up with a plan to replace those bushes.

Mr. Dobberstein stated Spectrum Aeromed leases Hangar 9 from the MAA and they are planning to add a second restroom to the building, at their expense. He stated as part of that project we want to move and upgrade the fire alarm panel at our expense. He stated we received a quote for $11,912.00.

Mr. Lind stated he would like us to check on whether or not the cost of the shuttle bus service from the parking lot to the terminal next winter would be an eligible operational expense for the CARES funds. He stated he also wants us to continue planning for additional parking to the south as we will need additional parking when things return to normal.

Chairman Linn stated we did receive an email from Hays Companies regarding a letter of access to BCBS to obtain data for airport employees. Mr. Heath, Hays Companies, indicated that the letter of access would need to come from the City of Fargo.

Mr. Engen stated in order for Hays to get proper pricing they need to obtain data for these airport employees. He stated this request should go to Mr. Mike Redlinger to support getting the information from the COF and BCBS. He stated Mr. Redlinger should provide this letter of access to Hays Companies.
Mr. Dobberstein stated we will forward this request to Mr. Redlinger. Chairman Linn asked that they be given a deadline.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we have not yet received an update on whether or not our Equipment Technician II has had the upgrade we previously discussed.
Gen. Haugen stated to all of us sitting here this probably doesn’t mean much, but it means a lot to that employee. He stated he has not gotten the pay raise that he deserves. He stated it drives him nuts that the COF does to our employees.
Chairman Linn stated Mr. Strand was at our previous meeting when this was discussed but he is not in on the meeting today.
Attorney Bossart stated she will follow up.
Chairman Linn stated she agrees with Gen. Haugen that this is a big deal to our employee as it should have been done the first of the year.
Mr. Dobberstein stated it is inexcusable.

The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the next Regular Meeting to be held Tuesday, June 9, 2020, at 8:00 a.m.
Time at adjournment was 9:02 a.m.