MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY
The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota was held Tuesday, October 27, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.
The members present or absent were as follows:
Present: Engen (via zoom), Cosgriff (via zoom), Lind, Linn
Absent: Haugen
Others: Bossart (via zoom), Strand (via zoom)
Chairman Linn presiding.
Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $67,865.00:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $67,865.00.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Haugen
The motion was declared carried.
Approved the Individual Voucher to Mead & Hunt:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $69,642.14 to Mead & Hunt for partial payment request for engineering services in connection with the Cargo Apron Expansion Project – Phase IV.
Second by Mr. Lind.
On the call of the roll, members Engen, Cosgriff, Lind, Linn voted aye.
Absent and not voting: Haugen
The motion was declared carried.
Discussed ADK Study and Airport PEC Update:
Chairman Linn stated joining our meeting today are some members of the Airport Position Evaluation Committee (APEC). (Don Kilander and Jane Pettinger).
Chairman Linn introduced Linda Frankl with ADK (via zoom) to review the salary review/compensation study for the six positions.
Ms. Linda Frankl was recognized and thanked the Airport Authority for the opportunity to provide this compensation study. She gave an overview of their organization, ADK Consulting & Executive Search.
Ms. Frankl stated when conducting compensation studies they comply with the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890. She stated that act specifies that when a full-fledged compensation study is done a third party must conduct that study so there is no bias. She stated the data needs to be current, three months or less, and have at least five data points that are comparable, and you also have to insure that when the data is shared it is shared in the aggregate so that it is not clearly defined as to which agency provided which specific data points. She stated that is how they conducted this study for the Airport Authority.
Ms. Frankl stated the six positions they reviewed are all airport centric. She stated the airport industry is a very small industry. She stated there are just over 400 commercial service airports in the country and of that group the top tier is the 30 largest airports, then there about 32 medium hubs, 73 small hub airports and 263 non-hub airports. She stated FAR is right in the middle of that threshold of a small hub and a non-hub airport. She stated there are 188 airports with greater than 200,000 passengers. She stated airports are really a niche industry and leaders in this industry have to have a multitude of skillsets and exposure. She stated they need to understand things that are not necessarily dealt with in some of the other industries or communities. She stated there are different governance structures that own and operate airports. She stated commercial service airports are trending more toward establishing airport authorities. This structure allows the airport to operate more as a business enterprise than a department of a city or county. Authority run airports are typically more nimble in decision-making and can quickly take advantage when opportunities arise.
Ms. Frankl stated they selected 27 airports from which to request data and received responses from 23, which is a good response.
Ms. Frankl stated their study showed that the Fargo airport is operating very efficiently compared to its peers. She stated they arrive at that by dividing the operating revenue by the number of employees. She stated this shows the airport is also a very effective operation.
Ms. Frankl reviewed the data for each of the six position reviews.
Ms. Jane Pettinger, Chairman of the Airport PEC was recognized (via zoom) and stated according to the recommendations on Page 26 of the study, ADK is recommending grade changes to five of the six positions. She stated she has not yet reviewed the DBM values for those positions with changes recommended but she assumes the APEC would need to review those as well and require action. She stated she does not know what degree of change is required before the APEC gets involved.
Chairman Linn stated she does not think that was specified.
Ms. Pettinger stated the COF may have a benchmark, for example if a position changes just one grade it does not have to be reviewed by the PEC.
Chairman Linn stated the APEC has total charge of those decisions.
Ms. Pettinger stated she was just wondering what standard is used by the COF. She stated the reason for that question is if the APEC does not need to go through the full review process for a change we would not need to spend the time and effort reviewing it.
Mr. Don Kilander (member of the APEC) was recognized and stated his understanding of the role of the APEC is that if there is a discrepancy between what the MAA approves and authorizes for pay for a specific position and what the COF feels that position should be, then the APEC gets into the picture. He stated if what the MAA approves (not just a recommendation) and then passes on to the COF for implementation and the COF agrees it fits within the COF’s pay plan, the APEC does not need to get involved.
Ms. Pettinger stated then the MAA would need to take action on the ADK recommendations first and then if the COF concurs the positions fit into the pay plan the changes would take place without involvement by the APEC, but if there is a disagreement those positions would go to the APEC. She stated before the APEC gets involved the MAA first needs to take action on a decision and the COF then concurs or not, and then we go from there.
Mr. Engen stated his question is why we are deferring to the COF if the MOU that we signed gives this authority to the APEC and removes the COF.
Chairman Linn stated she would agree the COF has nothing to do with these decisions.
Ms. Pettinger stated she just wants to make sure the APEC does not have to review all six positions if it is not necessary. She stated she does not want to ask the APEC members, who are volunteers, to burden themselves with more work than necessary.
Chairman Linn stated Ms. Pettinger has already asked that the employees in the five positions (not the Executive Director position) review their job descriptions and go through the DBM process for each of those positions and she stated those have been done. She stated that she and Vice Chairman Lind have done the DBM process for the Executive Director.
Chairman Linn again stated that these six positions do not have comparable positions in the COF employee structure. She stated the MOU states the COF has nothing to do with this decision, the APEC is responsible.
Ms. Pettinger agreed the APEC is totally responsible. She stated ADK used COF paygrades in their study so if these positions fit within those pay grades we should not have to review them.
Chairman Linn stated ADK was not going to use the COF pay grades but we asked them to do that. She stated the MAA needs to review the positions and the study and make its decisions.
Ms. Pettinger stated the MAA needs to make its decision first. She stated there seems to be different perceptions on the role of the APEC and they do not match, however, we all agree that ultimately the decision is with the APEC, it is just a matter of when it goes to the APEC.
Chairman Linn stated she agrees that not all of these positions need to be reviewed by the APEC. She stated at the next MAA meeting the board will review all of the positions and take action.
Mr. Kilander stated, referring to the MOU, the COF does not have a play in these decisions. He stated the MOU does state that the APEC will operate similar to the COF’s PEC. He stated his understanding of that PEC is they only come into play if there is a difference between what a department head is proposing and what the COF has determined. He stated if we look at that model and the MAA takes action on a position or positions and then passes it on to the COF for implementation but it falls outside of the COF pay plan it would then go to the APEC. He stated if there is no discrepancy and the position is within the COF pay plan then the APEC is not in the game and the change moves forward. He stated that is his understanding of the role of the APEC.
Ms. Pettinger stated it is clear that the MAA first needs to take action on the study.
Chairman Linn thanked Ms. Pettinger for her input and stated the MAA will take action on this study at its next meeting.
NDPERS Update:
Chairman Linn asked if there is any update on the NDPERS matter or is it the same.
Attorney Bossart was recognized (via zoom) and stated she does not have any update. She stated she had a long conversation with COF Attorney Johnson three weeks ago about how the COF goes forward and how this will work. She asked Mr. Strand if he has any update.
Mr. John Strand was recognized (via zoom) and stated at the last roundtable meeting with the two entities we all agreed that our HR and legal counsel would provide us a white paper, black and white, and that is being presented to them internally today at 2:00 pm so after today he is expecting that they would be able to provide that information to the MAA so as to give the members adequate time to review it (five business days) as requested by Chairman Linn, before the next roundtable meeting.
Chairman Linn asked if anyone from the airport has been invited to that meeting.
Mr. Strand stated this will be their own internal meeting.
Chairman Linn asked if our attorney could be present.
Mr. Strand stated the meeting today is their legal counsel sharing the information with other city folks.
Chairman Linn stated we would like to be included as they are our employees.
Mr. Strand stated you certainly will be included but they have to have their own review of it first as they don’t know what it is yet. He stated they want to see it and talk through it with their legal counsel and HR department and the final draft will go out as requested.
Eastside Terminal Tenant Update:
Mr. Dobberstein stated the FAA has finally sent their draft supplemental agreement to add 192 sf of space that will be vacated by Altig effective January 1, 2021. He stated Mr. Rick Flacksbarth has talked to Altig and they would like to continue to lease space in the building but he is not certain we have anything at this time. He stated if the FAA exercises all of its options in this lease it will go through 2033. He stated they may even be looking at additional space due to an expanding staff.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the Voxtelesys space on the second floor is still vacant. He stated the lease with Riviera Nexus expires at the end of November and we are not certain if they plan to continue leasing that space.
Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Terry Stroh, TL Stroh Architects, was recognized (via zoom) and stated things are plugging along. He stated they have been doing quite a bit of concrete pouring and are working on the addition to the existing building. He stated for the most part the contract will wait until the building is enclosed before starting on the electrical work. He stated overall the project is moving along on a regular basis. He stated they will be pouring concrete around the fuel dispensing system. He stated there are a few issues with material delivery.
Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized and stated Northern Improvement is in the home stretch for their work this fall on the cargo apron expansion project. He stated they should be buttoned up for winter sometime next week.
Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated he and Henry Swedberg met with representatives of the National Guard Bureau at the site of their new operational readiness center at the north end of the airport. He stated as their project proceeds, the shelterbelts on the east and west sides of their entrance still need attention. He stated a few years ago the MAA removed a signification portion of the shelterbelts along County 20 and we purposely left the portion along their project until we knew their final plans. He stated Jim Hanson, Hanson Design Associates, is going through the shelterbelt with Tony Peterson from Cass County Soil Conservation to see what can be removed and re-established in order to beautify that area. He stated the Guard plans to open the facility mid-2021.
The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the next Regular Meeting to be held November 10, 2020.
Time at adjournment was 9:20 a.m.