MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held Tuesday, January 12, 2021, at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.

The members present or absent were as follows:

Present: Haugen, Engen, Cosgriff (via zoom), Lind, Linn
Absent: None
Others: Bossart (via zoom), Strand (via zoom)

Chairman Linn presiding.

Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting Held December 22, 2020:
The minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held December 22, 2020, were approved without objection.

Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $33,104.03:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $33,104.03.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $5,599.74 to Flint Communications for partial payment request for 2020 Airport Marketing Program.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $3,002.00 to Sixel LLC for December passenger enplanement fees (Allegiant/Nashville - $864.00, American/Phoenix - $2,138.00).
Second by Mr. Lind.
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:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $2,750.00 to Sixel LLC for First Quarter 2021 Data.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $281,596.90 to Meinecke-Johnson for Partial Payment Requests #7 and #7A, for general construction of SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 Plains Mechanical:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $34,672.50 to Northern Plains Mechanical for Partial Payment Requests #6 and #6A for mechanical construction of SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 Rickard Electric:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $18,900.00 to Rickard Electric for Partial Payment Request #7A for electrical construction of SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 O’Day Equipment:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $9,000.00 to O’Day Equipment for Partial Payment Request #4 for SRE Building Fuel System.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 TL Stroh Architects:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $6,146.00 to TL Stroh Architects for partial payment request for architectural services in connection with the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 Fargo Jet Center:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $11,032.50 to Fargo Jet Center for the MAA share of CY2020 co-op marketing.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 2021 Marketing Plan from Flint Communications:
Flint Communications representatives Tara Olson and Madison Hausauer joined the meeting via zoom. They gave a presentation reviewing results from the 2020 marketing/advertising program. Tara stated our advertising has been directed at the age 25-54 demographic within a 200 mile radius for leisure travel and that will continue. She stated last year after March we reduced paid media by 50%. She stated that TV, radio and print which was not used will be carried over to 2021. They reviewed online activity and the most efficient use of dollars and messaging. They stated the PR message for 2021 will continue to show the economic impact of the airport on the community. They also said the message going into 2021 will be “We Are Nimble” and let the flying public know that Hector International Airport is prepared to welcome passengers back when they are ready to fly. Tara indicated she would send a recap of social media statistics for the year to the board members.

Tara presented the budget for 2021 for a total not to exceed $155,675.00.

After further discussion, Gen. Haugen moved to approve the budget proposed by Flint Communications for the 2021 Airport Marketing Program.
Second by Mr. Lind.
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 Dakota Allied Properties LLC for a Ground Lease to Construct a Maintenance Hangar:
The communication dated January 5, 2021, from Paul Johnson, Cityscapes Development, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated Mr. Johnson is present at the meeting today representing Dakota Allied Properties, LLC. He stated they are proposing to construct a 12,000 sf maintenance hangar to be leased to Bemidji Aviation Services, Inc. He stated the location of this proposed hangar is adjacent to the Corporate Air hangar which is used by the FedEx feeder. He stated they are proposing a 12,000 square foot hangar along with parking lot space. He stated they are requesting a 40 year ground lease on approximately 40,000 square feet of ground. He stated we are working on finalizing the legal description and drafting a lease agreement. He stated the main goal today is to see if the board has any questions on the project. He stated Collin Strain, Bemidji Aviation, is also joining this meeting, as well as Jed Krieg with Olaf Anderson.

Mr. Johnson was recognized and stated if all of the approvals are received they plan to start the construction in late spring and occupy the facility late November or December.

In answer to a question from Mr. Lind, Mr. Dobberstein stated the tenant will be responsible for the 50 feet of concrete between the hangar door and the cargo ramp.

Mr. Dobberstein stated right now they are proposing this just as a maintenance hangar for Bemidji Aviation to service their own aircraft, but there has been discussion about providing maintenance service to other operators, which would classify them as a limited fixed base operator where they would pay us 1.5% or a minimum of $100.00 per month.

Mr. Strain was recognized (via zoom) and stated that is more of an idea for now. He stated they are currently operating seven of the nine aircraft flying for UPS. He stated they were asked in 2017 if they would be able to provide service to other aircraft but it did not go any further. He stated they would just like to keep the possibility open.

Mr. Dobberstein stated there will be 25 feet of greenspace between this hangar and the existing hangar adjacent to it. He stated that will be part of the lease agreement. He stated the reason for that much space is building code for fire walls. He stated the proposed hangar is smaller than he had anticipated but again that is due to fire code. He stated there is an effort across the country to change the requirements for sprinkler systems in aircraft hangars, which currently requires a sprinkler system in any hangar exceeding 12,000 square feet. He stated insurance industry has paid out far more in claims due to accidental discharge of foam onto aircraft than it has for actual fires of aircraft. He stated the industry is trying to get back to a higher amount of square footage before a sprinkler system is required. He stated the hangar is being constructed so it can be easily added on to the north should these regulations be changed.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we will bring a draft lease agreement before the board within the next month. He added that the lease would start when they break ground on the project.

Authorized Purchase of Escalator Handrail Sterilization of Units and Maintenance of Units:
The proposal from Otis Elevator dated January 4, 2021, was received and filed without objection.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we have received a proposal from Otis Elevator to replace the handrails for the up and down escalators. He stated the handrails would need to be replaced regardless but this proposal will include an LED UV-C handrail anti-bacterial module.

Mr. Dan Bullis, Operations Supervisor/Landside, was recognized and stated right now the escalator handrails have silicon guides which create a lot of heat and that stresses other parts of the escalators. He stated this proposal changes the system to rollers which would reduce the heat and stress on parts of the escalators. He stated right now we are experiencing a lot of down time for maintenance on the escalators which is an inconvenience to our passengers. He stated changing to rollers will make these escalators heavy duty rather than light duty. He stated the UV-C light will kill germs and sanitize the handrails.

Mr. Dobberstein stated this product just became available in the last year so we have been waiting to replace the handrails until this became available. He stated we are working on confirming with the FAA that this will be eligible for CARES funding. He stated this will need to be done regardless.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we are also looking into an air purifier for the elevator. He stated we currently have a service contract with ThyssenKrupp but we are looking into combing both service contracts into one with Otis.

Mr. Engen moved to approve the proposal from Otis Elevator Company for a cost of $57,361.49.
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.

Airport Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Dobberstein stated we did see some damage from insulation blowing from the reroof project on the existing shop during the recent high wind event. He asked Terry Stroh to comment.

Mr. Terry Stroh, TL Stroh Architects, was recognized and stated Mr. Dobberstein did give a forewarning and he passed it on to the contractor as well so he is now certain why more precautions were not taken. He stated he is continuing discussions with them.

Mr. Stroh stated the reroofing project on the existing building is now complete. He stated they are working on wall panels for the addition to the existing building. He stated they are making good progress on the new facility and hope to finish the roof on the new building this week. He stated the overhead doors are not yet installed but they have put up temporary closures so they can get started on more inside work.

Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized and stated they are waiting until the FAA approves the scope of work for the environmental assessment project so until they approve it there no sense in bringing it before the MAA. He stated he did hear from Northern Improvement that Dakota Fence wants to take advantage of the nice weather and install the frame work for the overhead lift gate for the UPS facility.

There was nothing to report on security.

Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein reported that December 2020 enplanements were down 56.9% over December 2019. He stated that is a bigger decrease than he had anticipated but restrictions in other locations have probably discouraged travel. He stated passengers for CY2020 were 238,500 vs. 471,333 in 2019, which is a decrease of 49.4% year to year. He stated that does not include 1,669 charter passengers.

Mr. Dobberstein stated the ND Legislature is in session and we are working with the Airport Association of North Dakota on a bill dealing with Transportation Network Companies (TNC’s) such as Uber and Lyft. He stated this legislation would allow commercial service airports in the state to enter into agreements with TNC’s. He stated he plans to put together some testimony to give virtually during a hearing.

Mr. Dobberstein stated there is a new CARES grant passed by congress in the last few days but the exact details are not known. He stated he does not know if we will receive any funds or not. He stated there is a provision in the new legislation that any airport receiving four years of funding would not be eligible. He stated a portion of this funding would allow airports to receive any differences between minimum guarantees and actual revenues received from tenants with minimum guarantees that were not able to meet those guarantees. He stated the only tenant we have which would fall into that category is one of the car rental agencies. He stated we will be working with them on that as we may be receiving a request to waive that minimum annual guarantee for 2020.

Chairman Linn stated the Airport Position Evaluation Committee (APEC) met last Friday and came to resolutions on the five positions that were reviewed. She stated most of the MAA members were in attendance virtually for the meeting. She stated the committee unanimously passed the recommendations and have moved them on to the COF Human Resources Office to put together the ranges and implement the changes.

Attorney Bossart was recognized via zoom and stated she is working on the sale of property to the Matherns. She stated the COF did have the abstract for the property and we are waiting for that to be updated to see if the Matherns want to have a title opinion done.

The meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority was adjourned until the Annual Meeting to be held Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 8:00 a.m.
Time at adjournment was 9:03 a.m.