MUNICIPAL AIRPORT AUTHORITY

The Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota, was held Tuesday, March 9, 2021 at 8:00 a.m. in the Airport Boardroom.

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

Approved the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority Held February 23, 2021:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Municipal Airport Authority held February 23, 2021.
Second by Mr. Engen.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Airport Vouchers Totaling $13,497.15:
Mr. Engen moved to approve the airport vouchers totaling $13,497.15.
Second by Ms. Linn.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Flint Communications:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $17,906.41 to Flint Communications for partial payment request for 2021 Airport Marketing Program.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to TL Stroh Architects:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $2,710.00 to TL Stroh Architects for partial payment request for architectural services (Construction Administration) for the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to TL Stroh Architects:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $320.00 to TL Stroh Architects for partial payment request for architectural services (construction material testing) for the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Meinecke-Johnson:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $63,200.00 to Meinecke-Johnson for Partial Payment Request #9 for general construction of the SRE Building.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Meinecke-Johnson:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $80,300.00 to Meinecke-Johnson for Partial Payment Request #9A for general construction of the SRE Building.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Northern Plains Mechanical:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $84,168.00 to Northern Plains Mechanical for Partial Payment Request #8 for mechanical construction of the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Northern Plains Mechanical:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $11,565.00 to Northern Plains Mechanical for Partial Payment Request #8A for mechanical construction of the SRE Building Project.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Rickard Electric:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $17,915.17 to Rickard Electric for Partial Payment Request #9A for electrical construction of the SRE Building.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Approved the Individual Voucher to Rickard Electric:
Ms. Linn moved to approve the individual voucher in the amount of $1,438.63 to Rickard Electric for Partial Payment Request #9B for electrical construction of the SRE Building.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Received Request from Fargo Air Museum for Sponsorship of Event:
The communication from the Fargo Air Museum dated February 25, 2021, was received and filed without objection.
Mr. Dobberstein stated the Fargo Air Museum will be holding their annual Spring Fund Raising Event and are requesting a sponsorship of $2,500.00. He stated this is the level at which the Airport Authority has participated in the past.
Gen. Haugen moved to approve the sponsorship of the Fargo Air Museum Annual Spring Fund Raising Event at the $2,500.00 level.
Second by Mr. Engen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Receive and File CY2020 Passenger Facility Charge Audit:
Mr. Dobberstein stated EideBailly conducted the annual audit on our PFC program and the report stated that they have audited the MAA’s compliance with the types of compliance requirements described in the Passenger Facility Charge Audit Guide for Public Agencies, issued by the FAA that could have a direct and material effect on the airport’s PFC program for the year ended December 31, 2020. The report contained no audit findings. He stated this report has been sent to the FAA.
Ms. Linn moved to receive and file the audit report from EideBailly for the year ended December 31, 2020.
Second by Gen. Haugen.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.

Receive Update Regarding Property Sale to Mathern:
Attorney Bossart was recognized and stated she is still waiting on the abstract for this property from the abstract company and she is going to talk to them today. She stated she is also going to discuss with them the abstracts for other airport properties. She stated she is determined to locate the abstracts for all properties owned by the MAA. She stated she has asked staff at City Hall about abstracts but they do not seem to have any knowledge of them.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we have all of Attorney Gary Stewart’s files regarding the airport and with each property purchase he was careful to create a paper trail indicating that the abstracts were sent to the City of Fargo for safe keeping.

Attorney Bossart stated the COF does have a list of abstracts but she did not see the airport properties on that list. She stated when the abstracts are found, does the board want to keep them with the abstract company or in the MAA office?

Attorney Bossart stated the purchase agreement for the Matherns is ready to go, we are just waiting for the abstract.
Mr. Engen moved that for the benefit of the Matherns we proceed with signing the purchase agreement and include language pertinent to the receipt of abstract and conveyance thereafter.
Second by Ms. Linn.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Ms. Linn stated she thinks we should check with the COF again to make certain they don’t have them.
Mr. Engen suggested creating a list of the properties and again review the list with the COF. He stated if they

Received Preliminary CY2020 Statement of Operations and Airport Improvement Fund Activity Report:
Mr. Dobberstein distributed and reviewed the CY2020 Statement of Operations and the Airport Improvement Fund Activity Report. He stated the audit has not yet been completed so there may be some changes in the final totals, but they should not be major changes. He added that he also created a revenue/expense comparison for years back to 2014.

Authorized Purchase of Oshkosh H-Series Snow Removal Equipment via HGAC Buy Cooperative Purchasing Program:
Mr. Dobberstein stated with the expansion of the cargo ramp this year we will be adding 15 acres of concrete. He stated the amount of time our staff will spend on that cargo ramp will require three operators on various equipment during snow events, in addition to the air carrier ramp. He stated in order to provide timely and safe service we can purchase an additional Oshkosh truck, which is compatible with our other equipment, through the Houston Galveston Consortium (HGAC). He stated Darren Anderson has been working with the Oshkosh representatives to get us penciled in for delivery of a truck before next winter. He stated the cost, which could change slightly due to radio systems, is $593,136.00. He stated we may want to purchase the radios locally for installation locally. He stated these would be local funds which would be used to purchase this piece of equipment and we would then add it to a future PFC application. He stated we are also able to request funds from the state’s program through the ND Aeronautics Commission.

Mr. Dobberstein stated there is another public consortium in Minnesota (Sourcewell), which we have also purchased equipment from but HGAC was the least expensive for the equipment we need.

Mr. Cosgriff asked if this complies with our purchasing policy.

Mr. Dobberstein stated it does comply as it is publicly bid. He stated this is a public consortium through which we have purchased for many years. He stated if we need to amend our purchasing policy to specifically name consortiums we can do that. He stated he knows the COF purchases busses through this same process.

Mr. Cosgriff stated the ability to buy off a state bid does not preclude you from going out for bids. He stated he feels it would be more of the staple items that would be purchased from a state bid rather than an expensive piece of equipment like this.

Mr. Dobberstein stated we have some other loaders that will need to be replaced as well that could be purchased in this same manner.

Mr. Cosgriff stated he read through the MAA purchasing policy and it does not seem to address that. He stated we either need to follow the policy or amend the policy.

In answer to question from Mr. Engen, Mr. Dobberstein stated all of our plow trucks and brooms are Oshkosh.

Mr. Engen stated is that because maintenance is consistent and you are not educating mechanics on an entire set of tooling.

Mr. Dobberstein stated it is for maintenance consistency and operator training.

Mr. Cosgriff stated he is just not comfortable that we are within our purchasing policy.

Mr. Engen stated Mr. Cosgriff’s question is a good one and he had the same question when first coming on the board but the matter was answered years ago.

Mr. Engen moved to amend the purchasing criteria to include the public bid lists available to us in multi-state or single state operations for pieces of equipment specific to operations of the airport.
Second by Ms. Linn.
After further discussion Chairman Lind stated he is not going to call for a vote on the motion and asked that it be tabled for a future meeting.
Mr. Engen withdrew his motion.

Gen. Haugen moved to authorize the purchase of an Oshkosh H-Series H2926 Chassis with XP5024-TRI Snow Plow and UBS12 Underbody Scraper through HGACBuy at a cost of $593,136.00.
Second by Ms. Linn.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
Cosgriff voted nay.
The motion was declared carried.

Ms. Linn suggested a couple of the board members get together and review the purchasing policies and come up with some ideas to present at the next meeting. She stated Mr. Cosgriff might like to be one of those members.

Chairman Lind stated he would like to see each of the board members review the purchasing policy and we can address it at our next meeting as a whole group. He stated each of the board members will be provided with a copy of the current policy.

Mr. Dobberstein stated even though the policy was adopted in 2010 it has been reviewed since then but there has been no need to revise it. He agreed we could take a look at increasing the bottom thresholds but as far as the top numbers we are required to follow federal guidelines and they are set.

Airport Construction and Security Update:
Mr. Terry Stroh, TL Stroh, was present on the zoom meeting but audio was not available.

Mr. Darren Anderson stated all of the concrete in the SRE Building Project has been poured. He stated the addition to the existing building is being painted. He stated he thinks the new building is about 95% complete. He stated they are finishing the smaller areas such as the breakroom and restrooms. He stated it looks like the new building should be wrapped up by the end of the month and then just a few more weeks on the addition to the existing building.

Mr. Jeff Klein, Mead & Hunt, was recognized and stated he has nothing to report on the cargo apron expansion. He stated Northern Improvement was going to be assessing the site today and see how the drainage has been.

Other Business:
Mr. Dobberstein stated that our long-time air service consultant, Mr. Mark Sixel, Sixel LLC, passed away unexpectedly. He did a lot of work for this community and his other clients across the country. He stated Mr. Sixel engaged the business community to gather vital data. He stated we are going to need to continue to get that data so he is going to check into an interim provider until we are able to come up with a permanent solution. He stated Mr. Sixel was the only employee of Sixel LLC. He stated he will gather some information on interim possibilities to provide this service and report back to the board.

Chairman Lind stated he is proud to announce that Hector International Airport has been named the 2020 Commercial Service Airport of the Year by the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission and presented the plaque commemorating the award.

Chairman Lind read the following statement:
The Municipal Airport Authority of the City of Fargo, North Dakota will meet in Executive Session to receive an update regarding on-going discussions between designated representatives of the Authority and the City as those relate to the relationship between the two political subdivisions, including an amendment to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the parties in January 2020. These discussions have financial implications and an open meeting of these discussions, strategy and direction by the Chairman and/or the Authority’s attorney, would create an adverse fiscal effect on the bargaining position of the Authority.

This Executive Session has been authorized pursuant to North Dakota Century Code §44-04-19(9).

Mr. Engen move to adjourn to Executive Session.
Second by Ms. Linn.
On the call of the roll, members Haugen, Cosgriff, Engen, Linn, Lind voted aye.
No member being absent and none voting nay the motion was declared carried.
Time at recess was 8:55 a.m.

Cosgriff now absent.

The Executive Session began at 8:58 a.m. and ended at 9:30 a.m.
The Regular Meeting reconvened at 9:31 a.m.

Chairman Lind stated that during the Executive Session the board agreed to continue to give Attorney Bossart and the Executive Director authorization to negotiate with the City of Fargo on the MOU.
Mr. Engen moved to adjourn the meeting until the next Regular Meeting to be held Tuesday, March 23, 2021.
Second by Ms. Linn.
All members present voted aye and the motion was declared carried.
Time at adjournment was 9:32 a.m.