Documents & Links:
Additional Documents:
- Call to Order
- Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance
- Approval of Minutes – September 9, 2021
- Project Update
- US Customs & Border Protection Office Interior Remodel
- Runway 13/31 Rehab (temporarily paused)
- Main Ramp Resurfacing
- Public Works Lift Station Rehab
- FY 2022 Hangar Design
- Airport Manager Update
- November Meeting Date (Reschedule or Cancel due to Veterans Day Holiday)
- City Commission – Airport Impacts/Issues
- Cracker Barrel Amendment 6 Follow-Up
- New Business
- Adjournment
PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES NEEDING ASSISTANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF THESE PROCEEDINGS SHOULD CONTACT THE HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICE, ADA COORDINATOR, 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING AT 352-728-9740
Attendance: Tweet Coleman
Alan Reisman
Bo Wroten
Call to Order
Chairman Alan Reisman called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.
Bo Wroten gave the invocation and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of Minutes from September 9, 2021
Tweet Coleman made a motion to approve the minutes from the September 9, 2021 meeting. Bo Wroten seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
Project Update
US Customs and Border Protection Interior Remodel: Jack Thompson from GAI said this project is close to being done. The cameras are working and the doors can be locked. The key pads and swipe system should be in sometime in November. They have issued a change order to change out the type of lock on one of the doors. They moved in some furniture and set up TV’s today. Locks will need to be re-keyed before handing the building over. US Customs has agreed to take occupancy before everything is done as long as certain conditions are met. We are down to the final items of their requirements. The lease on the temporary office trailer has been extended for one more month to allow time for final inspections and to move everything out of the trailer and into the building. Customs will be out of service for a few days during the transition between sites. Those dates have not been set yet. When the dates are known, a notice will be sent out.
RW 13/31 Rehab (paused): Wilbur Mathurin from Hoyle Tanner said there is no change to this project. It is still is paused. They are working with the contractor, CW Roberts, to get a timeframe for the remaining work. They are hoping to have it done the week of January 10th. That will wrap up the project.
Main Ramp Resurfacing: Jack Thompson from GAI said the City Commission has approved the contracts for additional grant funding, construction (CW Roberts) and administration (GAI). The grant document has been sent back to FDOT for their final approval and execution. Once that is done, GAI will set up the pre-construction meeting with CW Roberts and get the start date established. They will then be able to coordinate with the airport tenants that will be affected by this work.
Bo Wroten asked what the turn-around time usually is from FDOT. Jack Thompson said since FDOT now allows electronic signatures, the process normally only takes one to two weeks.
Public Works Lift Station Rehab: Airport Manager (AM) Dean said she has been working with Chad Conklin (who is managing this project for Public Works) to work out the final issues. He expects to have everything fully completed next week. The wet well has a weld that needs to be repaired and they also have a plan for the areas that washed out in recent rains. They will fix the washed-out spots and will re-hydroseed the areas that washed away. A silt fence will be installed and left in place until the seed takes, so it won’t be washed away again.
Hangar Design – FY 22: AM Dean noted that at the joint workshop with the City Commission that was held in August, a decision was made to go ahead and design new hangars in FY 22 and pay for that work with airport revenue rather than waiting for grant funding. The proposed site is about three acres and is near the current city hangars north of Airport Boulevard. Two options are being considered. The first includes two rows of box hangars – one on the south end and one on the north end – with two rows of t-hangars in the middle. The second option has one row of box hangars on the north side, two rows of t-hangars in the middle and one row of commercial/maintenance hangars on the south side. The commercial hangars will include amenities such as restrooms and an oil/water separator. Option two is more expensive because it incorporates three different types of hangars versus two. The cost difference is about $23,000.
Chairman Reisman said he prefers option two. The commercial hangars would be good to use as an incubator or for current airport businesses that need to expand. He thinks the additional expense is worth it. Bo Wroten agreed
Bo Wroten made a motion to accept Option 2. Tweet Coleman seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
Chairman Reisman asked if this will affect the budget. AM Dean said it will not. She was able to make some adjustments at the end of the budget process so most of the needed funds are already included.
Ed England asked if the commercial hangars will include 3-phase electric. AM Dean said they can look at that. She noted that the construction will have to be done in phases so she does not know which bank(s) of hangars will be built first. Jack Thompson noted that starting with the hangars closest to the road and building north from there is the best process because it lessens the impact construction may have on tenants who may move into these new buildings. He noted it is best to get all infrastructure in place first. However, those decisions will be largely dependent on grant funding.
Bo Wroten asked if the plans for the recently built box hangars can be re-used to same some costs. Jack Thompson said the new box hangars will probably be a different size, but they will re-use the specs whenever possible. Chairman Reisman asked if parking can be incorporated behind the existing building. AM Dean said they can look into that. Among other things, they have to consider pervious vs. impervious surfaces when looking at parking areas. Jack Thompson said there are also a lot of buried utilities in that area. He noted they are envisioning small individual parking areas behind each of the commercial units in the new hangars.
AM Dean advised she plans to take the Task Order for the hangar design to the City Commission in November.
Airport Manager Update
- November AAB Meeting
AM Dean said the regular date for the November AAB meeting falls on November 11th, which is Veterans Day. The City is closed that day. She would like the Board to either pick a date to reschedule the November meeting or just cancel it. By consensus, the Board members agreed to cancel the November meeting. AM Dean said she will send out a project update around the usual meeting date to keep everyone current on the airport projects. Proper notices will be posted advising of the cancellation.
- City Commission – Airport Impacts/Issues
Cracker Barrel Lease Amendment 6: AM Dean said at the September meeting the Board asked staff to have Cracker Barrel provide financial statements. AM Dean made that request and Cracker Barrel said they would provide them, but only if the City signed a NDA and only if the elected officials were the only ones allowed to review them. That request could not be honored due to Florida public records rules.
The proposed lease was placed on the October 11th City Commission agenda for their review. The Commission did not approve it. She has advised Cracker Barrel of that decision and it is waiting to hear back from them. The deadline for them to terminate the lease is December 2nd. If she does not hear from them by then, the lease will automatically renew under the current terms.
Airport Entrances: AM Dean said over the past couple weeks the Public Works Department has had contractors look at the entrance. She has not received any info on those assessments yet. They have also scheduled a review of the entrance as well as the pond by an invasive plant specialist from Florida Fish & Wildlife. She does know that the side of the pond by the Administration Building will have to be stabilized with a wall or rip rap. To improve the appearance of that area, they may consider a cascading plant of some type to cover the stabilizing material. Wilco Drive itself is on the list for street repair work. As part of that, they may do a partial driveway entrance into the vacant lot. They will also remove the wire running along the road and possibly add additional plantings.
AM Dean noted that several months ago she had FDOT move the green airport sign on 441 so it is now north of Echo. That has helped with directing people to the Wilco entrance and she has received fewer “stuck behind the gate” calls.
Along Echo Drive she had the banner poles painted and new banner signage installed with the current City logo and an airplane below it. They look much nicer. She is also working with Pubic Works to see about doing some plantings in the divided median.
Chairman Reisman asked what the next steps are. AM Dean said she needs to find out the results of Public Works’ discussions with the contractors. Before anything is done at the Wilco entrance such as brick columns, she suggested seeing how it can be improved with landscaping and determining how effective that is in highlighting it as the main entrance.
Chairman Reisman asked for the status on the two gates that are still not working as a result of the lightning strike a couple months ago. AM Dean she has been keeping in touch with the contractor and he is still waiting for parts that are needed to complete the repairs. Gate 9 needs a stainless-steel chain which is delayed due to metal supply chain issues. The timelines on receiving that is unknown. The parts needed for the East Gate should be in within a couple weeks.
New Business
There was no new business to discuss.
Adjournment
Bo Wroten made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Tweet Coleman and the meeting adjourned at 6:00pm.
Alan Reisman
Chairman
Pam Hester
Recorder