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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-02-11 Airport Commission SummaryKENAI AIRPORT COMMISSION FEBRUARY 11, 1999 Kenai City Council ~Chambers Tom Thibodeau, Chairman 7:00 P.M. ***AGENDA*** ITEM 1' CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL ITEM 2' AGENDA APPROVAL ITEM 3' APPROVAL OF MINUTES - January 14, 1999 ITEM 4: PERSONS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD ITEM 5' OLD BUSINESS ITEM 6' NEW BUSINESS a. Discussion -- Assignment of Lease/Terminal Building Restaurant ITEM 7: AIRPORT MANAGER'S REPORT ITEM 8: COMMISSIONER COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS ITEM 9' PERSONS NOT SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD ITEM 10- INFORMATION ITEMS a. b, Kenai City Council Meeting Action Agenda -- January 20 and February 3, 1999. 1/99 Kenai Municipal Airport Enplanement Report ITEM 11' ADJOURNMENT REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF KENAI AIRPORT COMMISSION FEBRUARY 11, 1999 - 7:00 P.M. KENAI CITY HALL CHAIRMAN THOMAS THIBODEAU~ PRESIDING ~ MINUTES ~ 1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chairman Thibodeau called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members Present: Tom Thibodeau, Henry Knackstedt, James Bielefeld, Dan Van Zee, Ron Holloway, Lucy Lorenzen Members Absent: Bob Favretto ® Also Present: Airport Manager Steve Atha, Councilman Ray Measles, Contract Secretary Victoria Askin APPROVAL OF AGENDA KNACKSTEDT MOVED TO APPROVE THE AGENDA. MOTION SECONDED BY HOLLOWAY. THE AGENDA WAS APPROVED AS WRITTEN. ® APPROVAL OF MINUTES Regular Meeting of January 14, 1999. KNACKSTEDT MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JANUARY 14~ 1999. MOTION SECONDED BY HOLLOWAY. MINUTES WERE APPROVED AS WRITTEN. 5. PERSONS SCHEDULED TO BE HEARD- None 6. OLD BUSINESS- None 7. NEW BUSINESS Discussion - Assignment of Lease/Terminal Building Restaurant. Airport Manager Atha reported the present operator of the airport restaurant, Ron Middleton, had given notice to terminate his lease. Gary and Susan Schnelting were working with Middleton and they reached an agreement for assumption of the lease. Atha noted, the Scheltings were present at the meeting to answer any questions. He added, the lease assumption would require council approval and was being brought before the Commission for its consideration and recommendation. Atha added, assumption of this lease is allowed with written approval of the Council and a AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1999 PAGE 1 formal motion would be needed to recommend the action occur. He noted, the lease would run for another two years. Thibodeau asked the Schneltings what their plans were for the restaurant. Schnelting replied, they really like the Kenai area and explained, from his own experiences traveling, he thought it was important to get a good home-cooked meal. He noted Middleton focused his business on coffee sales and that was not their expertise. Thibodeau asked Schnelting if he had a background in the food and beverage service. Schnelting answered affirmatively and noted he and his parents owned and operated a bar/restaurant in Missouri. He added, Mrs. Schnelting had experience as well. Schnelting explained, they would offer a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu and would offer home-cooked meals in a family-type restaurant. Additionally, they are looking to the high school population for additional help as required. Van Zee stated he has watched the restaurant since 1991 and it has never succeeded. There are numerous reasons, i.e. very little time is required to be spent at the airport, flight schedules are close together, and one-hour advance check-in is not required. In his opinion, if the restaurant was going to make it at the airport, a reason needs to be found to entice people to come to the airport. Travelers are not going to support it; they don't have a reason to stay. He stated he has seen a coffee and doughnut shop and a full-service restaurant, and neither have succeeded. Mrs. Schnelting stated they felt targeting the community and then travelers would be the way to make the restaurant successful. They are investigating hosting "Jazz nights" and billing the restaurant as a place for families to have a good home-cooked meal and relaxing evening. Van Zee stated he was aware the Council wants a restaurant in the airport and asked if there is anything the airport can do to entice people to the restaurant. Atha answered, the restaurant doesn't have a visual face to either the airport area or outside and management is looking at ways to market the restaurant and gift shop. One advantage the Kenai Airport has is no paid short-term parking. Administration is budgeting some money for advertising. Van Zee further noted the coffee specialty would have probably worked better somewhere else in the airport. Knackstedt asked if there was any property along Willow or Airport Way where a sign could be put up for the general public to AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1999 PAGE 2 ® Knackstedt asked if there was any property along Willow or Airport Way where a sign could be put up for the general public to see. Atha answered, he would ask and see if there was a place where signs could be put up away from the airport. Knackstedt went on to state he doesn't want to see signs plastered everywhere, but didn't see a problem with a tastefully done sign advertising what is at the airport. HOLLOWAY MOVED TO APPROVE THE ASSUMPTION OF THE AIRPORT RESTAURANT LEASE BY MR. AND MRS. GARY SCHNELTING. VAN ZEE SECONDED THE MOTION. MOTION UNANIMOUSLY PASSED. AIRPORT MANAGER'S REPORT Airport Manager Atha reported they are putting together an advertising budget to include in next year's budget. Much of the population is not aware of what the airport has to offer. They are also looking to fly-in traffic. He added, he will be asking the Commission to brainstorm what can be done to attract businesses, interest, and possibly air service. Atha noted enplanements were down. He will be meeting with ERA to discuss the issue next week. He added, it was a difficult issue because one of the things Kenai enjoys is a lot of daily flights. Communities the size of Kenai around the U.S. don't have this number of flights. One of the problems is everyone wants to get on a jet but then the same number of seats are available but only on three flights per day. Businessmen can leave every hour and it is easy to make connections in Anchorage to get anywhere. ERA is acquiring some larger aircraft so the public will have to be aware of what could potentially be given up going to the larger planes. He stated he will be discussing with ERA their game plan, what their equipment acquisition schedule is, and what their plans are for the Kenai Peninsula. Atha reported they are meeting with the FAA next week on issues concerning firefighting which is a long-standing issue and involves fire trucks from the Willow Street station having to cross the street, enter through a gate and, by regulation, to the center point of the farthest runway. He added, presently they are just barely making response times. A minor problem, such as a frozen gate or a lot of vehicles in the area, can cause the response time to not be met, causing the FAA a great deal of concern. Knackstedt asked which gate they go through now. Atha answered they go right across the street from the Fire Department. Knackstedt stated if they go through the FBO gate, there is a second gate that is usually locked and suggested access needed to be more clearly defined to help with the response times. AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1999 PAGE 3 Se Thibodeau noted as the community grows, the police/fire station will potentially become too small and the fire station could potentially be put in the airport area. Atha answered, that was one of the solutions and the FAA will push for a dedicated fire station at the airport which will be very expensive. Thibodeau thought there would be a lot of advantages to a fire station that did both residential and the airport. He added, the fire fighters would stay actively trained and able to deal with an intense situation more calmly. Atha stated, he had seen it work with a fire station shared between the airport and the community, keeping costs down for both the community and airport. Atha reported moose are a bigger problem this year than in the past. Some of the backyard fencing had been damaged or taken down. Some residential buildings along Willow have enough gaps the moose are getting through. The issue will ultimately need to be addressed as traffic increases, not only keeping moose out, but people as well. Atha added, the Airport was submitting a snow removal equipment grant request. The federal funding this year was only for six months. New regulations require returning unused money at the end of the funded period. In years past, it could be carried over to the next year. The request must be done by March and is for a snow removal broom. Copies of the paperwork have already gone to FAA. The rest of the entitlement money available to the airport will be going to finish off funding for the fire fighting school. There is still some money that has to come out of City coffers or will be reimbursed by this grant and deplete all the entitlement money for that six-month period. Holloway asked if the broom was a self-propelled unit. Atha answered it is self-propelled and could also be used as a blower. The equipment will be acquired through the state acquisition program, thus saving some money. Finally, Atha reported he had an APOA tape on local airports he received from Mayor Williams that he will show at the conclusion of the meeting to anyone interested in reviewing it. COMMISSIONERS' COMMENTS / QUESTIONS Commissioner Van Zee commended the Airport Administration on resolution of the snow removal problems in the rental car lots. Commissioner Knackstedt noted Kenai Aviation Services, not to be confused with Kenai Air, is on the foreclosure list for three different properties. He noted, it seemed they are on the list every year and wondered if administration was aware of it. Knackstedt added, they have until March 10 to become current. Atha stated he wasn't up to speed on the Alaska way but was aware Kenai Aviation Services was on the list. AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1999 PAGE 4 Commissioner Knackstedt asked about the airport regulations and their future revision and update. Atha stated they have started collectin§ formats and examples from other places. He added, he felt the regulations were an area in which the Commission should guide and give input. General discussion ensued regarding doing certain things differently and how best to address reviewin§ and chart§lng the regulations. Consensus was reached to review a section or two per meeting and not try to take the whole thin§ on at once. 9. INFORMATION Kenai City Council Meeting Action Agendas - January 20 and February 3, 1999. 10. ADJOURNMENT HOLLAND MOVED TO ADJOURN. MOTION SECONDED BY KNACKSTEDT. MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:41 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Victoria Askin Contract Secretary AIRPORT COMMISSION MEETING FEBRUARY 11, 1999 PAGE 5