Grosse Ile Municipal Airport

Airport Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes – February 19, 2009

GROSSE ILE AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE GROSSE ILE TOWNSHIP HALL 1st FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2009

REGULAR MEETING – 3:15 p.m.

PRESENT: Alan Anderson (Chairman), Jim Johnson, Pam Broomall, Peter Kantz (CPC Liaison), Mark Glovis (arrived late)

ALSO PRESENT: Derek Thiel (Airport Commerce Park Manager), Angelo Pizzo, Tim Kramer

1. Call to Order: Anderson called the meeting to order at 3:30 p.m. in the Grosse Ile Township Hall 1st Floor Conference Room.

2. Roll Call:

All members present

3. Approval of Agenda – additions/deletions:

Johnson moved to approve the Agenda as submitted with support from Broomall. All ayes. Motion carried.

4. Approval/Correction to Minutes – Regular Meeting of December 11, 2008 Broomall moved to approve the regular meeting minutes of December 11, 2008 with the following changes:  “Discussion items, last paragraph, add “and could lead to port of entry discussions.””  Page 4 item 8 “Al Anderson made the comment in this section not Angelo Pizzo,”

Support from Johnson as amended. All ayes. Motion carried.

5. Discussion Items: A. Border Discussion Update Anderson: Stated he had talked to Craig Spence with AOPA. Stated that he was working with Craig to try to push the issue through. Stated he has been having a problem with the FAA and the stonewalling their bureaucrats had been doing. Stated that the key issue was to resolve the issues associated with the cross border procedures. Stated wanted to get a document that can be shown to pilots that outlines the cross border procedure that is currently being utilized. Stated the four issues that could be resolved by this letter are:

1 Airport Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes – February 19, 2009

 Stated standard pattern takes you across the border. DHS has said this is not an issue. Stated there are CFI’s on the field that are telling their students to not use the standard pattern because of the border crossing issue.  Stated that the area that can be utilized by the pilots at GIMA is very limited because of Fermi, Detroit Edison and DTW. Thus, the area east of the Airport (Canada) allows for safe flying without the various restrictions associated with South, West, and North of the Airport provide.  Stated that aircraft leaving GIMA to areas such as Put-In-Bay usually travel through Canadian airspace  Practicing IFR approaches at Windsor is convenient for GIMA pilots so limitations on crossing the border into Canada would hurt this activity. Anderson: Stated that where we left it in December and that is where we would be picking it up. Kramer: Stated that a lot of times this is handled by Memorandum of Agreements. Anderson: Stated that this was one way that we could proceed with resolving this issue and this method was already being utilized for Windsor approach. Broomall: Asked what the next step would be. Thiel: Stated Anderson and he had a phone meeting set up with her for Monday.

B. Lionberger Replacement: Al Anderson: Stated he would contact Dr. Bixler regarding the vacancy and see if he still had interest in the vacancy. Commented that Rick did a great job for the Commission. C. Mich. Aviation Conference Thiel: Thanked the Committee for their help with the event. Stated that the Conference seemed to be less attended than last year as well as there seemed to be less exhibitors. Stated that he believed it was still a success. Stated that the main interest in the Airport was as a destination for entertainment, lodging, and dining. Stated 3,300 people attended the event this year. Broomall: Agreed with Thiel stated that it seemed that there were the same number of attendees but not as many exhibitors. Anderson: Stated that he attended the FAA/AOPA presentation at the event. Stated he sat next to the AOPA Vice President. Stated that he talked at the meeting regarding the border, and that we were one of the only Airports in the area that was working with the FAA/DHS regarding this issue. Stated that if this issue worked out to the Airport’s advantage it could be a good opportunity for the Airport to advance usage/fuel sales/etc. Stated that he had made contact at the show with one individual whom showed interest in opening a part 135 operations at Grosse Ile.

D. FBO Status Thiel: Stated that Rick Shirmer had approached the Airport office and informed the Airport that he was no longer interested in renting the hangar from the Township. Stated that he would like to remain an FBO but not keep the Hangar as a rented facility. Thiel: Stated that this was not an issue except for the fact that without the Hangar he would not be required to maintain a hangar keeper’s policy. State that if he did not maintain a hangar keeper’s policy he would not be able to fuel or move aircraft so the Airport would be required to provide that service by hiring an employee to do the work. Stated that if the Airport hired an employee to do this work they would then be covered under the Airport’s insurance policy. Stated the current tenants in Hangar 2 would become the Airport’s tenants. Johnson: Inquired as to Steve Paone’s business on the field. Thiel: Stated that he cannot rent Steve space for his business without insurance. Pizzo: Stated that he believed it was a very creative solution to the problem. Asked about heating the hangar. Thiel: Stated that as of right now the hangar would not be heated due to cost.

E. Marketing 2 Airport Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes – February 19, 2009

Anderson: Reviewed the ideas that Glovis had formulated. Glovis: Stated he had been posting on some various forums regarding promoting the Airport. Stated that he believed that being able to offer incentives to pilots to either keep their plane here or visit the Airport would be successful in attracting people not only to the Airport but also the Island. Stated that he wanted to come up with a list of things that we could offer to pilots. Anderson: Stated he believed that this was a great idea and was interested in pursuing it. Johnson: Stated that he would be willing to open up the club on a limited basis for fly in golf. Thiel: Stated that waters edge could take part in the deal as well as maybe some of the restaurants in the area (Sharkys, Airport Inn, etc.). Stated he would take care of trying to get the Tennis Center on board with providing promotional offers. F. T-Hangar/Aircraft Count Thiel: Stated there were 85 total aircraft on the field and 12 open T-Hangars.

6. Action Items A. 2009-2010 Budget Recommendation

Johnson motioned that the Grosse Ile Airport Advisory Committee hereby adopts a resolution of support for the proposed Airfield/Commerce Park budget for fiscal year 2009-2010. Support from Broomall. All Ayes. Motion carried.

Thiel: The following is a resolution of support for the proposed fiscal year 2009-2010 Airfield/Commerce Park budget. The proposed budget will be up for approval at the Township Board’s Annual Meeting, March 28, 2009. A copy of the proposed budget is attached as well as budget history from the past five fiscal years. In this proposed budget the Airport/Commerce Park has shaved approximately $212,245 from expenditures. This primarily came from the transfer of Caryn Johnson to the Township Finance Department and over $150,000 in cuts to discretionary operating expenditures. This budget assumes no revenue from either buildings 61, 62, or 63. I have accounted for the winterization of both facilities in the budget. Obviously because we are required to submit a balanced budget the balance of revenue ($127,755) has been pulled from capital reserves. After our 2.5% share of the taxiway project has been paid to the state, I anticipate having approx. $500,000 in this account. It goes without saying that the $340,000+ in revenue from the loss of Iverson is severely missed. I would like to stress that the Airport is currently operating with a staff of three paid individuals (myself and two maintenance personnel). This is the same airport that four years ago employed seven full time paid employees. I am extremely proud that the Airport continues to function at is current level with these cuts in personnel.

7. Chairman’s Report: Anderson: Stated that the weather observation computer over at Hangar 2 was non-operational. Anderson: Questioned if the Airport office had access to the sleep room in the upstairs of Hangar 2. Expressed his displeasure with it not being available to incoming pilots. Thiel: Stated that he did not have a key to that office. Broomall: Offered to go over to the Hangar and try the multiple keys the Airport office had for that facility. 8. Public Comment (3 minutes): Kramer: Provided favorable comments regarding the plane wash. 8. Roundtable Discussion: No Comments 9. Next Meeting: Next meeting will be set up on an as-needed basis.

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10. Adjournment Glovis moved to adjourn the meeting at 5:00 p.m. with support from Broomall. All ayes.