Alva Airport Commission discusses maintenance, budget

 


In addition to obvious structures like the terminal building, hangars, runways and taxiways, an airport includes a number of electronic features. Maintaining both physical and technical aspects of the airport are part of the extensive job description of Alva Regional Airport Manager Greg Robison.

He told the Alva Airport Commission members Monday that the precision approach path indicator (PAPI) lights are out of alignment. These lights aid pilots in staying on the correct glideslope as they bring their aircraft in for a landing.

Robison said he thought the slope was off and that’s why some of the lights wouldn’t dim. He speculates that when lights were installed years ago, it was not done correctly. Holding rods are supposed to keep the lights correctly positions, but on the north end of the runway, three of the four rods were not positioned correctly. On the south end, all the rods were missing.

Commission Chair Dale Logsdon asked if it’s something Robison might be able to fix himself, obtaining rods and screwing them in place while using a protractor to set the light angle. Robison said he could do some of that but he doesn’t know the correct slope. He said five of the 12 bulbs are also out on the north end. Logsdon suggested he check Federal Aviation Administration regulations to see if he can determine the slope.

During his report, Robison said the avgas truck needs some service. He can’t keep it running and plans to work on it.

Robison said there have been a lot of complaints about the automated weather observing station (AWOS). He checked it and cleaned the nine lenses. He discovered that the lenses should be cleaned once a month.

On Sunday, May 10, Robison replaced the white side of the airport beacon light when he noticed it was out. Then the green side went out and he replaced that. He checked and learned the bulbs should be changed every three years regardless of whether or not they still worked.

The lack of smoothness in the surface of the turf runway has been an ongoing issue. Robison said he called OSU Extension for assistance, and the first thing they wanted was soil samples. It was found the soil was low on phosphorus and nitrogen. With financial help from a donor, he had the runway sprayed for weeds and distributed some dry fertilizer over it.

With the large area involved, mowing is a big task at the airport. Robison said he spent 27 hours on the big tractor alone. That didn’t include the ZTR and weed trimmer. He said it would take ten to twelve hours to finish the mowing. He asked if the commission members would be interested in getting someone in to cut the larger areas for hay. He could still mow around the lights and outer edges of the runway. Logsdon asked him to get more information on that option.

April fuel sales were really down with less travel due to COVID-19, Robison reported. The airport had a total of $10,016.41 in fuel sales with $9,030.41 of that from 100LL and $986.00 from Jet-A. Five nights of overnight hangar rental for $75 and $129.96 plus tax of oil sales added up to $10,233.39 total sales for April.

Jet-A Fuel Pump Repair or Replacement

After approving policies on overdue hangar rental (see separate story), the commission considered two quotes on the Jet-A fuel pump repair or replacement. The quotes differed by over $5,000. Double Check Company quoted $11,838.50 while Hoidale quoted $6,479.63 plus freight.

Hoidale noted that additional charges would apply if the manway cover nuts must be cut off due to the extreme amount of rust and corrosion. There would also be additional cost if they found the installion required other unanticipated work.

Robison said Hoidale does not have an electrician so that would be an additional cost. Double Check included electrical work.

After some discussion, the commission members voted to have Hoidale do the work.

CARES Act Funds

The airport was notified by the FAA district office that Alva Regional qualifies for funds under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Interim City Business Manager Angelica Brady said the commission needed to decide if they want to use the funds for operations of the airport or for a project. She said it would be more complicated if funds are used for something other than operations. Commission members agreed that it would be best to use it for operational costs. This could include repairs to equipment, etc.

No action was needed. Brady just needed their input to finish the paperwork for the funds.

ODALS Bids

Four bids were received for the omni-directional approach light system (ODALS) project. CEC Engineer Toby Baker recommended the contract be awarded to the low bidder Wise Electric Co., Inc. for $194,725. Alva’s portion of the project will be five percent or $9,736.25. The commissioners voted unanimously to approve the Wise bid.

Next Year’s Budget

The city’s new budget year will begin July 1 so all departments are working on budget figures. Brady and Robison put together a proposed budget which was presented Monday night to the airport commission.

Brady said the budget included salaries for one full time employee and one half-time employee with no overtime. The revenue side was an average of recent years.

Kelly Parker pointed out the proposed budget resulted in a negative $10,781 which would require dipping into the reserve fund.

Paul Kinzie said he hated to rely on oil revenue in the budget. That was listed at $60,000, an average of $5,000 per month. He was skeptical the oil revenue would be that much in the current market climate.

Logsdon agreed. He said recent changes approved by the Corporation Commission allow oil companies to completely shut down production until the market improves.

Kinzie also discussed future projects planned at the airport which he said are necessary to keep the airport at its current level. He said he didn’t think the airport should use money that had been set back for these projects to pay for operations.

Robison suggested increasing fuel prices while still staying competitive with other area airports. Kinzie said pilots are already facing a big increase in aircraft insurance with rates expected to increase 20 to 25 percent.

Logsdon said we may be coming to a point where the airport will have to cut services. He said a lot of airports don’t have fuel trucks with aircraft required to taxi to the fuel pumps for fill-ups. He said the hours the airport is manned may have to be cut.

Kinzie again said he wouldn’t count on oil income for next year. He pointed out the money from the CARES Act would help in cutting expenses.

Kinzie suggested Robison and Brady rework the budget figures to leave out oil revenue and cut expenses. Then a special meeting could be held to hash out the final budget.

Parker made a motion to table action on the budget for a special meeting to be held before the next regular airport commission meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

Airport Manager Evaluation

The airport commission went into executive session for the annual evaluation of the airport manager. No action or report was listed for the return to open session. However, Parker said after the meeting that Robison’s evaluation was an “overall favorable review.”

Comments

In board comments, Parker said that Joe Shirley is looking for a half acre to one acre OSU test plot. He approached Parker about using some of the airport land along the highway. This would cut into the agriculture lease, but the individual currently holding the lease has no problem with this. He suggested the airport write this into future lease agreements.

 

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