Berlin Airport Authority
February 27, 2007
Present were Chair Robert Danderson, Commissioners Lafleur, Lamontagne, Roy. Eric Kaminsky, Joel Hirst from AV Fuel, Lee Dube, Al Cayouette, and Patrick MacQueen were also present
Minutes
Commissioner Lafleur moved to accept the minutes of the previous meeting; Commissioner Lamontagne seconded and the motion carried
Financials
Commissioner Lafleur questioned the equipment maintenance account and found that it is mostly expenses related to the fuel truck. Commissioner Lafleur moved to accept the financials; Commissioner Roy seconded and the motion carried.
AV Marketing Plan
Joel Hirst thanked the BAA for putting him on the agenda. He acknowledged that AV Fuel was awarded a three year agreement to provide fuel to the Berlin Municipal Airport in November of 2005. In 2006, 36,000 gallons of fuel was provided by AV and AV Insurance also made several insurance plans available to the airport for liability coverage, resulting in a savings. The previous sales representative presented a bid for the fuel and a marketing support plan for the airport. The salesperson has since left the company and it is the intent of AV to follow through.
Mr. Hirst presented an agenda for marketing the airport. In March 2007 there will be a web site feature. Each component will go to Eric for his sign-off approval. They will do an insert about the airport with fuel statements. In the fall there will be a feature in the newsletter and an e-mail burst. For every gallon of fuel the airport purchases, half a cent goes to a coop fund that helps to pay for advertising. With that, the airport's brochure could be updated with the current logos.
Mr. MacQueen asked what went wrong and Mr. Hirst commented that the previous salesperson had the responsibility of bringing the marketing forward to the marketing department. Commissioner Lamontagne noted that there could be a link to the Milan web site as well.
Alternatives to the Master Plan
Mr. Kaminsky indicated that the airport's Master Plan is still in its draft from and he feels the plan is deficient in some areas. The ILS approach is studied; however nothing else is reviewed. There should be additional information to the ILS such as optimizing the current approach system, optimizing infrastructure, as well as adding another row of hangars. Reviewing options regarding the property on the other side of the runway as it relates to zoning and working with the Town need to be considered and outlined in the Master Plan.
Mr. Kaminsky established that he was able to get the feasibility study for the Whitefield airport. There is a gps/LPV system that is in the developmental stage and it does not require the same ground expectations as the ILS. Oest is going to add to the Master Plan and will be having another meeting.
Mr. Kaminsky stated that there are more planes equipped with ILS components than with the gps; however the technology is likely not far off. The gps approach is not a precision approach. The Master Plan will lay out the direction of the airport for the next 15 to 20 years. Mr. MacQueen reasoned that the Master Plan has been going on for two years and we are paying Oest to get the information to answer critical questions. The Master Plan was lost in the discussion about the ILS.
Chair Danderson commented that it is important to find out what we can and cant do with airport property. We dont want to put money into something if we are limited in what we can do. It becomes a country club airport. Mr. Kaminsky defended the airport saying that it serves the entire north country, military, presidential candidates, search and rescue. Chair Danderson stated that Berlin is paying the price and no other community is; Berlin is coming to the point where we wont be able to pay the price.
Mr. MacQueen acknowledged that the Berlin Airport provides an asset to the region. It could be self supporting tomorrow. The Master Plan needs to outline what our goals are and how to attract new people.
Commissioner Roy asked what it would take to make the airport self sufficient? Mr. MacQueen noted that any expansion or new tenants could have a higher lease agreement. Mr. Kaminsky added that there are not a lot of revenue generating opportunities. The BAA has already implemented a no fuel discounts policy.
Airport Managers Report
Mr. Kaminsky reported that the smoke stacks at the pulp mill are not lit and he has had a pilot inquire about whether it is an FAA mandate to light them. With the assistance of the State, a letter was drafted and sent to the FAA. It will be up to the FAA to follow up with NADC.
Campaign season is in full swing and there have been inquiries from the Mitt Romney and Rudy Guliani campaigns about flying in to the Berlin Airport. Chair Danderson asked if the airport's landing fees are typical and Mr. Kaminsky indicated that they are and the fee is waived if the pilot buys fuel.
Winter operations have been tough on the equipment this year. There have been many broken things that needed to be fixed.
The FAA did an inspection of the airport last week and it resulted in their wanting to build us a maintenance building.
Commissioner Lafleur moved to accept the Manager's Report; Commissioner Lamontagne seconded and the motion carried.
Public Comments
Lee Dube commented that the folks who showed up at the ILS meeting in December have studied the plan. They have a letter from the FAA to the citizens saying that improvement on the approach would be so minimal it would not be worth the money. When letters of support for the ILS were gathered from local businesses, Milan residents took notice.
Mr. MacQueen explained that the State and Oest have been pushing to get the ILS and it was apparent that, under current conditions, it would not be funded. The reason to approach the businesses was to get the funding.
Al Cayouette stated that the neighbors took all the information from the master plan provided to them and the original ILS plan was to take 10 homes.
Chair Danderson stated that the process was necessary to gather all the facts.
Commissioner Roy moved to adjourn; Commissioner Lamontagne seconded and the motion carried. The meeting ended at 8:15 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
| 
