Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Airport Board - 11/12/2008 REGULAR MEETING MINUTE —66 CORPUS CMUSTI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT BO EC EIVED 't 1000 INTERNATIONAL DRIVE 4� AVIATION BOARD ROOM FEB 1 0 2010 INTERNATIONAL 1 CORPUS CHRISTI,TEXAS 1NT6RNA710NAL AIRPORT NOVEMBER 12,2008,3:30 P.M. �� BOARD MEMBERS we�Jlu Ed Hicks, Sr., Chairman Don Feferman, Vice-chairman William Dodge,Member Jay Wise,Member Sam Susser,Member J.C. Ayala,Member George Fisher,Member AIRPORT STAFF Fred Segundo, Director of Aviation Enrique Castillo,Asst. Director of Aviation Adelle Ives,Management Assistant Esmeralda Salazar,Management Assistant Roy Rodriguez,Facilities Manager Mario Tapia,Finance&Admin Manager Carl Gross,Operations Manager John Hyland,Chief of Public Safety Gary Williams,Aviation Maint. Manager Elizabeth Hundley,Legal Department I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Hicks at 3:30 p.m. A quorum was present. U. Approval of the minutes for the October 8,2008,regular meeting of the Airport Board Chair Hicks called for approval of the October meeting minutes. Board member Dodge moved to approve the minutes as written. Board member Fisher seconded and the motion carried. III. Approval of Board member absences for the October 8,2008 Board meeting Board member Ayala was the only member absent from the October 8a' Board Meeting. Board member Ayala had contacted staff that he would not be attending due to medical reasons. Chair Hicks requested that a motion be made to excuse Board member Ayala. Vice-chair Feferman moved and Board member Susser seconded. The motion carried. IV. Public Comment Bruce Trimmier, Station Manager for Southwest Airlines, introduced himself to the Board and announced that the December Southwest flight schedule would be reducing flights from 6 to 5 daily. He reported that the 7:40 p.m. departure will be eliminated. He explained that this particular flight that runs from Houston to Dallas has not been doing well for several years and currently operates with 10 to 20 passengers on a daily basis. This flight will be reinstated in the January schedule but will be eliminated again in March, 2009. He added that the load factors on the remaining Southwest flights are great and mentioned possible non-stops past Houston. He also added that these changes were based on the economy. He added he brief the Board on any further changes in the future. Chair Hicks thanked Mr.Trimmier for his comment. V. Discussion regarding recent Attorney General Opinion(GA-0668) Chair Hicks turned the meeting over to City Legal Council, Elizabeth Hundley, regarding the Attorney General's Opinion. She asked the Board to refer to the packet enclosed in the members' meeting binders. Ms. Hundley explained the opinion regarding the allowable responses from the Board to public comment. The Board may only respond with a statement of factual information in response to the comment, or a recitation of statement of policy or a request to place the item on a future agenda for discussion. Discussion followed regarding this subject. Director Segundo asked that if a Board member has a matter to discuss, they can contact staff to place the topic on the next agenda for discussion. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda November 12,2007 Page 2 of 3 1. Discussion of Director's Report a. Status update of Airfield Projects ➢ West GA Apron&Drainage Phase V Construction Director Segundo reported that this project is complete and moving on to the next phase of drainage projects and taxiway rehab. b. Status update of Facility Projects ➢ FIS Redesign Director Segundo reported that staff is moving forward in the modification of the current FIS area. He also mentioned that Southwest has teamed up with Volaris in code-sharing which would mean international flights coming to CCIA. He added that these flights use 737 & MD80 aircrafts. These aircraft hold larger numbers of passengers and using the current FIS area will make it difficult to get through screening in its present layout. He stated that he will be meeting with the Houston rep for Customs & Border Protection along with Edith Clarke, Port Director, next week to walk-through the FIS area to see what expansion possibilities are available. He added that the Houston rep will be the point-of-contact once CCIA begins to make modifications to the FIS area. This rep has been instrumental in the changes made to FIS areas in El Paso and Laredo. Board member Susser questioned why only 50 passengers could be handled in the present FIS area per hour. Director Segundo responded that the original design for this area was to accommodate 50 passengers per hour. He added that the majority of the area is office space and the baggage handling area is very small along with the fact that there is not much queuing area in the immigration area. Board member Susser asked whether the area could be re-designed within the present space to accommodate a larger number of passengers per hour. Director Segundo stated that the area could be expanded to accommodate between 150-200 passengers per hour. Board member Susser questioned why this area was designed for such a small number of passengers. Asst. Director Castillo interjected that at the time the area was designed, international flight were using fleets of RJ's and ATR's which arc small capacity aircrafts. He continued by stating the international traffic has increased in so much that larger aircraft are necessary. Director Segundo also commented that there are also several design flaws which need to be remedied to meet security regulations. He added that staff is attempting to streamline the area to get bigger flights. Board member Susser questioned whether this redesign was necessary to obtain international flights. Director Segundo felt that it was necessary to accomplish this redesign as quickly as possible to obtain international flights. He added that Aladia was interested in bringing a flight from Cancun to CCIA last summer, but the facility could not handle the number of passengers their flights handled. Director Segundo feels that once the area is redesigned and expanded to service larger number of passengers, international air service will come to CCIA. Chair Hicks questioned whether Board members have had an opportunity to tour the FIS area and the ATCT tower. Director Segundo stated a tour for those Board members that were interested would be set up before the December meeting. Staff will be contacting the membership regarding this item. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda November 12, 2007 Page 3 of ➢ Terminal Roof Replacement Director Segundo reported to the Board that the terminal roof is to be replaced to meet wind certification and hopes that it will be completed before the next hurricane season. Chair Hicks mentioned that since the terminal is a new building,he questioned whether there was a warranty on the roof. Director Segundo stated that the part of the roof to be replaced is the older part and not part of the new construction of the terminal. The rooms in that area are part of the new construction, but the roof is not. He added due to the heavy leaking of that older roof area, this project has been added to the Capital Budget to take care of this problem. He added it would cost approximately$100,000 to complete this project. c. Status update of Business Development ➢ T-Hangars Director Segundo reported that staff has received a letter of intent for an initial 12 t- hangars and an eventual 24 t hangars from investors from Mexico. Staff is awaiting their financial information before negotiating a ground-lease agreement. ➢ Rental Car Lease/QTA Director Segundo stated that CCIA staff, together with the Purchasing & Legal Department, is working to respond to approximately 280 questions presented by the RAC companies in order to get the amendment out. He felt that within two weeks of completion of the responses to these questions,the proposals will be due. ➢ Executive Lounge Director Segundo stated that staff is working on getting estimates for this area. He is concemed on the funding for this re-design and may look into getting sponsorship for this area. This topic is still in the concept phase and he will be brief the Board on any updates. Board member Susser questioned whether there is a driving need for this project. Director Segundo responded that this project is more customer service oriented. d. Status update on Air Service Development ➢ AllegiantlAladia/Mexicana Packages Director Segundo reported that Asst. Director Castillo will be putting packages together for Allegiant, Aladia and Mexicana Airlines by December. He felt that Allegiant would be the best airline to approach. He also added that Max Millionaire is currently flying scheduled flights from CCIA to Nevada gambling sites and he will be making contact with them to expand their service. He will brief the Board on any headway made with these airlines. Director Segundo reported that air service development is strained in all markets and keeping existing service will be a key issue. In talking with the airlines, keeping the cost of enplaning passengers is vital to keeping the industry going both here and nationwide. Discussion was heard on various items on this topic. Corpus Christ!International Airport Board Agenda November 12, 2007 Page 4 of 5 e. Status update on Marketing and Promotion ➢ La Palmera Partnership Director Segundo reported staff is partnering up with La Pahnera Mall on a green initiative. Staff will be working with the mall in utilizing an information booth for the airport, as well as,permitting for the recycling company to be used by the mall and the airport. This partnering will also include in-kind advertising for both the Airport and the Mall to capture the international market. ➢ Status on PR&Marketing position selection Due to Ms. Gazin's position vacancy, staff will be interviewing for this position in the corning month. He hopes that a replacement will be found by the end of December. ➢ Recycling Program Director Segundo continued his discussion on the Airport's recycling program which is on Phase 3. This program also includes all tenants and airlines. So far, the program has recycled 6,800 lbs of paper within these last two months. f: Airport Council Agenda Items Update ➢ Taxiway Rehab Change Orders Director Segundo reported that this item is actually an appropriation of funding. In talking to the US Coast Guard, their project will not begin construction until 2010. With that in mind, he anticipates using the funding from that grant to use for the new Maintenance Building design and construction. This council item will appropriate $778,503. g. Monthly Financial Report ➢ Airport Monthly Revenue and Expenditure Report Director Segundo reported that enplanements for the month of October were down 8.7%, approximately 3,300 passengers. He is optimistic that with the price of fuel decreasing the airlines will start a program of discounted tickets in time for the holiday travel. Director Segundo added only 600 enplanements were from PHI and that he had initially anticipated 1,600. PHI is still looking to relocate to Corpus Christi. CCREDC has contacted PHI regarding incentives to relocate their business to Corpus Christi. He added that PHI is rebuilding Galveston, but he is not sure as to what extent they will rebuild. Director Segundo reported that DHL has announced that it will be eliminating all domestic service. He stated that he has contacted their office locally and added they are not sharing information on this decision as yet. Director Segundo also reported that the financial reports reflect 16 days of revenue loss during the last hurricane. He added that only 25% of loss revenues have been re- captured. He reported that there will be budgets cuts implemented and he is hopeful that the holidays will bring an increase in revenues. Corpus Christi International Airport Board Agenda November 12, 2007 Page 5 of 5 Board member Susser questioned what revenue is received from oil &gas. Mario Tapia, Finance Manager, responded that approximately $10,000 to $11,000 has been received per month. He expects that there will be a slight increase during the winter months with the increase use of natural gas. Chair Hicks questioned whether any further steps have been taken in seeking non- aeronautical revenue. Director Segundo responded that several projects, especially the US Border Patrol facility, are being pursued vigorously as it will generate revenue on ground leasing. Director Segundo added that he anticipates receiving $3.2 million in the next budget year from FAA funding of future airport projects. VII. Discussion and Action on future Discussion Items Chair Hicks called for the board's input of future discussion items. Vice-chair Feferman asked that staff consider using survey cards and a welcoming announcement from the Mayor on the public address system within the terminal. These are some items he had experienced at his last visit to Colorado Springs' airport. Director Segundo responded that staff had proposed doing something of that nature but in the form of video. Vice-chair Feferman also questioned whether audio advertising revenue had been considered by staff. Director Segundo stated this is something that staff is reviewing along with Inner-space, the Airport's advertising agent. Board member Fisher asked that all members and staff be noted as present on the meeting minutes masthead as well as having a notation on the number of absences each member has on record. Board member Fisher suggested that an alternative idea to increasing revenue would be to have a casino-district in or around the Corpus Christi area He felt that this single factor would increase travel revenue as well as other related travel and leisure industries in Corpus Christi. He asked that this Board recommend this issue to the Council. Chair Hicks stated that this type of initiative would need to come from Austin and did not feel that a proposal from this Board would be affective. Chair Hicks asked that this item be placed on the December agenda for discussion. VIII. Adjournment As there was no further business, Chair Hicks called for a motion to adjourn. Board member Dodge moved to adjourn. Vice-chair Feferman seconded and the motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 4:35 p.m.