MINUTES
| AIRPORT COMMISSION WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 17, 2025 |
FLAGSTAFF AIRPORT 6200 S. PULLIAM DRIVE AIRPORT CONFERENCE ROOM 1:30 P.M. |
1.
CALL TO ORDER: Meeting called to order at 1:32 PM December 17th, 2025.
2.
ROLL CALL
City Staff: Lori Matthews, Council Member; Heidi Hansen, Economic Vitality Director; Brian Gall, Airport Director; Adam Miele, Programs Manager; Claire Harper, Airport Communications Manager; Tim Skinner, ARFF/Ops Manager; Miciela Sahner, Adminstratrive Specialist/Recording Secretary
| NOTE: One or more Commission Members may be in attendance telephonically or by other technological means. |
| THOMAS WADDELL, CHAIR, Present NICHOLAS BARRAZA, Present ROBERT CARPENTER, Present |
ROBERT HANOVICH, Present ANDREW SHOUSE, Present CHRIS SPELKE, Present KOLBY WHITE, Late at 1:37 PM |
City Staff: Lori Matthews, Council Member; Heidi Hansen, Economic Vitality Director; Brian Gall, Airport Director; Adam Miele, Programs Manager; Claire Harper, Airport Communications Manager; Tim Skinner, ARFF/Ops Manager; Miciela Sahner, Adminstratrive Specialist/Recording Secretary
3.
PRELIMINARY BUSINESS
A.
Public Comment/Participation/Input
Items presented during the Public Participation/Input portion of the agenda cannot be acted upon by the Commission. Individual members of the Commission may ask questions of the public but are prohibited by the Open Meeting Law from discussion or considering the item among themselves until the item has been officially placed on the agenda.
Items presented during the Public Participation/Input portion of the agenda cannot be acted upon by the Commission. Individual members of the Commission may ask questions of the public but are prohibited by the Open Meeting Law from discussion or considering the item among themselves until the item has been officially placed on the agenda.
None
B.
Announcements
Reconsiderations, Changes to the Agenda, and other Preliminary Announcements.
Reconsiderations, Changes to the Agenda, and other Preliminary Announcements.
Chair Waddell may continue to serve as Chair for the duration of his term, or until he no longer wishes to take on that roll or leaves the commission. Next meeting we will be holding elections for the commissions Vice Chair position. None
C.
Approval of Minutes
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Minutes as submitted.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Minutes as submitted.
Moved by Nicholas Barraza, seconded by Andrew Shouse
Vote: 7 - 0 - Unanimously
D.
City Council Updates
Council Member Matthews tried to join the meeting just after adjournment 2:26 PM but was having issues connecting properly; the sound was intermittent. No Council updates were reported.
4.
Staff Reports
A.
Airport Operation Updates
November’s enplanements were down 4.5% over 2024. We can attribute that to the government shut down, where we had a couple weeks where about 16% of our flights were canceled. Overall, the positive news is we are still trending in an upward direction year-to-date; enplanements are up 4.5% over last year.
Operations were up 3.6% for November and a total of 12.8% year-to-date over 2024. This is a pretty significant uptick with an estimated 10,000 operations over our tending numbers over the last few years.
Parking revenue was down a few $100 last month with an overall growth of 12% for the year. We can attribute this to the lack of flights and lower enplanements due to the government shut down.
Fuel flow was also down 5.5% last month, again attributed to the lack of flights due to the government shut down.
Chair Waddell asked where we are seeing growth in parking use; economy vs terminal lot.
Director Gall responded: We still typically see about a 2:1 ratio of folks parking in the terminal lot over the economy lot. And the use of both lots seems to be growing with the terminal at a faster rate. We tend to see more parking in the economy over the holiday season, with somewhere between 60–65% of the passengers parking in the terminal lot.
Chair Waddell also asked when the new parking rates will go into effect.
Director Gall responded: The new rates were approved by council yesterday. The lost ticket fee and the monthly parking rate will go into effect January 16th, with the rate increase taking effect in July 2026.
Operations were up 3.6% for November and a total of 12.8% year-to-date over 2024. This is a pretty significant uptick with an estimated 10,000 operations over our tending numbers over the last few years.
Parking revenue was down a few $100 last month with an overall growth of 12% for the year. We can attribute this to the lack of flights and lower enplanements due to the government shut down.
Fuel flow was also down 5.5% last month, again attributed to the lack of flights due to the government shut down.
Chair Waddell asked where we are seeing growth in parking use; economy vs terminal lot.
Director Gall responded: We still typically see about a 2:1 ratio of folks parking in the terminal lot over the economy lot. And the use of both lots seems to be growing with the terminal at a faster rate. We tend to see more parking in the economy over the holiday season, with somewhere between 60–65% of the passengers parking in the terminal lot.
Chair Waddell also asked when the new parking rates will go into effect.
Director Gall responded: The new rates were approved by council yesterday. The lost ticket fee and the monthly parking rate will go into effect January 16th, with the rate increase taking effect in July 2026.
B.
FBO Updates
- Wiseman had active football charter season with a majority of Allegiant Airbus 320’s
- Due to the need of visiting aircrafts, Wiseman purchased a new 400 megahertz AC Cart
- Wiseman is fully staffed with many NAU Football players returning to work there
- A new contract has been signed with Enterprise which will keep a certain number of cars available for use at all times.
- Wiseman hosted their holiday party at an outdoor venue in Sedona and rented two railcars in the Verde Railroad with an observation cart
- Military movement has been up with C130’s and a C17 landing here recently.
- Fuel sales are up 15% year-to-date, landing them in the top 3 years since they have opened.
C.
Project and Grant Updates
TSA screening storefront
As discussed in our last meeting, a building permit was issued, and we are tentatively looking at starting early January 2026, right after the new year. This project is broken up into two phases. We are putting two different doors into that system, a wide double door and a single-man door. Phase one will be the single-man door which will be prepped for a card reader that will allow personnel to their badging for gaining access to the sterile area. Phase two is a double door which will act similar to what we used to have with the coil door and will be the main entrance for passengers through the screening.
This project is being completed in two phases as it will be completed while the TSA checkpoint is still open and this will allow operations to continue as normal through one door or the other during the duration of the project. This project is expected to take one month to complete and we expect to be fully operational by the end of January. As it stands right now, the cost for this project is $69,000.
Snow Removal Equipment Building
This project is broken up into three different grant phases; phase one and phase two of the funding with the FAA has been completed. Phase three is our discretionary funding which is currently under final review with possible determination as early as January 31st.
We are still meeting with the designers and the contractors and plan to be working on revisions to both the site plan and the architecture in January 2026. We hope to move forward quickly to get the site plan submitted and begin the earth work to get the ball rolling on this project.
Terminal Landscaping Project
The Airport has received approval to update the landscaping in front of the terminal building. The current landscape is original to the buildings' construction and now over 30 years old. The irrigation system in this space has been inoperable for around 10–15 years due to damage to the pipes and subsequent winters.
The airport has had to dedicate funding to greater operational needs, especially in the past years when CARES funding went into improving the building itself, including lighting, painting, roofing and flooring improvements. Although the landscaping didn’t reach the top of the priority list, staff still feels like it is important as the outside of the terminal is often the first and last impression many visitors get to the region.
Staff has reached out to our partners over at the City's Beautification and Public Arts Committee (BPAC)for help with funding this project through the BBB tax which goes to public art and public beautification type projects. BPAC has recently helped with the new update to the library’s landscaping and accessibility improvements and were the ones to get the Coconino Scroll Fence installed that runs along the sidewalk between the economy lot and the terminal here at the airport.
Staff presented to the BPAC a proposal for further consideration on taking on this project, and they expressed support in that meeting. Last month we received word that they approved this project to move forward and were prioritizing it for their fiscal year 2027 funding.
Project priorities include an inviting and memorable entrance, improvements to ADA accessibility as standards have changed over the years, a Service Animal Relief area which is required for an airport our size, both pre and post the TSA checkpoint, outdoor seating and an improvement to the airport’s wayfinding.
This project covers the front of the terminal with some extensions on either side for some landscaping through the employee parking lot on the left side and through the rental car ready lot on the right side of the terminal. It also includes both landscape and hardscape areas which can be seen in the map below.
We plan to deliver this project in house, with Adam Miele, Programs Manager, being the project manager with support from the BPAC team and a landscape architect. This will be a bit of a long-term project with design work needed before actual construction. We don't expect any movement on this until after the new fiscal year starts in July 2026.
Chair Waddell asked if there would be opportunities to do sponsorships such as memorial benches or the like.
Director Gall responded: that was a great question and staff will have to look into it, and determine if that would be affected by the new revisions to the advertising policy.
Commissioner Spelke asked if secured bike parking might be on the list for this project as he has biked to the airport for a flight in the past.
Director Gall responded: The airport currently has bike lockers adjacent to the rental car ready lot which were installed as part of the economy lot project as well as the traditional loop style bike racks at the front of the terminal.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was formerly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is in its final year of a five-year program that included $1 billion per year for airports to use for terminal improvements. Although it sounds like a really big number, when broken down, it's a little bit more competitive with hundreds of airports submitting applications for a small bit of that money.
Airport and City staff have worked on and applied for grants out of this for the last four (4) years and so far have not been successful. The grant priorities have changed a bit this year as part of the new administration and what they're looking to achieve is promoting family-friendly facilities. There are several definitions within the grant application, but their focus is looking at projects that increase capacity in passenger access, replacing aging infrastructure, achieving compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improving airport access, access for historically disadvantaged populations, improving energy efficiency, improving airfield safety, etc.
Our biggest challenge for us so far has been that preference is given for shovel-ready projects that are most of the way or completely through design but are struggling to get across the finish line. In our case, we have not been able to identify any local funding to get some of the design work done and include the design into the grant application, putting us a bit of a disadvantage.
This year we have divided this year's grant application into two separate applications, with one focusing on terminal accessibility, such as the second service animal relief area requiring post security, nursing pods, and the addition of a family restroom within the terminal building. The advantage of these is a limited design requirement and a lower cost need in the $500,000-750,000, which hopefully will help us hit the sweet spot for the grant application.
The second application is for a small-scale terminal expansion project. This one does have some pretty significant design, which puts us a little bit of a disadvantage. This project would include potential airline counter expansion where we can actually expand the building without expanding the building's roofline, dropping our costs a little and expanding the airline offices by bumping out towards one of our parking lots in an area that's already under the building's roof and lastly, potentially a remodel of the terminal restroom. This project has an estimated cost of $3.75–4 million.
As discussed in our last meeting, a building permit was issued, and we are tentatively looking at starting early January 2026, right after the new year. This project is broken up into two phases. We are putting two different doors into that system, a wide double door and a single-man door. Phase one will be the single-man door which will be prepped for a card reader that will allow personnel to their badging for gaining access to the sterile area. Phase two is a double door which will act similar to what we used to have with the coil door and will be the main entrance for passengers through the screening.
This project is being completed in two phases as it will be completed while the TSA checkpoint is still open and this will allow operations to continue as normal through one door or the other during the duration of the project. This project is expected to take one month to complete and we expect to be fully operational by the end of January. As it stands right now, the cost for this project is $69,000.
Snow Removal Equipment Building
This project is broken up into three different grant phases; phase one and phase two of the funding with the FAA has been completed. Phase three is our discretionary funding which is currently under final review with possible determination as early as January 31st.
We are still meeting with the designers and the contractors and plan to be working on revisions to both the site plan and the architecture in January 2026. We hope to move forward quickly to get the site plan submitted and begin the earth work to get the ball rolling on this project.
Terminal Landscaping Project
The Airport has received approval to update the landscaping in front of the terminal building. The current landscape is original to the buildings' construction and now over 30 years old. The irrigation system in this space has been inoperable for around 10–15 years due to damage to the pipes and subsequent winters.
The airport has had to dedicate funding to greater operational needs, especially in the past years when CARES funding went into improving the building itself, including lighting, painting, roofing and flooring improvements. Although the landscaping didn’t reach the top of the priority list, staff still feels like it is important as the outside of the terminal is often the first and last impression many visitors get to the region.
Staff has reached out to our partners over at the City's Beautification and Public Arts Committee (BPAC)for help with funding this project through the BBB tax which goes to public art and public beautification type projects. BPAC has recently helped with the new update to the library’s landscaping and accessibility improvements and were the ones to get the Coconino Scroll Fence installed that runs along the sidewalk between the economy lot and the terminal here at the airport.
Staff presented to the BPAC a proposal for further consideration on taking on this project, and they expressed support in that meeting. Last month we received word that they approved this project to move forward and were prioritizing it for their fiscal year 2027 funding.
Project priorities include an inviting and memorable entrance, improvements to ADA accessibility as standards have changed over the years, a Service Animal Relief area which is required for an airport our size, both pre and post the TSA checkpoint, outdoor seating and an improvement to the airport’s wayfinding.
This project covers the front of the terminal with some extensions on either side for some landscaping through the employee parking lot on the left side and through the rental car ready lot on the right side of the terminal. It also includes both landscape and hardscape areas which can be seen in the map below.
We plan to deliver this project in house, with Adam Miele, Programs Manager, being the project manager with support from the BPAC team and a landscape architect. This will be a bit of a long-term project with design work needed before actual construction. We don't expect any movement on this until after the new fiscal year starts in July 2026.
Chair Waddell asked if there would be opportunities to do sponsorships such as memorial benches or the like.
Director Gall responded: that was a great question and staff will have to look into it, and determine if that would be affected by the new revisions to the advertising policy.
Commissioner Spelke asked if secured bike parking might be on the list for this project as he has biked to the airport for a flight in the past.
Director Gall responded: The airport currently has bike lockers adjacent to the rental car ready lot which were installed as part of the economy lot project as well as the traditional loop style bike racks at the front of the terminal.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA)
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) was formerly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is in its final year of a five-year program that included $1 billion per year for airports to use for terminal improvements. Although it sounds like a really big number, when broken down, it's a little bit more competitive with hundreds of airports submitting applications for a small bit of that money.
Airport and City staff have worked on and applied for grants out of this for the last four (4) years and so far have not been successful. The grant priorities have changed a bit this year as part of the new administration and what they're looking to achieve is promoting family-friendly facilities. There are several definitions within the grant application, but their focus is looking at projects that increase capacity in passenger access, replacing aging infrastructure, achieving compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improving airport access, access for historically disadvantaged populations, improving energy efficiency, improving airfield safety, etc.
Our biggest challenge for us so far has been that preference is given for shovel-ready projects that are most of the way or completely through design but are struggling to get across the finish line. In our case, we have not been able to identify any local funding to get some of the design work done and include the design into the grant application, putting us a bit of a disadvantage.
This year we have divided this year's grant application into two separate applications, with one focusing on terminal accessibility, such as the second service animal relief area requiring post security, nursing pods, and the addition of a family restroom within the terminal building. The advantage of these is a limited design requirement and a lower cost need in the $500,000-750,000, which hopefully will help us hit the sweet spot for the grant application.
The second application is for a small-scale terminal expansion project. This one does have some pretty significant design, which puts us a little bit of a disadvantage. This project would include potential airline counter expansion where we can actually expand the building without expanding the building's roofline, dropping our costs a little and expanding the airline offices by bumping out towards one of our parking lots in an area that's already under the building's roof and lastly, potentially a remodel of the terminal restroom. This project has an estimated cost of $3.75–4 million.
D.
Communication and Business Updates
Small Community Air Service Development Program (SCASDP)
The SCASDP is a grant which provides federal funding to help small communities enhance air service. Funds can be used for revenue guarantees, marketing, or to offset start-up costs for airlines bringing in a new service or a new airline altogether. Historically, the application process is opened in the spring or early summer, with awards announced in the fall. This year, the money has already been allocated by the federal government, but the application has not opened. We have heard that it may open sometime in mid-January when other Department of Transportation grants start to open.
Last year, 14 airports were awarded nearly $12 million in SCASDP grants. We did receive a SCASDP grant in 2010. Funding is good for 10 years, and ultimately the funds were used to welcome United in 2019. Although we have applied the past two years, we have not received any funding so far. We were able to debrief with the FAA and go over our application and why we weren't selected. They shared with us that we were a finalist and that we had a strong and competitive application, but we lacked community funding, so this year we'll be working on an even more competitive application, but the main focus will be on getting the community funding we lacked.
Financial contributions from the City and Airport could be through contributions for marketing funds that are allocated through Discover Flagstaff or through the airport, waving airport fees, which would include landing fees, rent and gate fees, etc., and offering a revenue guarantee. Community contributions could come from the City and community partners such as hotels, large industries, and businesses in town that would allocate money towards the SCASDP grant application. We are having conversations through the city budget process to put some City money forward for this year's application. We will be reaching out to the community for financial support to see what they are able to do.
This year we'll have two letters of support from an airline and will be gathering more letters from community partners such as Wiseman Aviation, Chamber, Econa, and more. We are looking to reach out to the business community for either direct cash or in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions would include things like waiving of the landing fees, the rent and the gate space for two years or restaurants providing discounted food, Discover Flagstaff allocated funds for marketing efforts, potential discounts for hotel rooms, etc.
Commissioner White asked if there was any template that could be sent out so they could distribute the information to businesses in the community and if there is any tax write-off that could incentivize donations.
Director Gall responded: We are not aware of any tax benefits. There are regulations that govern this form of revenue, which is why one of the restrictions is we're not allowed to use airport dollars towards this, meaning any contribution from the City would have to come from outside the Airport fund.
Commissioner Shouse mentioned support to Commissioner White’s comment on having a letter that could be provided to community charity organizations.
Orville with Wiseman Aviation asked if there was a way to do public outreach to individual members of the community to be able to set up something like a GoFundMe in support of reaching the community match the grant reviewers are looking for.
The SCASDP is a grant which provides federal funding to help small communities enhance air service. Funds can be used for revenue guarantees, marketing, or to offset start-up costs for airlines bringing in a new service or a new airline altogether. Historically, the application process is opened in the spring or early summer, with awards announced in the fall. This year, the money has already been allocated by the federal government, but the application has not opened. We have heard that it may open sometime in mid-January when other Department of Transportation grants start to open.
Last year, 14 airports were awarded nearly $12 million in SCASDP grants. We did receive a SCASDP grant in 2010. Funding is good for 10 years, and ultimately the funds were used to welcome United in 2019. Although we have applied the past two years, we have not received any funding so far. We were able to debrief with the FAA and go over our application and why we weren't selected. They shared with us that we were a finalist and that we had a strong and competitive application, but we lacked community funding, so this year we'll be working on an even more competitive application, but the main focus will be on getting the community funding we lacked.
Financial contributions from the City and Airport could be through contributions for marketing funds that are allocated through Discover Flagstaff or through the airport, waving airport fees, which would include landing fees, rent and gate fees, etc., and offering a revenue guarantee. Community contributions could come from the City and community partners such as hotels, large industries, and businesses in town that would allocate money towards the SCASDP grant application. We are having conversations through the city budget process to put some City money forward for this year's application. We will be reaching out to the community for financial support to see what they are able to do.
This year we'll have two letters of support from an airline and will be gathering more letters from community partners such as Wiseman Aviation, Chamber, Econa, and more. We are looking to reach out to the business community for either direct cash or in-kind contributions. In-kind contributions would include things like waiving of the landing fees, the rent and the gate space for two years or restaurants providing discounted food, Discover Flagstaff allocated funds for marketing efforts, potential discounts for hotel rooms, etc.
Commissioner White asked if there was any template that could be sent out so they could distribute the information to businesses in the community and if there is any tax write-off that could incentivize donations.
Communications Manager, Harper, responded: We do not at this point but we can draft a letter for them with a white page of all the information that could be distributed to businesses that might be interested. But we do not want to put that out until the grant application is actually open. This is because it would only be a written confirmation or pledge where the money or in-kind donations would be collected at the time of new service.
Director Gall responded: We are not aware of any tax benefits. There are regulations that govern this form of revenue, which is why one of the restrictions is we're not allowed to use airport dollars towards this, meaning any contribution from the City would have to come from outside the Airport fund.
Commissioner Shouse mentioned support to Commissioner White’s comment on having a letter that could be provided to community charity organizations.
Director Gall responded: We would appreciate it if commissioners would send us the names and contacts of any businesses and organizations that could support us in the SCASDP application. We are looking to put together a list so that once that grant opportunity is open, we can reach out in mass to all of them.
Orville with Wiseman Aviation asked if there was a way to do public outreach to individual members of the community to be able to set up something like a GoFundMe in support of reaching the community match the grant reviewers are looking for.
Communications Manager, Harper responded: That is a great question, and we will have to work with other City departments, such as procurement, to see if that would be possible from a legal standpoint.
E.V. Director Hansen also commented; When reaching out to the business community it is important to be delicate and remember than many are struggling with minimum wage increases, the cost of doing business over all and things like that. Our tourism industry right now is down about 25% in this fiscal year that started in July, especially with international travel being down across the country. So, we need to be mindful of our asks to our community partners.
5.
TO/FROM AIRPORT COMMISSION MEMBERS
Chair Waddell reminded the commission that there will be no meeting in January 2026 due to staff being out of town for an air service conference. We will reconvene on February 12th, 2026.
6.
ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 2:26 PM by Chair Waddell.