Agenda - View Meetings (All) (0213308759)

1.

Call to Order

Meeting called to order by Chair Waddell at 1:01 P.M.

2.

Roll Call

NOTE: One or more Commission Members may be in attendance telephonically or by other technological means.

THOMAS WADDELL, CHAIR; Present
GAIL JACKSON, VICE CHAIR; Present
CAROL CURTIS; Present

ROBERT HANOVICH; Present
DAVID STEINER; Present, late at 1:12PM
KOLBY WHITE; Present

City Staff:
Deborah Harris, 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, Administrative Specialist/Recording

3.

PRELIMINARY BUSINESS

None

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.

None

B.

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Reconsiderations, changes to the agenda, and other preliminary announcements.

None

C.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular Meeting of April 11th, 2023.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: Approve the minutes as submitted.

Moved by Kolby White, seconded by Robert Hanovich
Vote: 6 - 0 - Unanimously

D.

CITY COUNCIL UPDATES

Reminder, May 18^th Water Rate drop in event at Aquaplex.

4.

STAFF REPORTS

A.

Airport Operation Updates

April had an uptick in enplanements from what we saw in March. Last month we mentioned American was adding one additional flight on the Phoenix route, as well as adjusting the time of their Dallas flying to a part of the day that works a little bit better for our departures. This puts us closer to being on par with where we were this time YTD last year, especially considering we seem to be in an opposite position of last year, where in 2023 we plateaued before starting to see a decrease in flights as American started adjusting to the market conditions and the lack of air crews. We expect to see our numbers keep steady and possibly increase as we get into the summer months.

Total operations have similarly jumped from March to April with a little over 2,000 operations in March and over 3,500 in April. We have had some favorable flying weather, and this actually puts us ahead of where we were last year. Overall, the winds have been a little bit challenging, but I do expect to see some similar operations numbers for next month as well.

As mentioned before, we do not currently have a lot of data so far in regard to our parking revenue as we haven't had a full year of running the system yet. Our revenue for April is slightly lower, and we believe this is due to some construction we have going on right now. Our terminal lot is closed at the moment for some work, so all the parking is going in the economy lot right now, which has a slightly lower parking rate. As our enplanements start to go up, I expect to see our revenue numbers rise similar to what we saw in the fall of last year.

B.

FBO Updates

April’s fuel flow is down slightly from 2023, but year to date we are over all up as we had a strong January and February. As with everything else we should see an uptick as traffic generally increases after winter. Additional FBO

Turbine traffic's been pretty consistent, as well as military traffic. General aviation has been quieter and typically busier on weekends and lighter during the week. With United buying two flight schools down in Phoenix we are seeing more consistent traffic from out in the Valley.
McCain Institute Sedona Forum was last weekend and included a visit from the U.S. Secretary of State.
Coconino High School Prom was held at the Peabody Hangar. The event was well executed and managed by the school staff and volunteers.
Wiseman is working on keeping staffing up, interviewing and hiring for the seasonal demand.
Aircraft parking will need to be addressed sooner than later as we are reaching the capacities of what we currently have available.
Fuel procurement and supply are an ongoing issue as we struggle to bring it from Phoenix and typically have it come out from Long Beach.

C.

Project and Grant Updates

The airport is in the final month of wrapping up several projects before our CARES Grants funding runs out. As it stands, we are looking at a 70 to 98% completion rate for most items including work around the terminal, the airport perimeter fencing and our parking lots. Most project sonly have a handful of punch list items to complete a this point and we are on schedule to complete the work on time.

D.

Communication and Business Updates

Email Save the Dates went out for the Airport Art Celebration Event later this month. This event will be a stroll along the Coconino Scroll with Arizona’s Historian Marshall Shore.

Director Brian Gall and out Communications Manager Claire Harper will be heading out to DC for the annual Jumpstart conference where we'll have 20 minutes to meet with Alaska, American, Breeze, Southwest, Delta and United. This is a speed-dating style meet up where we will show off Flagstaff and everything we have to offer.

Our Air Carrier Incentive Policy was presented last month to Council and they didn't have any changes to it. We have modified the policy a little bit to be clearer and easier to understand and are currently working with legal to finalize the language.

5.

INFORMATIONAL ITEMS

A.

Water Rate Study

City of Flagstaff Water Services presented to the commission on the Water Rate Study Outreach that they have been working on, which focuses specifically on water, wastewater and reclaimed water. Water Services operate and maintain four treatment plants for drinking water and two for reclaimed water, over 16 storage facilities for storm water, and 30 drinking water wells; they also maintain over close to 750 miles of underground infrastructure including both water distribution and sewer collection lines, almost 3,500 fire hydrants, and 5 standpipes.

The main focus of Water Services is water sustainability and conservation and although they are an enterprise fund, the focus is on unfailing service rather than profit. Unfortunately, as with any other business, there are numerous amounts of costs which include equipment, service parts, labor, materials such as oil, gas and chemicals, and personnel staff. Operational costs continue to increase and as funds begin to be insufficient there is a need to re-prioritize items, which leads to a deferment of improvements and maintenance in order to adjust for the funding immediate needs and repairs. Doing this can only work so long as it begins chipping away at the things that build resiliency and robustness in operations.

Water Services has conducted rate studies and is working on their Capitol Improvement Plan (CIP) in order to maintain and improve current operations and make sure they have the capacity to meet the needs of the Community now and in the future. The current approved CIP provides an annual revenue of $13.1 million for water, $8.7 million for wastewater and $0.5 million for reclaimed water, while current projections of annual costs sit at $20.8 million for water, $12.5 million for wastewater and $6.9 million for reclaimed water.

Water services began discussions with City Council in September 2023. Currently, public hearings are scheduled for June 18th and July 2nd where Council will be asked to approve the rate increases, which are set as a 10% yearly increase over a 5-year period with the first increase going into effect on September 1st of 2024. There is a drop by event for the public being held on May 18^th at the Aquaplex as well. This rate increase affects both individuals in residential properties as well as commercial properties equally. For more information please go to https://www.flagstaff.az.gov/1580/About-Your-Water-Rates

6.

TO/FROM COMMISSIONERS

7.

ADJOURNMENT

MOTION: Vice Chair Jackson moved to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner White seconded the motion; the motion passed unanimously.