03-11-2010 City of las Cruces
AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD MEETING
City of Las Cruces, New Mexico
March 11, 2010
Members Present: Bill Squires, Randy Ranels, Ross Palmer, Fred Fusselman, Anthony
Levatino
Members Absent: Doug Lashley, Joe Beck
Others Present: Brian Denmark, Facilities Director; Lisa Murphy, Airport Manager;
Susan Pfeiffer, Airport Administrative Assistant; Michael Harris, Delta
Airport Consultants, Ted Morris, citizen, Gene Kennon, citizen, Bill
Madden, WAM, Inc , Phyllis Scott, Adventure Aviation, Hal Kading,
Southwest Aviation, Saf Canja, EAA.
Chair Bill Squires called the meeting to order at 12 02 p m in the Airport Conference
Room, and a quorum was noted
MINUTES The first order of business was to approve the minutes of the February 11,
2010 Board meeting Mr Palmer moved, seconded by Dr Levatino, to approve the
minutes as submitted, motion carried unanimously
ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PRESENTATIONS
Mr Squires announced that three board members terms were expiring this month, Randy
Ranels, Joe Beck, and his own Mrs Murphy presented framed certificates to Mr Squires
and Mr Ranels (Mr Beck was absent), and thanked them for their service on the Board,
and for helping her with special issues and projects, since she became Airport Manager
After Mr Squires and Mr Ranels made parting statements about what they remembered
most about their terms on the Board, Mr Denmark thanked them for their help and years
of service to the Airport, Board, and community
UNFINISHED BUSINESS None
REPORTS
Runway 12-30 Progress Report: Mr Mike Harris, Project Manager, gave a progress
report on the Runway 12-30 Rehabilitation Project. He announced that JAR has finished
pouring the concrete, but it still needs to cure before they can finish the remaining work on
the runway He stated that they still need to do the asphalt paving in blast pad areas, and
plan on doing it tomorrow if the weather allows Mr Harris said that Runway 8-26 will
continue to have a displaced threshold until the end of the project. He stated that the FAA
has approved the additional work of upgrading the hold bars on the Airport, because of the
remaining funds in the proect. Mr Harris said that the completion date for the project has
been extended to April 30t , because of lost production days due to the weather, and they
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AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES – MARCH 11, 2010
Page 2
will reopen the runway on that date He stated that the FAA needs to do a flight check
before they can turn on the ILS In closing, Mr Harris reported that they will be doing the
grooving and markings starting next week.
Airport Manager's Report: Mrs Murphy read the following Manager's Report:
Runway 12-30 Reconstruction The wet (and now windy) weather has impacted the
progress of the runway reconstruction work, but the concrete paving is complete, which is
very good news Mike Harris will provide a full report at the AAB meeting
Control Tower Environmental Assessment: No update at this time —waiting for FAA's
response to our response to their comments
City Council Items City Council will consider Wayne Wallace's request for new leases
on his parcels 10 and 16 at their March 15, 2010 meeting
Surveillance Broadcast Systems Tower- ITT Corporation is ready to start construction
on the SBS tower as soon as they get their building permit. Construction is estimated to
take about 30 days
Cell Phone Tower Rezoning Request: The Las Cruces Planning and Zoning
Commission considered the zone change request at their February 23, 2010 meeting
After discussion, they recommended approval with the following conditions The tower is
not to exceed 120 feet in height, and the tower must be lighted in accordance with FAA
standards The case will go to City Council for final approval sometime in April
FAA Projects for Next Fiscal Year- Right now, it looks like we are getting a new AWOS
(desperately needed) and a Wildlife Hazard Assessment (a new requirement due to the
Miracle on the Hudson) for our next year's AIP projects Of course, nothing is final until we
get official word from FAA, but right now I am proceeding with budgeting and submitting
state grant applications for these projects with the assumption that we will get them
Solid Waste Billing Susan has gotten the new solid waste billing for airport tenants set
up Tenants will be billed $5 a month, or $60 a year, at the time of their annual land rent
payment.
Fuel Farm I plan to submit an application to the State Aviation Division for a grant to
assist with the expenses associated with bringing the fuel farm into compliance with
updated New Mexico Environment Department regulations Fuel farm improvements of
this type are not eligible for FAA funding, so I am happy the State may be able to help
State grants only pay for 50% of project costs so the City will have to come up with the
remainder of the funds, which will be substantial
In addition, Mrs Murphy reported that the Navy called her about using our Airport as an
emergency parking site for their aircraft during a hurricane, and that she let them know that
they were more than welcome to come She stated that she plans to write them a letter
AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD MEETING MINUTES — MARCH 11, 2010
Page 3
inviting them to do their training here next year, and mentioned that they went to Roswell
this year due to our runway construction project.
NEW BUSINESS None
OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST AND PUBLIC COMMENT
Mr Kading, of Southwest Aviation, stated that he would like the Airport staff to take over all
solid waste issues for the tenants, so they don't have to deal with the Solid Waste
department.
Mr Squires gave parting comments, and a review of projects and issues he faced while
serving on the Board for the past eight years
Mr Ranels also gave his parting comments, and stated what he would like to see happen
at the Airport in the future
With no further business to conduct, it was moved, seconded, and passed to adjourn the
meeting at 12 43 PM
Chair Recording S ret