HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-16-22 - Airport Commission Minutes Page 1 of 13
AIRPORT COMMISSION
ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 – 5:30 P.M.
_____________________________________________________________________
1. CALL TO ORDER:
Vice Chairman Corcoran called the Airport Commission Meeting to order at 5:30 P.M.
and he led the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held via videoconference.
2. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: Posted on February 10, 2022.
3. ROLL CALL:
Commissioners Present:
Gerald Adams (Palm Springs) Scott G. Miller (Palm Springs)
Patricia Breslin (Palm Springs) John Payne (Palm Springs)
Paul Budilo (Indian Wells) Jan Pye (Desert Hot Springs)
Kevin Corcoran (Palm Springs) - Vice-Chair Jhan Schmitz (Indio)
David Feltman (Palm Springs), M. Guillermo Suero (Palm Springs)
Peter Freymuth (Riverside County) Thomas Weil (Rancho Mirage)
Ken Hedrick (Palm Springs) Kevin Wiseman (Palm Desert)
Kathleen Hughes (La Quinta)
Commissioners Absent: Todd Burke (Palm Springs), Aftab Dada (Palm Springs),
Gabriel Martin (Coachella), and Jill Philbrook (Cathedral City).
Staff Present:
Justin Clifton, City Manager
Harry Barrett, Interim Airport Executive Director
Daniel Meier, Deputy Director of Aviation Marketing and Air Service
Victoria Carpenter, Airport Administration Manager
Kim Baker, Procurement and Contracting Manager
Christina Brown, Executive Administrative Assistant
Others Present: Rawley Vaughan – Ricondo subconsultant
4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA:
ACTION: Accept the Agenda as presented. Moved by Commissioner Weil,
seconded by Commissioner Suero, and unanimously approved noting the
absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Burke, Martin, and Philbrook.
ITEM 6
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 2 of 13
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
None
6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:
ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport Commission Meeting of January 19,
2022. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by Commissioner Breslin
and unanimously noting Chairman Dada and Commissioners Burke, Martin, and
Philbrook.
7. INTRODUCTIONS AND PRESENTATIONS:
Vice Chairman Corcoran welcomed newly appointed Commissioner Kevin Wiseman
to the Airport Commission, and he said that Commissioner Wiseman was representing
the City of Palm Desert. Commissioner Wiseman thanked Vice Chairman Corcoran
for the welcome, and he reviewed his background for the Commission.
8. CITY MANAGER REPORT:
Item 9.A. was heard before Item 8.
City Manager Clifton reported that the City was continuing to see a very low impact at
the access center, and he said that the center had seen over 500 unduplicated
individuals with no significant secondary impact. He said that the City was moving
forward on the design of the navigation center that would be a much more
comprehensive service that would have substantial transitional housing on-site, it
would be located in another area of town, and he said that it would probably take 12
to 24 months to build.
City Manager Clifton said that in regard to strategic planning, he would be having a
second conversation with the City Council on February 22nd, and he said that in the
visioning sessions, the desire to have monthly study sessions on some of the larger
items had been expressed. City Manager Clifton said that the intent would be to keep
the focus on some of the City’s strategic priorities and that those priorities would be
somewhat recurring every few months. He said that the meeting would do two things,
the first thing would be to finish the conversation on strategic priorities that would
largely entail presenting some staff work plans associated with those priorities so that
it breaks down those fairly big topics like improving homelessness into a variety of
sub-level tasks which would help staff and the City Council scale and meter or
schedule the City’s work a little more effectively. The second thing is that the City
would be revisiting its process improvement which was always meant to be the second
major piece of the City’s visioning sessions.
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 3 of 13
City Manager Clifton said that the City would be looking at roles and responsibilities
across the spectrum of role players which includes residents, stakeholder groups,
external partners, Boards and Commissions, City staff, and City Council to maximize
each one of those role players and to also make sure that the hand-off between those
entities works. City Manager Clifton said that the City Council would likely also be
reviewing the practices of the Board and Commission ordinances, and he said that
the Commission Member’s comments would also be taken into consideration along
with the input from the staff that works with the Commissions so that the City can
introduce some new processes. He noted that the City staff was looking at creating a
handbook that would allow for new Commission Members to be onboarded in a more
robust fashion than what has historically been done and to have at least a couple of
touch points with the City Council every year.
Commissioner Miller asked what would be the best way for a Commissioner to
communicate their input on the process to the City Council. City Manager Clifton
encouraged the Commissioners to review the City Council meeting so that they could
hear what the City Council is thinking, and he said that based on the City Council’s
direction, the staff would set out to do some of the reviews which would probably be
independent from talking with the Commissions, and he said that as staff conducts
their analysis, they will check-in with the Boards and Commissions to see what might
need to be done to have a broader conversation. Commissioner Miller said that he
appreciated the effort that the City and Airport staff had made to provide monthly
updates on the Boxing Club access center, and he said that from his perspective, the
access center did not have a negative affect on the airport or airport operations.
Commissioner Breslin inquired about the status of the planned retreat. City Manager
Clifton said that he believed that the gap between the City Council’s strategic planning
direction, staff’s direction, and the Commission’s direction needed to be closed first,
he explained that the City Council would need time to digest all of the information that
they would be receiving, and he said that it would be advantageous for the new Airport
Executive Director to be in place. City Manager Clifton said that staff was getting close
to establishing the final process for hiring the Airport Executive Director, and he said
that he was working with Chairman Dada to solidify the participation of the participants
in the process.
Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that there were several new Commissioners on the
Airport Commission, he voiced his concern about the Commission not having insight
into the process of the staff work that is happening, and he said that the Commission
being out of the loop is what is creating the gap for the Commission. He also said that
the intent of the off-site meeting would be so that everybody could get smarter, and
they could understand what the Commission is supposed to be doing so that the
Commission could be more supportive. City Manager Clifton emphasized how
important it is for all of the role players to be working in sync with each other, and he
said that the City Council sets the pace because they are the ones that are elected by
the people and that we serve at their pleasure.
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 4 of 13
City Manager Clifton recommended that the Commission wait to discuss strategic
planning, and he said that if the Commission does choose to meet earlier to discuss
strategic planning, he recommended that the Commission stay in the mindset of being
flexible and to be prepared to pivot to accommodate any adjustments that could come
from the new Executive Director or City Council. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he
believed that it was the Commissions intent to wait until the new Executive Director
was onboard.
Commissioner Freymuth said that he had been skeptical about the Boxing Club
access center, and he said that he wanted to go on record that he agreed with
Commissioner Miller’s comments.
Commissioner Miller said that he understood that in some ways a new Executive
Director would be very helpful in pushing some of the issues, and on the other hand
he believes that there are issues that the Commission must make a decision in and of
themselves that’s irrespective of the new Executive Director. He said that the role of
the Commission and what the Commission would like to be in its role, and how the
Commission operates and how the Commission would like to operate needed to be
discussed. Commissioner Miller said that he felt that a retreat or possibly two retreats
were needed.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked City Manager Clifton if the intent of the work that he
is doing is for the purpose of trying to define the swim lanes for the Airport Commission
and for all Commissions and to provide direction on what is the appropriate way to be
helpful in this process. City Manager Clifton said that he didn’t want to minimize the
need for input from the Commission in that process, but he also wanted to honor the
City’s organizational chart and serving at the pleasure of the City Council. He said that
his intent was to give the City Council the space they need to set the pace and lead
the process.
9. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS:
Item 9.A was heard before Item 8.
9.A Air Service Incentive Program
Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that the item had been presented at the January 19,
2022 Airport Commission meeting and that the item was being brought back to the
Commission because the Commission needed to vote to recommend that the City
Council approve the 2022 Air Service Incentive Program.
Commissioner Miller asked if the incentive program had been presented to the
Marketing and Business Development Committee. Deputy Director of Aviation
Marketing and Air Service Meier said that the incentive program has not been
presented to the Marketing and Business Development Committee. Commissioner
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 5 of 13
Freymuth, Chairman of the Marketing and Business Development Committee said that
since the incentive program had been presented to the Commission, the Commission
could move forward with the vote. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that for future
incentive programs, the Commission could consider having the airport staff present
the incentive program to the Marketing and Business Development Committee first.
Commissioner Miller referred to the staff report, and he inquired about the additional
funds that were to become available as of March 1st. Mr. Meier clarified that funds
would be available as of July 1st when the budget is approved.
ACTION: Recommend to the Palm Springs City Council to approve the 2022 Air
Service Incentive Program. Moved by Commissioner Freymuth, seconded by
Commissioner Hughes and unanimously with Commissioners Weil and Miller
abstaining and noting Chairman Dada and Commissioners Burke, Martin, and
Philbrook.
9.B Turf Conversion Update
Commissioner Adams referred to the PowerPoint presentation that had been provided
by Program Coordinator Tracy Sheldon, and he noted that the presentation included
an update on the demonstration garden which was tentatively scheduled to be
completed by the end of February and the 5-Year Plan program. He said that due to
the State drought emergency declaration update that was issued on January 4th, City
staff would like to advance some of the objectives of the 5-Year Plan program which
includes the entryway by Gene Autry Trail. Commissioner Adams said that staff was
working on how to fund the budget that would be needed to move up the timeline for
the landscaping projects.
10. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT:
10.A Projects Update and Airport Capital Improvement Program Update
Interim Airport Executive Director Barrett reported that for the month of January the
airport staff had received six noise complaints in total which included two general
aviation noise complaints, an engine runoff noise complaint, a low-flying aircraft noise
complaint, a military noise complaint, and a noise complaint for a helicopter that was
flying in Indio.
Mr. Barrett said that in regard to the Airport Use and Lease Agreement negotiations,
the airport staff had proposed to the airlines a hybrid rate methodology which means
that the airport would have a compensatory rate scheme in the terminal and a residual
rate scheme on the airfield of the airport. He said that under the current agreement,
the airlines cover the entire cost of operating the airport and they get credited for that
amount. The hybrid methodology would be a revenue sharing component, and the
airlines would receive 60% of the non-aeronautical revenue. Mr. Barrett said that the
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 6 of 13
airport staff was continuing to work through the negotiation process and that there
would hopefully be a new agreement in place with the airlines in July.
Mr. Barrett reported that airport staff has been in discussions with CLEAR LLC about
bringing a biometric security vetting process to PSP, and he said that the Operations,
Properties and Facilities Committee would be receiving a presentation from CLEAR.
Mr. Barrett said that staff was working on determining the setup in terms of queuing,
and he said that he believed that there is both a local and a regional market for
CLEAR.
Mr. Barrett also reported that the City Council had approved the conversion of the
Customer Facility Charge (CFC), and he reminded the Commission that the increase
of CFC revenue would help fund the new rental car facilities and other transportation
infrastructure.
Commissioner Wiseman asked if the agreement with CLEAR would bring revenue to
the airport. Mr. Barrett confirmed that the agreement with CLEAR would generate
revenue, and he said that CLEAR would pay a per use fee to the airport for their
customers that are coming through the facility.
Commissioner Schmitz inquired about the installation costs for the CLEAR lane and
pods. Mr. Barrett said that CLEAR would be responsible for the costs of any
construction or modification to the TSA lanes.
Commissioner Suero voiced his support for having CLEAR at the airport.
Commissioner Adams asked if CLEAR would reduce the current availability of lanes
for either TSA pre-check passengers or the regular passengers. Mr. Barrett said that
the current proposal from CLEAR would not reduce the availability of queuing space
and that the plan was to turn the employee lane into a hybrid lane for CLEAR to use.
Commissioner Wiseman asked if there would be any negative impact on the employee
pacing for being able to go through security. Mr. Barrett said that staff didn’t believe
that there would be a negative impact on the employee lane.
Vice Chairman Corcoran inquired about the status of how fast bags were moving and
if there had been any action steps to address the matter, and he also inquired about
the status of parking capacity. Mr. Barrett said that a great deal of the baggage return
goes through the ground handlers that are contracted by the airlines, and he said that
the speed of the baggage handling varies between each of the ground handling
companies. Mr. Barrett explained that baggage delays also occur when there is a large
push of inbound aircraft, and he said that airport staff was working with the carriers
and the ground handlers to determine if there is a system that could be used to
coordinate the effort to improve baggage handling during the airports peak periods.
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 7 of 13
Mr. Barrett said that in terms of the parking situation, the parking capacity was at
approximately 50% for the month of January, and he said that he believed that over
the next couple of years the parking capacity would need to be increased and that
staff was considering different parking strategies.
Commissioner Miller suggested that some of the issues that were being discussed
could be addressed with the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee and the
Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee Chair could provide an update to the
Commission. Commissioner Schmitz, Chair of the Operations, Properties and
Facilities Committee said that he had been working with Mr. Barrett and the airport
staff to have a meeting to discuss the agreement with CLEAR. Vice Chairman
Corcoran suggested that Commissioner Schmitz could include the baggage and
parking issues.
10.B Financial Summary Update
Airport Administration Manager Carpenter said that she would be reviewing the
financial summary for the period ending January 31, 2022, and she said that at the
request of the Commission, the financials had been modified to depict the airport’s
financial position.
Ms. Carpenter explained that Fund 405 - Customer Facility Charges Fund tracks
revenues that are related to the car rental surcharge and consolidated rental car
expenses, and she reported that the net balance for Fund 405 had increased by 75%
when compared to the prior fiscal year.
Ms. Carpenter explained that Fund 410 - Passenger Facility Charges Fund tracks the
revenues that are related to the passenger facility surcharge and the debt service
principal and interest expenses, and she reported that the net balance for Fund 410
had increased by 1400% when compared to the prior fiscal year. Ms. Carpenter noted
that the debt service principal and interest in the amount of approximately $2.5 million
had not been applied to the account, and she said that the airport was on track to fund
the expense.
Ms. Carpenter explained that Fund 415 – Airport Operations & Maintenance tracks
the total amount of revenue and expenditures for operating and maintaining the
airport, and she said that as a result of the increased passengers and flight operations,
the net balance for Fund 415 had increased by 300% when compared to the prior
fiscal year. Ms. Carpenter provided a breakdown of the operating revenues for Fund
415, she said that the airport did not request reimbursement for the CARES Act funds,
and the funds would be available until May 10, 2024. Ms. Carpenter pointed out that
the top revenue generating accounts in Fund 415 were the On Airport Rental Car
account and the Leased Parking account. Ms. Carpenter also provided a breakdown
of the operating expenditures for Fund 415.
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 8 of 13
Ms. Carpenter reported that Fund 416 - Airport Capital Projects had $10 million in
expenditures towards capital projects which includes the passenger boarding bridges,
the ticket wing renovation, and the special capital projects. Ms. Carpenter presented
an overview of the Cash Summary for Funds 405, 410, 415 – Unrestricted Sub-Total,
and 416.
Ms. Carpenter also presented a chart for the total enplanement and deplanement of
passengers on a fiscal year basis, and she said that there was an increase in
passengers for the month of January when compared to January 2021, and she noted
that there was a passenger decrease of 14% when compared to fiscal year 2020.
Commissioner Feltman referred to the CARES Act funds, and he asked if the funds
could only be used for capital expenditures. Mr. Barrett explained that the CARES Act
funds could be used for most expenditures, and he said that the FAA would have to
approve the use of the CARES Act funds for capital improvement projects.
Commissioner Feltman asked that staff provide a breakdown of what funds are
available to be spent now and what the plans are for those funds. Mr. Barrett said that
staff would provide the requested breakdown, and he explained that staff had been
concerned about using the funds because of the uncertainties that the pandemic had
created, and staff had been waiting to receive a legal interpretation of how the airport
could use the funds relative to the airport’s residual agreement with the airlines. He
said that staff had recently received the requested legal interpretation, it was
determined that the airport does have more flexibility to use the funds than staff had
originally believed, and staff would be moving forward with planning on how the grants
would be allocated with the input and inclusion of the Commission.
Commissioner Feltman said that he appreciated the progress that was being made on
the financial reporting, and he said that he believed that there should be a structured
process for requesting changes to the financial reports. Mr. Barrett said that he
appreciated Commissioner Feltman’s feedback, and he said that staff would be
working with the Commission to tighten up the process.
Commissioner Miller thanked Ms. Carpenter for the progress of the financial reports,
and he asked for staff’s input on if the airport would be able to meet the budget goals
for this fiscal year. Ms. Carpenter said that staff was projecting that the airport would
exceed the revenues and be under for the expenditures for this fiscal year’s budget.
Mr. Barrett explained that last year and this year, staff has tried to keep costs neutral
and to be very conservative on spending. Commissioner Miller asked if staff had plans
for the excess revenue. Mr. Barrett said that staff was looking into adding personnel
and automating processes. Commissioner Feltman inquired about the number of open
positions at the airport. Mr. Barrett said that up until recently, the airport was down 12
positions. Commissioner Feltman inquired about the impact of being understaffed.
Mr. Barrett said that most of the open positions were in the Maintenance division and
that staffing shifts and facilities upkeep has been a challenge. Commissioner Miller
asked why it was difficult to stay fully staffed. Mr. Barrett said that the increase in
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 9 of 13
passenger activity has caused some of the staffing issues, he said that the previous
administration was averse to adding staff because it would increase costs to the
airlines, and the great resignation has also caused staffing issues. Mr. Barrett said
that the airport management was having to shift their mindset from a recruitment
mindset to a retention mindset, and he said that the salaries haven’t kept pace with
the conditions.
10.C Marketing Update
Deputy Director of Aviation Marketing and Air Service Meier provided a PSP Marketing
and Air Service Update for February 2022, and he said that beginning in April,
American Airlines would be providing a live flight from PSP to LAX, Alaska Airlines
was extending their Austin schedule to June 3rd, Swoop was making their Edmonton
route year-round, and PSP now has 16 year-round routes.
Mr. Meier provided an overview of the scheduled departing seats for March through
May 2022 with a comparison to March through May 2019. Commissioner Miller asked
if the seat numbers for April and May 2022 were being projected. Mr. Meier said that
the April and May 2022 seat numbers are the number of seats that the airlines have
currently scheduled.
10.D Concession RFP Update
Rawley Vaughan, Ricondo subconsultant, said that he believed that it is important for
the Commission and the community to have local brands and that local participation
occurs as much as possible in the terminal concessions program in the airport. Mr.
Vaughan explained that a majority of the information in the draft RFP was taken from
the previous concession RFP, and he said that the RFP team was in the process of
updating the outdated information.
Vice Chairman Corcoran said that the biggest concern that came out of the
Commissioner’s review of the draft RFP was the disconnect between the 2019
priorities and what is listed in the draft RFP. He said that the Commission wants to
reinforce the statements and communication content to encourage national players to
partner with local brands. Mr. Vaughan said that he believed that it was the most
important goal for the community, and he said that the RFP team was working on
introducing the opportunity with the City’s goals and that the goals would be reflected
and underscored throughout the RFP document with the evaluation criteria. Mr.
Vaughn said that the RFP team wants to make it clear to the proposers what they
should be providing to submit a great proposal that will appeal to the evaluators.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Vaughan if he anticipated that the major
concessionaires would be interested in PSP’s concession RFP, and if he thought that
the airport would receive a similar reaction as the reaction that was received in 2019.
Mr. Vaughan said that he wasn’t as confident as he was in 2019 because some of the
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 10 of 13
major concessionaires are struggling, and he also said that there is a possibility that
the major concessionaires could be more interested in other RFP’s that could be
issued by larger airports at the same time. Mr. Vaughan also noted that because of
staffing issues, the major concessionaires will also have difficulties responding the
issued RFP’s, and he said that he would be reaching out the major concessionaires
prior to the RFP being issued.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked why the evaluation criteria percentage for brands and
concepts was listed at 10% when local participation is supposed to be a priority. Mr.
Vaughan explained that the percentages were previously assigned by the prior
administration, he said that the RFP team could reevaluate the percentages and add
additional language for the brands and concepts criteria.
Commissioner Miller noted that he had received a text message from Commissioner
Payne and that Commissioner Payne had informed him that he was having issues
with his phone and that he could hear the meeting, but he was unable to be heard in
the meeting.
Vice Chairman Corcoran referred to the comments that had been provided by
Commissioner Payne, and he asked if the RFP should clearly define the business
goals. Mr. Vaughan explained that the goals would be reflected throughout each of
the evaluation criteria. Vice Chairman Corcoran inquired about the plans that had the
diagram with green oval, and he asked for clarification on what the green oval
represents. Mr. Vaughan explained that the green oval represents an annex of space
from the apron to the public facilities of the terminal courtyard, he said that in 2019 the
RFP team could not confidently convey how much it would cost to develop that space,
and currently, the RFP team believes that it would be prohibitively expensive to build
out that space. Mr. Vaughan also noted that the airport may need that space for other
airport infrastructure.
Vice Chairman Corcoran voiced the Commission’s concern in regard to allowing
enough time for the vendors to understand the RFP. He said that one of the
Commissioners had questioned if the timeline was realistic, he asked what the
concessionaire would be able to do on May 1st, and he asked if the expectations
should be tweaked. Mr. Vaughan said that he believed that the timeline was realistic,
and he said that the design approval process could be the only risk factor for the
timeline. He suggested that it would be helpful if the City could provide a guide for the
design approval process. Vice Chairman Corcoran requested that the RFP team work
with the City staff to determine how the design approval process would be handled
and to confirm the process in the RFP.
Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that other than a reference on page 111 of the RFP,
there wasn’t any specific language to address LGBTQ discrimination in the RFP, and
he asked if bullet points could be added to clarify the importance of including the
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 11 of 13
LGBTQ community. Mr. Vaughan suggested that the Commission could submit the
language that they would like to see in the RFP.
Commissioner Feltman inquired about the underlying concern about a lower response
from concessionaires. Mr. Vaughan said that in addition to the reasons that he noted
that could cause there to be a lower response to the RFP, there is also the factor that
there has been a consolidation in the concessionaire industry so there are fewer
possible major concessionaires to respond to the RFP. He said that a healthy
competition would be to get three or four proposals from the major concessionaires.
Commissioner Miller asked what would happen if only one proposal is received or if
the proposals don’t meet the required criteria, and he asked if there was a Plan B in
place. Ms. Carpenter said that she believed that the current concessionaire Paradies
would be interested in a month-to-month agreement with the airport. Vice Chairman
Corcoran questioned if Paradies would be willing to incorporate local brands, and he
said that he hoped that the future concessionaire will embrace the priorities that the
Commission has set forth in the meeting. Commissioner Miller noted that the
economic climate may not be there to embrace the local businesses as much as the
Commission would like, especially because of rising interest rates and inflation, and
he said that there has to be an economically viable process with an economically
viable product to make this process successful for the airport.
Commissioner Freymuth said that he agreed with Commissioner Miller’s comments,
and he said that from his own personal conversations, it seems that the
concessionaires do not have the same interest or the financial resources as they did
in 2019, and he is expecting that the Commission will be very disappointed in the local
participation. Mr. Vaughan explained that there are three ways that local participation
can be realized. The first way would be for a local businessman to be actually
operating their business on airport property, the second way would be for a major
concessionaire to be in a partnership or joint venture with a local business, and the
third way would be for a major concessionaire to operate the businesses at the airport
through a licensing agreement with a local business. Commissioner Freymuth said
that the participants that he had spoken to in the past had expressed that they were
only interested in joint ventures.
Commissioner Wiseman asked if the CARES Act funds could be used to assist the
local businesses with capital funding. Mr. Barrett said that it could be possible, and he
said that staff would have to determine in which ways the funds could be applied for
terminal reconfiguration. Commissioner Miller said that he believed that the City would
need to provide infrastructure funds to help the businesses and entice the franchisees.
Commissioner Freymuth said that from what had been discussed, there might be
support for extending the existing agreement with Paradies for maybe a year or two,
and maybe Paradies could reach out the local businesses to get local participation.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Vaughan if after hearing the Commission’s
comments, would he proceed any differently. Mr. Vaughan said that the RFP team
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 12 of 13
had been contemplating how the CARES Act funds could be applied to the RFP
process, and he said that in regard to the timeline, he felt that this was a good
opportunity for a concessionaire because the airport is growing and has basically
rebounded from the pandemic disruption to air traffic. Vice Chairman Corcoran said
that he agreed with Mr. Vaughan, and he asked Mr. Vaughan if the RFP team could
incorporate the Commission’s comments and resubmit the revised RFP to the
Commission. Mr. Vaughan said that the RFP team would work on incorporating the
Commission’s comments to make the RFP clearer.
11. COMMISSIONERS REQUESTS AND REPORTS:
On Commissioner Payne’s behalf, Commissioner Miller inquired about the status of
the Committee meetings being listed on the agenda. Executive Administrative
Assistant Brown apologized for not including the future Committee meeting list in the
agenda packet, and she said that she would send the future Committee meeting list
to the Commission.
12. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS:
12.A Past City Council Actions
12.B Future City Council Actions
Interim Airport Executive Director Barrett said that the Lamar Airport Advertising
Concession Agreement Extension would be going to the City Council on February
24th, and he was expecting the City Council to approve the agreement extension.
13. RECEIVE AND FILE:
13.A Airlines Activity Report January 2022
13.B Airlines Schedules March 2022
14. COMMITTEES:
14.A Future Committee Meetings
Commissioner Schmitz said that he would be working with Ms. Brown to coordinate
the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee meeting to discuss Clear and
parking capacity.
Vice Chairman Corcoran inquired about the Budget and Finance Committee meeting.
Commissioner Feltman confirmed that the Budget and Finance Committee meeting
was scheduled for March 1st, and he said that based on the Committee Member’s
feedback, he said that the Commission could expect to see regular Budget and
Committee meetings being scheduled in the future.
Palm Springs Airport Commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
February 16, 2022
______________________________________________________________________
Page 13 of 13
Ms. Brown said that she had misspoke, and she said that the future Committee
meeting list was included on page 47 of the agenda packet.
15. ADJOURNMENT:
ACTION: Adjourn the meeting. Moved by Commissioner Feltman, seconded by
Commissioner Hedrick and unanimously approved noting the absence of
Chairman Dada and Commissioners Burke, Martin, and Philbrook.
The Airport Commission adjourned at 7:28 P.M. to a Regular Meeting on March 16, 2022,
at 5:30 P.M. via videoconference.
____________________________
Christina Brown
Executive Administrative Assistant