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AIRPORT COMMISSION
ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING
Wednesday, October 19, 2022 – 5:30 P.M.
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1. CALL TO ORDER:
Chairman Dada called the Airport Commission Meeting to order at 5:30 P.M. and he
invited Commissioner Burke to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held
via videoconference.
2. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: Posted on October 13, 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)
Todd Burke (Palm Springs) Jhan Schmitz (Indio)
Kevin Corcoran (Palm Springs) – Vice Chair M. Guillermo Suero (Palm Springs)
Aftab Dada (Palm Springs) – Chair * Thomas Weil (Rancho Mirage)
David Feltman (Palm Springs) Kevin Wiseman (Palm Desert)
Ken Hedrick (Palm Springs)
Commissioners Absent: Kathleen Hughes (La Quinta), Gabriel Martin (Coachella),
and Paul Slama (Riverside County). * Chairman Aftab Dada exited the meeting at 5:57
p.m.
Staff Present:
Harry Barrett, Jr., Airport Executive Director
Daniel Meier, Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service
Victoria Carpenter, Airport Administration Manager
Jeffrey Ballinger, City Attorney
Christina Brown, Executive Administrative Assistant
Others Present:
Gary Armstrong, Public Arts Commissioner
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October 19, 2022
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4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA:
ACTION: Accept the Agenda as presented. Moved by Commissioner Feltman,
seconded by Vice Chairman Corcoran and unanimously approved noting the
absence of Commissioners Hughes, Martin, and Slama.
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None
6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES:
ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport commission Meeting of September 21,
2022. Moved by Commissioner Burke, seconded by Commissioner Hedrick and
unanimously approved noting the absence of Commissioners Hughes, Martin,
and Slama.
7. INTRODUCTIONS AND PRESENTATIONS: None
8. CITY MANAGER REPORT: None
9. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS:
9.A Extension of Artwork Display “Crushing Inertia ll” and 9.B Installation of New
Artwork Display “Banned Booty Runway”
Public Arts Commissioner Gary Armstrong summarized the staff report for items 9.A
and 9.B.
Commissioner Burke said that he supported extending the “Crushing Inertia ll” artwork
display, he noted that the picture for the “Banned Booty Runway” artwork display was
a sideview of the artwork, and he said that from the items that he could see such as
scissors, he was pleased to see that the proposed location was not post security.
Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong noted that the artist had assured him that the
display material would be very sturdy and theoretically damage free.
Commissioner Miller said that he supported having art in the Airport, and he said that
with the renovations that would be taking place, it is important for the Airport staff to
be in agreement with the locations that the Public Arts Commission are
recommending. He noted that space is limited at the Airport, and he voiced his concern
with the size of the “Banned Booty Runway” artwork display. Public Arts
Commissioner Armstrong said that the art could be in the permanent collection without
having to be in a permanent location and that the artwork could be moved around as
necessary. Commissioner Miller asked Airport Executive Director Barrett for his input
on the matter. Mr. Barrett said that he did have a concern in regard to the proposed
location of the artwork because the Airport staff had relocated Flair Airlines to the ticket
counters that are north of the proposed location, and he said that Flair Airlines queuing
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would go past the artwork. Mr. Barrett said that he wasn’t concerned about the visibility
of the artwork and that he was concerned with the Airports circulation constraints.
Commissioner Miller requested that the Public Arts Commission work with Airport staff
to come up with a Plan A and B for the location of the artwork. Commissioner Payne
asked if Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong had walked around the Airport with
Airport staff to identify the location for the artwork. Public Arts Commissioner
Armstrong explained that he and another Public Arts Commissioner had walked
through the non-secure areas of the Airport to identify the location with the
understanding that the artwork could be placed in a different location, he said that they
were working with staff to get a tour to review the current artwork at the Airport, and
he said that he wanted to gauge the Commission’s interest in the artwork first.
Commissioner Payne suggested that the Public Arts Commissioners work with the
Airport staff to determine the best location for the artwork and to bring the item back
to a future Commission meeting.
Commissioner Feltman asked if there was a set term in the agreement for the Airport
artwork. Mr. Barrett said that the terms could be negotiated with the artist or the Public
Arts Commission and that the Airport staff did not have a preference on the terms
because staff would like to build out the Airport’s art program. Commissioner Feltman
said that he believed that there should be terms for the artwork and that the terms
could be extended.
Commissioner Wiseman said that he agreed with Commissioners Miller and Payne,
he said that he believed that the artwork would be a great addition to the Airport, and
he said that in regard to the possibility of relocating the artwork, there should be an
understanding of who will be responsible of the costs of relocating the artwork. Public
Arts Commissioner Armstrong said that for this piece of artwork, the artist would cover
the costs for future maintenance and relocation costs, and he suggested that the
artwork could be placed at a location that is under construction to get the passengers
attention and to use it as a component for providing information about the construction
timeline.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked that the Airport staff consider working with the Public
Arts Commission to add artwork to the ticketing area because there wasn’t any art or
color in the ticketing area. Mr. Barrett said that staff was considering adding artwork
to the ticketing area, he said that the challenge facility wide was spatial constraints
with queuing and circulation which could make monumental artwork difficult to place,
and he said that paintings and murals could be easier to incorporate. Vice Chairman
Corcoran asked that the Public Arts Commission assist the Airport staff with this task.
Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong said that it was his desire to have the
Commissions interact on a more frequent basis, he said that he had identified several
landside locations that could be potential locations for artwork, and he said that the
Public Arts Commission would be reviewing the artwork at the Airport to see what
needs to be removed or redone with a better display.
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Commissioner Miller asked who insurers the artwork that is installed at the Airport.
Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong said that he believed that the artwork is insured
under the City’s insurance policy and that the artwork gets evaluated that way as well.
Commissioner Miller said that he agreed with Commissioner Feltman, and he said that
he would like for the Public Arts Commission to help the Airport staff with placing more
art in the Airport.
ACTION: Approve Agenda Item 9.A - Extension of Artwork Display “Crushing Inertia
ll” and continue Agenda Item 9.B - Installation of New Artwork Display “Banned Booty
Runway” to a future Airport Commission meeting. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick,
seconded by Commissioner Burke and unanimously approved noting the
absence of Commissioners Hughes, Martin, and Slama.
Items 9.C was heard after Item 10.C.
9.C Budget and Finance Committee Update
Committee Chairman Feltman said that he had had a good meeting with the Finance
staff and that the Budget and Finance Committee was making good progress on
optimizing and evolutionizing some of the financial reports
Item 9.D was heard after Item 10.B.
9.D Noise Committee Update
Interim Committee Chairman Burke reported that for the period of July through
September 2022, the Airport received a total of four noise complaints that included
commercial, general, and military noise complaints, and he said that the Commission
should expect for the noise complaints to increase with the Airport going into the busy
season.
10. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT:
10.A Marketing Update
Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Meier provided the marketing
and air service update for October 2022. He reviewed the scheduled departing seats
for end of year 2022, he compared 2022 versus 2021 for October, November, and
December, and he said that he believed that this year would be a record year for PSP.
Mr. Meier also reviewed the scheduled departing seats for the beginning year 2023,
he compared 2022 versus 2023 for January, February, and he noted that he had
removed April because he had discovered that the schedule for Southwest Airlines
had not been fully published.
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Commissioner Feltman said that he had reviewed the Brand and Logo RFP, and he
asked if Mr. Meier’s had a timeline that he could share with the Commission. Mr. Meier
said that originally the project was scheduled to be completed by November 2022, he
said that the project was no longer on a schedule, and he said that he was hoping to
launch the new brand and logo in the Spring of 2023. Mr. Meier also noted that the
project cost had increased by $31,000 because of the additional meetings.
Commissioner Feltman asked Mr. Meier if he could provide a revised timeline for the
Commission. Mr. Meier said that he would work on providing a revised timeline in
November.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked if the public sessions had provided valuable input that
would make a difference on where the Airport staff lands on the project. Mr. Meier said
that he still needed to review the information from Aviatrix Communications, he said
that most of the comments that had been received were more focused on the state of
the terminal and the facilities and that out of the 500 public statements that had been
received, the majority of the statements were suggesting that the Airport should be
about the Coachella Valley and not Palm Springs singular. Vice Chairman Corcoran
asked Mr. Meier if his intent was to provide the updates to the Marketing Committee
first before it goes to the Commission. Mr. Meier said that he was planning on
providing the updates to the Marketing Committee first.
Commissioner Burke said that he had attended the public session meetings and the
stakeholder meetings, and he said that the stakeholder meetings had been much
more engaged and the comments that had been received were passionate. He said
that he would be happy with allowing the updates to go straight to the Commission if
timing would not allow for the Marketing Committee to meet first. Vice Chairman
Corcoran asked that Commissioner Burke and Mr. Meier work together on
coordinating the update process, and he asked that they give the Commission enough
lead time to take the next steps in the process.
Item 10.B was heard before Item 9.D.
10.B Financial Summary Update
Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided a highlight of the financial
summary for September 2022. Commissioner Miller asked Ms. Carpenter if her
projection was that the Airport would meet the budget, or the Airport could have a
surplus at the end of the fiscal year. Ms. Carpenter confirmed that the Airport would
meet the budget, or the Airport could have a surplus at the end of the fiscal year. Ms.
Carpenter reported that the Airport staff had submitted a request for reimbursement
for the CARES and CRSSA grants, and she said that the revenue should be reported
in the October 2022 financial summary.
Item 10.C was heard before Item 9.C.
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10.C Concessions RFP Update
Vice Chairman Corcoran explained that the purpose of the update was to let the
Commissioners know where things stand on the process of evaluating each of the
proposals for the RFP and what the next steps would be.
City Attorney Ballinger said that he was available to answer any legal questions in
terms of the process, he said that he understood that the bids were moving forward,
the evaluation process had been completed, and he said that he believed that the
evaluation results would be finalized this week.
Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided an overview of the Concessions
RFP process, and she said that staff would be reviewing the evaluator’s ratings to
determine which bidder was the highest rated based off the qualifications of the criteria
of the scope of work. She said that staff would be presenting their recommendation to
the Commission with the intention of presenting staffs and the Commission’s
recommendation to the City Council on December 15th.
Commissioner Miller referred to the 40 Concessions RFP pre-proposal meeting
attendees, and he asked staff if they knew why the number dropped for proposals.
Airport Executive Director Barrett said that many of the attendees were partnered with
master concessionaires, and he said that some of the vendors did not bid because of
facility and market constraints. Commissioner Miller inquired about the areas that did
not receive bids. Mr. Barrett explained that the areas that did not receive any bids
were the blank slate areas, he said that those areas weren’t occupied, and staff was
trying to make additional revenue from those areas. Ms. Carpenter noted that the
blank slate areas do not have infrastructure, and the vendor would have to establish
the infrastructure.
Commissioner Feltman inquired about the exclusion of the Airport Commissioners on
the evaluation panel, and he asked if this was a continuation of the cultural attitude of
the former City Manager who didn’t want to include the Commission in serious
deliberations on particular matters or if there was an actual legal reason behind the
decision. He said that he also wanted to know why Visit Greater Palm Springs was
asked to be on the evaluation panel instead of Commissioners that have some degree
of an oversight role.
City Attorney Ballinger said that in talking with the Procurement staff who has more
experience with RFP’s than he does, it was explained to him that the Procurement
staff had never seen a body whether it’s a recommending body like the Airport
Commission or a final decision-making body like a City Council participate in the panel
selection process because if they do, you essentially have the same people that are
involved in the panel selection process serving in an oversight capacity which removes
the checks and balances for the process. Mr. Ballinger explained that by having
industry stakeholders including Visit Greater Palm Springs making the first pass at the
RFP and giving the Commission their thoughts, it allows the Commission to weigh-in
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and oversee the RFP which allows for checks and balances, and he noted that when
dealing with public funds, the Commission should be stricter about their oversight
capacity.
Commissioner Feltman asked Airport staff if the Commission would be able to have a
meaningful opportunity to ask in-depth questions, to receive the answers, and to
review them again or would the Commission be basically on a proforma basis because
time has run out. Mr. Barrett said that the purpose for taking an extra week for the
regularly scheduled Airport Commission meeting was to give staff the opportunity to
assemble the information that is needed to help walk the Commission through the
process and the decision points that led to the recommended concessionaire which
will give the Commission the opportunity to see the process on all levels.
Commissioner Feltman asked what the deadline was that the Concessions RFP
needed to go to the City Council. Mr. Barrett said that the Concessions RFP needed
to be on the December 15th City Council agenda, and Ms. Carpenter said that the
Concessions RFP staff report needed to be submitted to the City Council on
November 24th.
Commissioner Miller asked what would happen if the Concessions RFP doesn’t get
submitted to the City Council on November 24th. Ms. Carpenter said that the Airport
staff would be bringing the Concessions RFP to the Commission to request the
Commissions recommendation. Commissioner Miller asked Mr. Ballinger if there was
a State law, ordinance or policy that says that a Commissioner cannot participate an
RFP evaluation panel. Mr. Ballinger said no. Commissioner Miller said that he was
aware of Councilmembers that have sat on selection committees, and he questioned
the logic of not allowing a Commissioner to be on an evaluation panel. Mr. Ballinger
said that if Commissioner Miller was referring to a City Councilmember selecting a
new City Manager or a new fire station site, those would be situations that he believed
were often seen, he said that in the procurement world where funds are being spent,
there are typically protections and oversights in place to make sure that there isn’t
fraud and corruption, and the expectations, standards, and practices are a little bit
tighter.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Barrett to confirm that staff would be sharing the
original proposals, and the different decision points that led to staff’s recommendation.
Mr. Barrett confirmed that staff would be going through the different proposals and
how staff arrived at the recommendation to the Commission, and at that point, the
Commission could choose to agree with staff’s recommendation, or they could request
to step back to take a look at the information again.
Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he didn’t understand the conflict of interest and that
he felt that it’s flimsy that staff was allowing people from Visit Greater Palm Springs to
be involved in the decision process and not Commissioners, he said that he wanted
to take the discussion offline because he felt that it may not be the first time that the
Commission has been left out of what was one of the two priorities for the year that
have been delegated to the Airport and City staff. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that
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he didn’t get the logic in that, and he wanted to know from a legal point of view what
it was all about. He said that it doesn’t make sense to him that the Commission
wouldn’t have some representation on the decision process, and he said that the
Commission should have been advised as to who was going to be involved in the
decision process.
Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he was happy that the Airport staff was going to be
transparent with the Commission so that the Commission could understand the trade-
offs and the decision making and most importantly if the final recommendation was
consistent with the criteria that the Commission suggested. Vice Chairman Corcoran
said that the Commission should know ahead of time who is going to be involved in
the decision-making process, he noted to Mr. Ballinger that he believed that the
thinking that there is a conflict of interest should be challenged, and he said that the
good news was that the Commission was going to have the opportunity to see
everything that was proposed. Ms. Carpenter explained that some of the proposals
have confidential information, and that staff would be providing a synopsis for that
confidential information.
Commissioner Hedrick said that it was his understanding that once a proposal is
submitted it becomes public information. Mr. Ballinger explained that the City can hold
the information as confidential up until the point that the final decision-making body
makes a decision, and in this case, the final decision-making body would be the City
Council, and he said that generally the information is kept confidential from the public
and the other proposers to avoid one proposer having an advantage over the other
proposers, and to allow the City to be able to negotiate the best deal for the City. Mr.
Ballinger said that he would speak to the Airport staff about seeing if there could be a
way to maintain that confidentiality by providing the information to the Commissioners
with a non-disclosure agreement. Commissioner Miller inquired about holding a
Closed Session meeting. Mr. Ballinger said that a Closed Session meeting would
protect the conversation and that a non-disclosure agreement would still be
necessary, and he said that he would discuss the matter further with the Airport staff.
Vice Chairman Corcoran voiced his frustration with the restrictions being put on the
information that would be provided to the Commission, he said that the Commission
wouldn’t be receiving the whole story and that the Commission would be missing the
context of the discussions that happened between the proposals, and he said that he
wanted to challenge again the decision process and the logic that went into it. Vice
Chairman Corcoran said that the Airport staff needs to inform the Commission before
a committee of decision makers are put in place. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked if the
Concessions RFP would be discussed at the Operations, Properties and Facilities
Committee meeting that was scheduled for October. Commissioner Schmitz said that
he did not believe that the Concessions RFP was on the agenda for the Committee
meeting. Commissioner Miller noted that the agenda had not been posted and that
the item could be added to the agenda.
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Commissioner Wiseman said that in regard to the confidential information, it was all
the more reason for there to be a Commissioner on the evaluation panel that could be
privy to the confidential information that could advise the Commission in public
sessions, he said that he believed that it was possible for the Commission to fulfill its
obligation for checks and balances by being purely an observer and not actually
contributing to that deliberation, and he noted that the Commission was now dealing
with a logistical issue where realistically the Commission needs to have two sessions
in order to provide an actual recommendation on the matter which would be one
session to digest the information and to ask questions, and a second session to vote
on the item. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Commissioner Wiseman if he was
suggesting that the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee meeting be the
first session, and the November Commission meeting would be the second session.
Commissioner Wiseman confirmed his suggestion, and he said that the
Commissioners that aren’t on the Committee could attend the meeting as observers.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Barrett if the Airport staff could accommodate the
two sessions. Mr. Barrett said that it would be a matter of staff making sure that the
documents and information were in place and ready to be presented to the
Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Ms.
Carpenter if the request was reasonable in terms of having the deliverables ready for
the Committee meeting. Ms. Carpenter said that staff would have to prepare a
significantly large document for the Committee meeting, and she said that she would
try her best to have the documents ready for the Committee meeting.
Commissioner Wiseman asked if a Commissioner could attend and observe the final
evaluation panel meeting. Vice Chairman Corcoran explained that it wouldn’t be
appropriate for a Commissioner to attend the final evaluation panel meeting because
they wouldn’t understand the context of the whole process, and it could potentially
have a negative impact on the process.
Commissioner Payne said that he agreed with Vice Chairman Corcoran, and he
suggested having the Commissioners sign a non-disclosure form and holding a
Closed Session meeting if needed. He said that there was a potential protest around
not having concessions people on the selection panel, and he asked Mr. Barrett who
on the panel had deep concessions experience that had worked in concessions in
multiple years and places from an airport perspective. Mr. Barrett said that there was
a member from The Steer Group that was a consultant that has worked specifically in
airport concessions for many years.
Commissioner Budilo asked if it would be possible to redact the confidential
information from the proposals. Ms. Carpenter explained that the proposals for the
retail and food and beverage locations were approximately 400 to 500 pages and that
the blank slate proposals were less than that. Commissioner Budilo inquired about the
number of RFP responses that were received. Ms. Carpenter said that seven
responses were received.
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Commissioner Schmitz asked if it would be problematic to move the Operations,
Properties and Facilities Committee out a week if staff needs more time. Mr. Barrett
said that it would be helpful to staff to move the Committee meeting out a week. Vice
Chairman Corcoran suggested that Ms. Carpenter provide an update early next week
on what it would take to be ready to present the information to the Committee, and
then a determination could be made about the Committee meeting date.
Mr. Ballinger asked if the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee had been
identified in the RFP as a part of the process. Ms. Carpenter responded with negative.
Vice Chairman Corcoran explained that the discussion to include the Committee had
occurred two weeks prior to this meeting. Mr. Ballinger asked for confirmation that Ms.
Carpenter had stated that the Concessions RFP process had been outlined for the
Commission earlier in the year. Ms. Carpenter said that the process had been outlined
in the RFP and to the Commission in May. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that although
the process had been laid out, the decision process and the composition of that team
was not shared with the Commission. Mr. Ballinger asked for confirmation that the
Commission had not been informed earlier in the year that there would not be
committee involvement. Vice Chairman Corcoran confirmed that the Commission had
not been informed earlier in the year that there would not be committee involvement.
Vice Chairman Corcoran said that there has been a pattern of behavior that the
Commission has been trying to manage around appropriate communications with the
Commissioners while maintaining appropriate swim lanes in terms of what the roles
and responsibilities are for Commissioners, relative to working with staff and the City.
He said that if there was a heightened sensitivity to the matter, and the reason why
the Commission needs to be careful moving forward was because there were other
issues where this has happened where Commissioners felt that they deserved to
understand what was going on and they didn’t. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that this
was something that everyone has agreed to work carefully on and more sensitively
moving forward, and he said that part of that was to challenge a legal point of view
around what was or wasn’t appropriate or what was a conflict of interest and to have
that discussion before any type of decision team like this is added. He said that he
believed that it was totally inappropriate for this to happen after the fact and that there
were people who disagreed with the legal interpretation that was brought into this
decision.
Commissioner Wiseman asked what the consequences would be if the decision was
not given to the City Council on December 15th and it was extended to January. Vice
Chairman Corcoran said that there would be a new City Council. Mr. Barrett said that
it would affect the transition timeline from the current concessionaire to the new
concessionaire. Commissioner Miller asked what difference it would make if it were
the current City Council or the new City Council deciding on the Concessions RFP
because it was still going through a process that any City Council would hopefully
recognize and vote accordingly. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that the Commissions
hope was that there was confidence in the process and that the Commission would
be celebrating a great recommendation on November 22nd, and that however the City
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Council votes to move forward, he hopes that the City Council would be as excited as
the Commission to really realize this vision of a local presence with vendors and food
service at the Airport. Vice Chairman Corcoran also noted that the new Concessions
program begins as of April 30th and that the timeline was meant to make sure that
there was enough lead time for the new concessionaires, and he said that he didn’t
believe that this evening’s discussion should impact the timeline.
10.D Strategic Planning Session Follow-Up
Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided a report on the project surveys
that were completed during the strategic planning session meeting. Vice Chairman
Corcoran asked Ms. Carpenter and Executive Administrative Assistant Brown if the
pre-meeting survey, the surveys that were completed in the meeting, and the meeting
notes would be provided to the Master Plan consultant. Ms. Carpenter said that the
Airport staff would be providing the current capital improvement projects plan, and the
Commissioner’s concerns and recommendations for the capital projects to the
consultant. Ms. Brown said that the detailed minutes that would include the meeting
notes would also be provided to the consultant.
10.E Master Plan Update
Airport Executive Director Barrett said that staff had identified a potential consultant
to lead the Master Plan effort, and staff was working through the cost negotiations and
scope of work with the consultant. He said that the next step would be to take the
consultant contract to the airlines for approval because the contract would exceed the
cost threshold for the current airline use agreement, then the contract would be
presented to the Commission for approval, and then it would be presented to the City
Council for a final approval. Mr. Barrett said that the planning process would most
likely begin around December or January, he said that he had spoken to Chairman
Dada about assembling a working group for the Master Plan that would include
several Commissioners, a representative from Visit Greater Palm Springs, and
potentially other City staff.
Commissioner Miller inquired about the timeframe for the completion of the Master
Plan. Mr. Barrett said that the project had been scoped for a 30-month process, he
said that the project would be phased to focus on the terminal facility first which would
include the terminal constraints, the roadways, and the identification of a consolidated
rental car facility, and the airfield would be the subsequent phase of the project. Mr.
Barrett explained that the 30-month timeline would be subject to the aeronautical
forecast being approved by the FAA, and the environmental component of the project.
Commissioner Miller asked if the selection of the consultant should be sent to a
committee first so that the Commissioners could observe the discussion to get
themselves familiarized with the selection process. Mr. Barrett said that he would need
to discuss Commissioner Miller’s suggestion with the City Attorney, and he explained
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that an FAA Master Plan process is strictly governed by the FAA in terms of how the
selection is made. Commissioner Payne referred to Mr. Barrett’s comment that was in
regard to negotiating the cost with the consultant, he said that it appeared that the
consultant had already been selected, and he asked if Mr. Barrett could share who
had been selected. Mr. Barrett said that he could not share who had been selected at
that time. Commissioner Payne asked if it was correct to say that would be a done
deal once the cost was agreed upon. Mr. Barrett said that Commissioner Payne was
correct. Commissioner Payne inquired about the timeframe for completing the cost
negotiation. Mr. Barrett said that he believed that it would be completed within a week
or so.
Commissioner Payne requested an update on the 11 projects that were bond funded
at the next Commission meeting or at the next Operations, Properties and Facilities
Committee meeting. Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that Commissioner’s Payne and
Miller had shared some interesting documents that needed to be shared with the
Commission, and he said that he believed that there needed to be more pre-work
before there is an in-depth conversation. Commissioner Payne requested that this
discussion be added to the November 22nd Airport Commission agenda. Vice
Chairman Corcoran said that the discussion could be added to the November agenda,
if the Concessions RFP doesn’t become the priority for that meeting.
10.F Projects and Airport Capital Improvement Program Update
Airport Executive Director Barrett reported that the Common Use project had been
stalled because of the lead time for materials, and he said that the Airport staff and
the airlines had agreed to proceed by phasing the project over several months and
that the phasing would begin with the Regional Jet Concourse to try to get it completely
converted over for IT use, then to extend it out to the ticket counters, and then the
Bono Concourse would be focused on in approximately May or June. He said that the
restroom project had also been stalled until after the 2023 season because of the lead
time for materials and the increase in material cost.
Mr. Barrett said that as the Airport begins to enter the 2023 season, the staff’s focus
would be on getting the required studies completed for the upcoming projects, and he
said that construction wouldn’t begin on those projects until the Airport staff was
certain that the needed manpower was available, and that the construction wouldn’t
affect airline operations.
11. COMMISSIONERS REQUESTS AND REPORTS:
Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that per Commissioner Miller’s request, an agenda
item for the bond discussion would be added to November agenda if the Commission
has the bandwidth to discuss the item at the November meeting, and he said that
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Commissioners Miller, Feltman, and Payne would be contacted to work out the
questions that would be provided to staff so that they could have time to prepare the
answers to the questions.
Commissioner Miller said that although his topic follows hand in hand with
Commissioner Payne’s topic, their topics were different, and he asked Vice Chairman
Corcoran how he would like to handle the different topics for the agenda. Vice
Chairman Corcoran said that the Airport staff would work with Commissioners Miller,
Feltman, and Payne to see how they could craft the two topics into the agenda
proposal and that Commissioners Miller, Feltman, and Payne would need to provide
the pre-work to help the Airport staff understand the topics and how to address the
questions. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that if the item was out of scope because of
the Commission’s bandwidth considering what the Commission needed to do in the
next 30 days then the item would be pushed off unless there was something that
becomes urgent in terms of something that was going to get the Commission in or out
of funding before the end of the year and that would need to be accelerated.
Commissioner Miller requested that the Airport staff provide a list of the
Commissioners and their terms, he noted that the City Attorney had advised the
Commission that it was legal for the Commissioners to have each other’s email
addresses, and he asked that staff also provide the Commissioner’s email addresses.
Vice Chairman Corcoran asked if there was any issue with sharing the contact
information. Executive Administrative Assistant Brown suggested that each of the
Commissioners should be asked if they approve of having their email address
distributed to the Commission. Mr. Barrett said that he agreed with Ms. Brown’s
suggestion, and he believed that it should be up to the individual Commissioners as
to if they want their information to be shared with the Commission. Vice Chairman
Corcoran requested that for any Commissioners that did not wish to have their
information shared to notify Ms. Brown. Ms. Brown suggested that she could contact
the Commissioners individually to confirm that the email address she has on file was
the email address that the Commissioners want to be distributed. Commissioner Miller
noted that the City Clerk’s office could also provide a city email address to the
Commissioners that would prefer not to give out their personal email address.
Commissioner Burke respectfully asked Commissioner Miller what the purpose would
be for having the Commissioner’s email addresses and what could not be done
through normal Commission business. Commissioner Miller explained that he had
been contacted about putting together an informal speaker’s bureau that would speak
about the Airport, and he said that he had no way to get the information to the
Commissioner that was inquiring about putting the speakers together. Commissioner
Adams said that he didn’t feel the need to give out his email address when the
Commissioners have contact in the meetings, and through official City channels which
is through Ms. Brown.
Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Meier referred to Commissioner
Miller’s reference to a speaker’s bureau, and he said that the speaker’s bureau was a
Palm Springs Airport commission
Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting
October 19, 2022
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part of the established marketing communications plan that was created by the
Airport’s consultant and that it was in process. He said that the Airport staff needs to
make sure that there is a unified message, everyone is all together on the same points,
the information is correct information that has been vetted through the Airport’s
Marketing Department and City communications, and he said that the Commissioner’s
should be working with the Chair of the Marketing Committee.
12. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS:
12.A Past City Council Actions
12.B Future City Council Actions
13. RECEIVE AND FILE:
13.A Airline Activity Report September 2022
13.B Airline Activity Report Fiscal Year Comparison
13.C Airlines Schedules November 2022
14. COMMITTEES:
14.A Future Committee Meetings
15. ADJOURNMENT:
ACTION: Adjourn the meeting. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by
Commissioner Burke and unanimously approved noting the absence of
Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes, Martin, and Slama.
The Airport commission adjourned at 7:36 P.M. to a Regular Meeting on November 22,
2022, at 5:30 P.M.
Christina Brown
Executive Administrative Assistant