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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-18-23 - Airport Commission MinutesPage 1 of 11 AIRPORT COMMISSION ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING January, 18, 2023 – 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 invited Commissioner Adams to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held in-person and via videoconference. 2. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: Posted on January 12, 2023. 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 Paul Slama (Riverside County) David Feltman (Palm Springs) M. Guillermo Suero (Palm Springs) Ken Hedrick (Palm Springs) Kevin Wiseman (Palm Desert) Commissioners Absent: Aftab Dada (Palm Springs) – Chair, Kathleen Hughes (La Quinta) and Gabriel Martin (Coachella) Staff Present: Harry Barrett, Jr., Airport Executive Director Jeremy Keating, Assistant Airport Director Daniel Meier, Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Victoria Carpenter, Airport Administration Manager Kristopher Mooney, Assistant Director of Finance Christina Brown, Executive Administrative Assistant Others Present: Gary Wexler, Gary Wexler Design Ryan Hayes, Mead & Hunt – Project Manager, Aviation Services Chuck McCormick, Mead & Hunt – Southwest Market Lead Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 2 of 11 4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA: ACTION: Accept the Agenda as presented. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by Commissioner Breslin and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Dorian Whitney, Cathedral City resident, said that he felt that the legitimate business ordinance was a bad idea because he believed that the Airport passengers would end up being bothered by the enforcement of the ordinance, and he said that he felt that it was cruel and heartless to make it more difficult for the unhoused people. 6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport Commission meeting of October 19, 2022. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by Commissioner Breslin and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. 7. INTRODUCTIONS AND PRESENTATIONS: 7.A Design History and Review of the Airport Terminal Gary Wexler provided a presentation to the Commission on Donald Wexler, FAIA: Design history and review of the Palm Springs Airport Terminal 1963 – 1966. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that the presentation was impressive and that it was an important reminder of the Airport’s mission to embrace the history and values of the Airport moving forward. 8. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS: 8.A 2023 Airport Commission Meetings Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he had spoken with several Commissioner’s about Chairman Dada’s proposal to reduce the number of Commission meetings, he said that Chairman Dada was rescinding his proposal, and he said that the consensus of most of the Commissioners was that with the amount of work that the Commission needs to do and the important issues that the Airport has, this was not the time to reduce the number of meetings. Vice Chairman Corcoran explained that Chairman Dada’s intent was to recognize the number of subcommittee meetings that the Commissioners have been committed to and that he was concerned that the commitment was becoming much bigger than the Commission had intended it to be. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 3 of 11 Airport Executive Administrative Assistant Brown presented the 2023 Airport Commission meeting schedule, and Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that the Commission would be dark in August. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Ms. Brown to present the current list of subcommittees, and he suggested that the Landscape Committee could be combined with the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee and that the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee could also oversee the Public Arts Commission’s proposals for different art installations at the Airport. Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that the agendas for most of the committee meetings and the Commission meetings have grown substantially which has had a significant impact not only in terms of time and people’s bandwidth, it also has a significant impact on the Airport staff. Ms. Brown reported that from 2019 to 2021 there were 19 Commission and Committee meetings held in each year, and in 2022, the number of meetings held went up to 28. She said that in regard to Commissioner Wiseman’s question that was in regard to the amount of time that it takes to prepare the agenda, she wanted to clarify that it wasn’t the preparation of the agenda that was taking up the majority of her time, it was the additional requests and correspondence, and the additional sets of minutes that she has to prepare that was adding the most time to her workload. Ms. Brown explained that it takes her approximately two hours to prepare the Commission agenda and that it takes much longer to prepare for a Committee meeting because the following steps need to be completed to organize a Committee meeting: 1) The Airport staff’s availability needs to be confirmed; 2) The meeting date is proposed to the Committee Chair; 3) When the date is approved by the Committee Chair, the proposed date is provided to the committee members to confirm their availability; 4) Once the committee member’s availability is confirmed, an email is sent to the Committee to confirm the meeting date; 5) The agenda topics are discussed and confirmed with the Committee Chair; 6) The agenda packet is created; 7) The agenda packed is emailed to the Committee; and 8) The agenda cover sheet is emailed to the Commission. Ms. Brown provided a graph to demonstrate the total hours it takes to transcribe the meeting minutes per year which showed that the hours went from 270 hours in 2021 to 419 hours in 2022. She explained that in her experience, it takes two hours per page to transcribe the minutes and that the two hours is factoring in the time that it takes to formulate the discussion and that the most important aspect of transcribing the minutes was to make sure that the discussion is clear and concise for the public and that the Commissioner’s views have been accurately expressed. Ms. Brown said that the hours have increased significantly because of the increase in the number of meetings and the length of the meetings. Ms. Brown provided a graph to demonstrate the number of emails that she had received and sent from December 2021 to December 2022, and she reported that from December 2021 to August 2022, she had been receiving and sending Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 4 of 11 approximately four emails per day and that from September 2022 to December 2022, the number increased to approximately nine emails per day. Ms. Brown noted that while some of the emails she could quickly respond to, many of the emails required her to research past Commission minutes and Airport documents, to work with additional staff to get the needed information, to have discussions with Chairman Dada and Vice Chairman Corcoran, and she said that there were also situations where staff has to meet with the Interim City Manager and the City Attorney. Ms. Brown respectfully reminded the Commission that the Airport staff also has full workloads that are separate from working with the Commission, and she said that keeping up with the demand of the Commission and Committees on top of staff’s full workloads can be a struggle. Ms. Brown assured the Commission that there was one thing that the Airport staff was not struggling with and that was the passion that each of the Airport staff have for making the Airport the best it can be and that is why the Airport staff work late nights and weekends. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that the Commission would have an opportunity to think about what has been presented to them, and he said that there would be a separate agenda item to discuss the Commissioner’s swim lanes and responsibilities, and how the Commission could be more efficient in the meetings. He said that he believed that there was a sensitivity around the number of hours that the Commissioners are committing, especially to the subcommittees which has increased across the board. Vice Chairman Corcoran also referred to the Executive Director’s Report, and the reference in the report to some of the important projects that are not moving forward because the Airport doesn’t have the staff that is needed, and he said that he believes that adequate staffing was a part of the issue. Vice Chairman Corcoran encouraged the Committee Chairs to work on having efficient agendas and to have the information put in writing ahead of time. ACTION: Approve the 2023 Airport Commission meeting schedule. Moved by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Hedrick and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. Commissioner Feltman noted that the Airport is a growth enterprise and that with growth enterprises, you add staff in concert with the growing aspirations of the enterprise, he said that the Airport should not be fearful or apologetic about staffing up in the way that the Airport needs to conduct Airport business, and he suggested that the Airport should be big and bold when assessing what the Airport needs to move forward and to accomplish the Airport’s collective goals. Commissioner Wiseman suggested folding the Noise Committee into the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he believed that there was an ordinance that required there to be a separate Noise Committee. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 5 of 11 Ms. Brown said that she had confirmed with the City Attorney that per the City ordinance, the Noise Committee is required to be a separate Committee, and she said that the City Attorney also noted that it could be difficult to fold the Noise Committee into another Committee because the ordinance has a specific formatting of who can be on the Committee and the number of members. Commissioner Wiseman suggested that the ordinance should be changed. Vice Chairman Corcoran said he was in support of pursuing the changing of the ordinance. Commissioner Payne suggested that the Commission should replace the subcommittees and ad hoc committees with working groups that would not require public meetings. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he supported Commissioner Payne’s idea, and he said that he would like to run the idea by City staff to see if there are any objections to the idea. ACTION: Combine the Ad Hoc Landscape Committee into the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee, and the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee will oversee the Airport artwork proposals. Moved by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Payne and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that in regard to the election of Airport Commission Chair and Vice Chair, there hadn’t been any discussions about when the City Council would be ready to begin interviewing Commission candidates, he said that he believed that the process was pending the hiring of the new City Manager, and he also said that he didn’t believe that there would be anything to prevent the Commission from having the election in June. Commissioner Hedrick noted that his term would be ending on June 30, 2023, and he asked if he would be able to stay on the Commission if the City hadn’t moved forward with the appointments and reappointments. Airport Executive Director Barrett said that the extension of Commissioner terms could be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Commissioner Miller suggested that the Commission recommend that the City Council change the Municipal Code to allow Airport Commissioners to serve four-year appointments because of the long-term projects at the Airport. Airport Executive Administrative Assistant Brown explained that the recommendation would need to go through Mr. Barrett to the City Manager, and the City Manager would present the recommendation to the City Council. Commissioner Miller said that he believed that the Commission could go directly to the City Council. Ms. Brown explained that Mr. Barrett was the current Airport Commission liaison. Commissioner Payne inquired about the possibility of a City Council liaison coming back to participate in the Commission meetings. Ms. Brown said that the matter was discussed at the previous City Council meeting, she said that Councilmember deHarte had offered to be the Airport liaison, several of the councilmembers explained that Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 6 of 11 being a liaison could be burdensome because the councilmembers basically become staff for the commission, and the City Council decided to table the discussion until the new City Manager was onboarded. 8.B Ad Hoc Design Review Committee Update Committee Chairman Corcoran said that the Committee had a productive meeting with Paradies Lagardère (Paradies), and he said that there were several key items that had come out of the meeting. One item was that El Mirasol and Coachella Valley Coffee Co. would be located at the former Celebrity Bistro location, and the Committee wanted know what could be done to make people aware of those two locations to help facilitate traffic in that direction. He said that staff was looking into if the reflection pool was under the protection of historic preservation or if the space could be redeployed to make it more user friendly. Another item was that the menus needed to include more healthy food items, and he said that Paradies would be coming back with revised menus that would have healthier items. Committee Chairman Corcoran referred to the top of the Bono Concourse, and he said that the Chihuly sculptures would be removed and that Paradies would be adding a bar in that location. He said that there had been a discussion about utilizing the bar as a branding space to promote major local events. Committee Chairman Corcoran noted that both Paradies and The Marshall Retail Group (MRG) would be using a significant amount of technology which raised several questions about IT specifications and there being enough coverage and bandwidth. Committee Chairman Corcoran said that there had been discussions with both Paradies and MRG about allowing vendors that had been included in a competing proposal to partner up with Paradies and MRG, and he said that Paradies and MRG were open to the idea. Airport Administration Manager Carpenter said that Paradies and MRG would be surveying the community for new products and services on a regular basis, she said that there was a point of contact for Paradies and MRG that were listed on the Airport’s website for vendors that are interested in partnering up with them and she said that the Airport staff would be holding weekly working group meetings with Paradies and MRG. Committee Chairman Corcoran said that the meeting with MRG went very well, he said that he felt that several of the stores could be branded more specifically for Palm Springs, and he said that MRG was open to the Committee’s ideas. He noted that Commissioner Wiseman had voiced his support for having stores that are branded to represent the whole valley. Committee Chairman Corcoran said that MRG had presented an idea for a mobile coffee cart. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 7 of 11 8.C Noise Committee Update Airport Executive Director Barrett reported that the Airport had received the following noise complaints: a) One general aviation and one military aircraft noise complaint for the month of July; b) One general aviation noise complaint for the month of August; c) One commercial aircraft noise complaint for the month of September; d) One commercial aircraft noise complaint for the month of October; e) One commercial aircraft and one military noise complaint for the month of November; and f) Two commercial aircraft noise complaints for the month of December. Mr. Barrett also reported that the Airport was entering into the final stages of the Master Plan study which would have an impact on noise. Committee Chairman Wiseman noted that Mr. Barrett had encouraged the committee members to provide feedback and input from the community, and he said that he had requested that the Airport review the past noise complaints to assess if there was a particular directionality where complaints were heaviest which could help determine where a potential noise barrier could be most effective. 8.D Banned Booty Runway Artwork Display Airport Executive Administrative Assistant Brown said that the Banned Booty Runway artwork display had been presented at the October Commission meeting and that the Commission had requested that the Airport staff bring the item back to the Commission so that Publics Arts Commissioner Armstrong could work with staff to determine the best location for the artwork. Ms. Brown presented Option A which was located to the right of the main terminal entrance and in the center of the walkway, and Option B which was located to the right of the main terminal entrance and the artwork would be placed along the wall. Ms. Brown said that staff believed that Option A would provide the best customer experience. Commissioner Wiseman asked if staff had any concerns in regard to Option A creating a passenger traffic jam. Airport Executive Director Barrett said that staff believed that Option A would create a natural delineator which would be helpful for TSA. Commissioner Burke asked if staff had reviewed the location of Option A with Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong because he believed that Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong had said that he wanted to place a plaque on the wall that would provide information on the artwork. Mr. Barrett said that staff could reach out to Public Arts Commissioner Armstrong to coordinate where the plaque could be placed for the artwork. ACTION: Approve Option A. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by Commissioner Miller and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 8 of 11 8.E Airline Schedule Airport Executive Administrative Assistant Brown presented an example of the airline schedules that have been provided in the Commission agenda packets, and she explained that the schedules had been prepared by the former Executive Program Administrator and that it takes six hours to prepare the schedules. Ms. Brown said that before staff continues to provide the schedules, she wanted to confirm that the Commission still needs to receive the schedules. Commissioner Payne noted that the airline schedules only provide airside information, he said that he believed that a metrics could be created that would include information for the terminal, airside, and landside and that it could be presented in a more consumable way for staff and the Commission, and he said that he would like to see the year-over-year trends and how it affects operations. Commissioner Miller noted that it was also important to consider what information could be useful for the public. 8.F Marketing Update Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Meier provided the January 2023 marketing and air service update. Commissioner Adams asked if the Airport was experiencing any constraints on the early morning flights. Airport Executive Director Barrett said that although there were more constraints being added, the constraints weren’t currently affecting the early morning flights. Commissioner Breslin inquired about the Airport logo. Mr. Meier said that he was hoping that the logo and the website would be completed by May. Commissioner Payne requested that Mr. Meier report his program spending in the marketing update. 8.G Measure J Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided background information on Measure J for the Commission, and she said that to date, the Airport has approximately $1.3 million in Measure J funds to use on capital expenditures or operating costs. She said that Airport staff would be budgeting the projects for FY24 that the Measure J funds would be used for, and staff would be presenting the proposed projects to the Budget and Finance Committee. Assistant Director of Finance Mooney said that the Measure J Committee had been budgeting $200,000 per year since the FAA rule went into effect in 2017, and the funds were coming from the sales tax that is collected on aviation jet fuel. Mr. Moody Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 9 of 11 explained that it was difficult to pinpoint the exact amount, and he said that the first step for the Finance Department staff would be to make sure that the process could be re-implemented to confirm that the amount of $200,000 a year was the correct amount. Once the amount is confirmed, the next step would be for the Airport staff to present a list of the recommended projects to the Airport Commission and Measure J Commission for their approval. Mr. Moody said that staff would need to determine if the Airport Commission and the Measure J Commission would be meeting jointly or separately. Mr. Moody noted that the FAA rule was designed for all local taxes, and in addition to the 1% Measure J sales tax, the Finance Department believes that the Measure D .5% sales tax also qualifies, and if it does qualify, the Finance Department will recover those funds retroactively to 2018. Commissioner Miller inquired about the use of the funds. Mr. Moody said that he would need to get clarification from the City Attorney on how the funds can be used, and the approval process for the Airport Commission and Measure J Commission. 8.H Financial Summary Update Airport Administration Manager Carpenter noted that the financial summary for the period ending December 31, 2022, had been provided in the agenda packet. 8.I Master Plan Agreement Airport Executive Director Barrett presented the history of the previous Airport Master Plans, the issues that the Airport was facing that the new Master Plan would address, and the scope of work for the Master Plan. He reviewed the RFP process for selecting the consultant Mead & Hunt, he said that the agreement would be presented to the City Council for approval on January 26th, and he also reviewed the Airport staff, Commissioners, and City staff that would be participating in the Master Plan working group. Ryan Hayes, Project Manager with Mead & Hunt, provided a preview of the Master Plan process. Commissioner Payne referred to the Phase 1 and 2 project schedules, and he asked if the payment schedule was deliverable based. Airport Administration Manager Carpenter explained that the Airport staff would be reviewing the submitted invoices, and the paid invoices would be sent to the FAA for reimbursement along with the progress reports. Mr. Hayes also explained that working papers would be submitted to the working group, the working papers would become chapters in the Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 10 of 11 Master Plan report, and the invoices would be sent on a percent complete basis. He said that once a working paper was delivered to the working group, the working group would submit their comments, Mead & Hunt would address the comments, and then Mead & Hunt would submit an invoice for that percentage of the Master Plan. Commissioner Payne asked if Mead & Hunt would be providing a financial plan. Mr. Hayes said that a financial analysis in terms of how to pay for the Master Plan’s recommended capital improvements was included in the scope of work, and he said that some of the projects could be funded by multiple sources. ACTION: Recommend that the Palm Springs City Council approve a Master Plan agreement with Mead & Hunt. Moved by Commissioner Miller, seconded by Commissioner Hedrick and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. 8.J Projects and Airport Capital Improvement Program Update Airport Executive Director Barrett noted that the update had been provided in the agenda, and Assistant Airport Director Keating provided an update on the Common Use project. Commissioner Payne inquired about the Baggage Handling System (BHS) litigation. Mr. Barrett said that he did not have an update on the BHS litigation. Commissioner Payne asked what the issue was and why there was a delay. Mr. Barrett said that it was up to the City Council to decide how to proceed with the litigation, and to what degree they want the Commission to be involved in the litigation process. 9. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT 9.A Legitimate Business Ordinance Update Airport Executive Director Barrett said that the ordinance would be presented to the City Council on January 26th, and he said that the ordinance would help the Police Department enforce the removal of anyone that wasn’t conducting legitimate business at the Airport, and he said that the ordinance was being coordinated by the Police Department with the Airport staff’s input. Commissioner Miller said that according to the City’s Municipal Code, Mr. Barrett already had the authority to establish and enforce these rules, and he suggested that Mr. Barrett discuss the matter with the City Attorney. Mr. Barrett said that he was aware of the Municipal Code, he explained that the issue comes down to how the Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting January 18, 2023 Page 11 of 11 Police Department can enforce the law without any legal ramifications, and he said that the ordinance would take care of that issue. 10. COMMISSIONERS REQUESTS AND REPORTS Commissioner Payne requested that an agenda item be added to the February agenda to discuss the USO. Commissioner Miller asked if the Commissioners that were assigned to the Master Plan working group would be receiving a meeting schedule for the year. Mr. Barrett explained that some of the scheduling would be dependent on FAA approval and aeronautical approval, and he said that it would be difficult to provide a meeting schedule for the year. 11. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS: 11.A Past City Council Actions 11.B Future City Council Actions 12. RECEIVE AND FILE: 12.A Airline Activity Report December 2022 12.B Airline Activity Report Fiscal Year Comparison 13. COMMITTEES: 13.A Future Committee Meetings 14. ADJOURNMENT: ACTION: Adjourn the meeting. Moved by Commissioner Hedrick, seconded by Commissioner Adams and unanimously approved noting the absence of Chairman Dada and Commissioners Hughes and Martin. The Airport Commission adjourned at 7:55 P.M. to a Regular Meeting on February 15, 2023, at 5:30 P.M. Christina Brown Executive Administrative Assistant