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Home My WebLink About06-21-23 - Airport Commission Minutes Page 1 of 5 AIRPORT COMMISSION ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING Wednesday, June 21, 2023 – 5:30 P.M. _____________________________________________________________________ 1. CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Dada called the Airport Commission Meeting to order at 5:30 P.M., and he invited Commissioner Hedrick to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held in-person and via videoconference. 2. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: Posted on June 15, 2023. 3. ROLL CALL: Commissioners Present: Gerald Adams (Palm Springs) Tony Michaelis (Cathedral City) Patricia Breslin (Palm Springs) Jan Pye (Desert Hot Springs) Todd Burke (Palm Springs) Paul Slama (Riverside County) Aftab Dada (Palm Springs) - Chair M Guillermo Suero (Palm Springs) * Denise Delgado (Coachella) Rick Wise (City of Indio) David Feltman (Palm Springs) Kevin Wiseman (Palm Desert) Ken Hedrick (Palm Springs) Keith Young (Rancho Mirage) Kathleen Hughes (La Quinta) Commissioners Absent: Paul Budilo (Indian Wells), Kevin Corcoran (Palm Springs) – Vice Chair, Scott G. Miller (Palm Springs), and John Payne (Palm Springs) *Commissioner Suero joined the meeting at 5:40 p.m. Staff Present: Jeremy Keating, Assistant Airport Director Daniel Meier, Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Victoria Carpenter, Airport Administration Manager Geremy Holm, City Attorney Christina Brown, Executive Program Administrator Others Present: Fred Bell, Vice Chairman of the Palm Springs Air Museum Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting June 21, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 5 4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA: ACTION: Accept the Agenda as presented. Moved by Commissioner Adams, seconded by Commissioner Hedrick, and unanimously approved noting the absence of Vice Chairman Corcoran, and Commissioners Budilo, Miller, Payne. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Steve Rosenberg referred to the Airport’s Master Plan, and he said that the Commission she be focused on the passenger projections, and improving the baggage handling systems for both inbound and outbound, concessions, parking, and gate availability. 6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport Commission Meeting of February 15, 2023. Moved by Commissioner Breslin, seconded by Commissioner Wise and approved by the following roll call vote 9 Yes; 5 Abstain; and noting the absence of Vice Chairman Corcoran and Commissioners Budilo, Miller, Payne and Suero. ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport Commission Meeting of February 28, 2023. Moved by Commissioner Breslin, seconded by Commissioner Wise and approved by the following roll call vote 10 Yes; 4 Abstain; and noting the absence of Vice Chairman Corcoran and Commissioners Budilo, Miller, Payne and Suero. 7. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS: 7.A Palm Springs Air Museum Ground Lease Assistant Airport Director Keating introduced the Palm Springs Air Museum (Air Museum) ground lease, and he said that staff was recommending that the Commission vote to recommend that the City Council approve of the ground lease with the Air Museum. Fred Bell, Vice Chairman of the Palm Springs Air Museum explained that the ground lease would provide the space needed for additional aircraft parking, it would allow the Air Museum to move the big wing aircraft as needed, and he said that the Air Museum was in the process of collecting additional historic aircraft. Mr. Bell noted that there wouldn’t be street or public access to the ground lease space. Commissioner Wise inquired about the current use of the space. Mr. Keating said that currently the space wasn’t being used. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting June 21, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 5 ACTION: Recommend that the Palm Springs City Council approve a ground lease with the Palm Springs Air Museum. Moved by Chairman Dada, seconded by Commissioner Young and unanimously approved noting the absence of Vice Chairman Corcoran and Commissioners Budilo, Miller, Payne and Suero. 7.B Marketing Update Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Meier presented the June 2023 Marketing and Air Service update. Commissioner Wiseman asked if the reduction of passenger numbers for the summer would impact the future projections for the Airport’s Master Plan. Mr. Meier explained that the reduction in passenger numbers was due to a decrease in flights that was due to the pilot shortage, and he said that he didn’t believe that the reduction in passenger numbers would have a long-term effect on the Airport. 7.C Financial Summary Update Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided an overview of the financial summary ending on May 31, 2023. Commissioner Young inquired about the $2 million expenditure that was budgeted in Fund 405. Ms. Carpenter explained that staff had initially intended to use the $2 million for the design of the consolidated rental car facility (CONRAC) and that the design had been put on hold because of the initiation of the Airport Master Plan. Commissioner Feltman said that he wanted to remind the Commission that there wasn’t a default assumption that the Airport was building a CONRAC and that the Commission had asked the Master Plan consultant to present all options for moving forward with the next generation of rental car provisions for the Palm Springs visitors, and he said that he would like for staff to find a more broad term for describing the rental car facility. Chairman Dada asked if the Airport could invest in securities when there is an unstable economy. Commissioner Hedrick noted that the City can invest in State treasuries, and he said that the City has to follow the State guidelines for investing. Chairman Dada asked staff to speak to the City’s Finance Director about investing opportunities for the Airport. 7.D Concessions Update Airport Assistant Director Keating reported that the design teams were making significant progress behind the scenes and that staff are in constant communication with the concessionaires. He said that the design teams were approximately halfway through the 30% design milestone and that he was anticipating the completion of the 30% milestone within the next two weeks. Mr. Keating said that staff was working on obtaining the commissary kitchen demolition permits and that temporary cooling boxes had been installed to help with relocate food storage during the construction. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting June 21, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 5 Mr. Keating reported that the Airport had hired an aviation planner to help the Airport bridge the gap between the Airport and the Planning Department. Mr. Keating reported that beginning in July, Desert News and Desert Mart would be closing for the summer and that the Marshall Retail Group (MRG) would begin preparing some of the temporary space in those two small stores. He said that the first construction wall would be going up for El Mirasol and that MRG would be conducting a local vendor outreach in August. Commissioner Wiseman requested a schedule update. Commissioner Burke asked if Mr. Keating knew when the construction wall for El Mirasol would be going up, and if there would be any signage on the wall that would let the visitors know what is coming to help build anticipation. Mr. Keating said that he was working with Deputy Director of Aviation, Marketing and Air Service Meier and Smart Designs who is the design group for Paradies to come up with the design for the wall, and he said that MRG may also add to the design. 7.E Projects and Airport Capital Improvement Program Update Airport Assistant Director Keating noted that he was filling in for Airport Executive Director Barrett and that the update had been provided in the agenda packet. 8. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT: The report was provided in the agenda packet. 9. COMMISSIONERS REQUESTS AND REPORTS: Commissioner Hedrick announced that this was his last Airport Commission meeting for his term and that serving on the Airport Commission for six years had been a tremendous experience. He said that he had seen a lot of changes at the Airport and that a lot of the changes had been for the better. Commissioner Hedrick said that he was very impressed with Airport Executive Director Barrett, it was great to have Mr. Keating and Mr. Meier, Ms. Carpenter who does a terrific job and is very helpful with the Budget and Finance Committee, and Ms. Brown who has been absolutely wonderful. Commissioner Hedrick said that he believed that the next several years at the Airport would be exceptionally exciting as the Airport moves forward with the Master Plan, and he said that he would be available to help in any way he could. Commissioner Hedrick said that it had been a great privilege to serve on the Airport Commission and to serve with the Commissioners that he had served with during his two terms. On behalf of the Airport Commission, Chairman Dada thanked Commissioner Hedrick for being a great source of input for the Airport Commission, staff and the City. Chairman Dada announced that it was also Commissioner Breslin, Payne and Slama’s last Airport Commission meeting. Commissioner Slama thanked the Commissioner’s for their time. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting June 21, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 5 10. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS: 10.A. Past City Council Actions 10.B. Future City Council Actions 11. RECEIVE AND FILE: 11.A Airlines Activity Report May 2023 11.B Airline Activity Report Fiscal Year Comparison 12. COMMITTEES: 12.A Future Committee Meetings Executive Program Administrator Brown noted that there would be a Marketing Committee meeting on July 12, 2023. ADJOURNMENT: ACTION: Adjourn the meeting. Moved by Commissioner Breslin, seconded by Commissioner Wise. The Airport Commission adjourned at 6:14 P.M. to a Regular Meeting on July 19, 2023, at 5:30 P.M. ____________________________ Christina Brown Executive Program Administrator