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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-20-23 - Airport Commission Minutes Page 1 of 9 AIRPORT COMMISSION ACTION SUMMARY MINUTES OF REGULAR ADJOURNED MEETING Wednesday, September 20, 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 Vice Chairman Corcoran to lead the Pledge of Allegiance. The meeting was held in-person and via videoconference. 2. POSTING OF THE AGENDA: Posted on September 14, 2023. 3. ROLL CALL: Commissioners Present: Gerald Adams (Palm Springs) Tracy Martin (Palm Springs Todd Burke (Palm Springs) Tony Michaelis (Cathedral City) Daniel Caldwell (Palm Springs) Jan Pye (Desert Hot Springs) Kevin Corcoran (Palm Springs) - Vice Chair M Guillermo Suero (Palm Springs) Aftab Dada (Palm Springs) - Chair Rick Wise (Indio) David Feltman (Palm Springs) Keith Young (Rancho Mirage) J Craig Fong (Palm Springs) Commissioners Absent: Robert Berriman (Indian Wells), Denise Delgado (Coachella), Kathleen Hughes (La Quinta), Margaret Park (Riverside County), and Kevin Wiseman (Palm Desert) Staff Present: Harry Barrett, Jr., Airport Executive Director Jeremy Keating, Assistant Airport Director Victoria Carpenter, Airport Administration Manager Kristopher Mooney, Finance Director Geremy Holm, City Attorney Christina Brown, Executive Program Administrator Others Present: Ryan Hayes, Mead & Hunt, Inc. 4. ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA: ITEM 6 Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 2 of 9 ACTION: Accept the Agenda as presented. Moved by Commissioner Young, seconded by Commissioner Adams, and unanimously approved noting the absence of Commissioners Berriman, Delgado, Hughes, Park, and Wiseman. 5. PUBLIC COMMENTS: None 6. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: ACTION: Approve the minutes of the Airport Commission Meeting of April 19, 2023. Moved by Commissioner Burke, seconded by Vice Chairman Corcoran and approved by the following roll call vote 8 Yes; 5 Abstain; and noting that Commissioner Feltman was inadvertently not included in the roll call vote and with the absence of Berriman, Delgado, Hughes, Park, and Wiseman. 7. INTRODUCTIONS AND PRESENTATIONS: 7.A Airport Commissioner Tracy Martin (Palm Springs) Chairman Dada introduced newly appointed Airport Commissioner Tracy Martin (Palm Springs). Commissioner Martin said that he and his family have been residents of Palm Springs for approximately six years and that before retiring he had worked as a chief financial officer for small and mid-sized companies. Commissioner Martin said that he believed that his finance and strategy experience could help better the Airport, and he said that as a neighbor of the Airport, he wanted to ensure that the Airport was being a good neighbor to the community. 7.B Executive Administrative Assistant Sonya Sussman Executive Program Administrator Brown notified the Airport Commission that Ms. Sussman was no longer with the Airport. 8. DISCUSSION AND ACTION ITEMS: 8.A Airport Master Plan Update Airport Executive Director Barrett announced that on September 19, 2023, the Airport staff, the Mead & Hunt Team, and several members of the Master Plan Working Group had held a public open house to discuss the terminal and landside concept design alternatives. Ryan Hayes with Mead & Hunt Inc. reviewed the four stages of the Master Plan process and the project schedule. Mr. Hayes noted that there would be a second open house for the public in March, and he said that there had been a significant amount of outreach to the community and stakeholders. Mr. Hayes also reviewed the highlights Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 9 of the Airport’s history, and he said that while the terminal has historic significance, the building also has functional challenges. He said that one of the mandates for the Master Plan was to enhance the customer experience and the flow of passengers through the terminal. Mr. Hayes reviewed the study area for the terminal, which was essentially the terminal building, the Bono Concourse, the Regional Concourse, and the gates that surround the concourses, and he noted that he was anticipating that the gates would need to be increased from 18 gates to 32 gates. Mr. Hayes noted that in the current Master Plan, there was no plan for adding gates, and he said that there were certain spaces in the terminal that would be eligible for FAA participation and leasable spaces that would not be eligible for FAA participation. Mr. Hayes reviewed the aviation activity forecasts, and he said that the growth forecast indicated that the Airport would have six million total passengers by the end of the planning period. He also reviewed the level of service concept which demonstrated the need for finding the balance for optimizing space and reducing the queuing time for passengers. Mr. Hayes also reviewed the terminal requirements summary which demonstrated the space required to accommodate growth, and the current parking demand versus the projected parking demand for 2042. Mr. Hayes reviewed terminal concept alternatives 1A, 1B, 2, and 3, and he noted that the comments that had been received from the public were being reviewed. Commissioner Adams asked if the TSA security checkpoint would remain in the current location or if it would be relocated. Mr. Barrett said that depending on the alternative, the TSA security checkpoint could either remain in the Wexler terminal or it could be relocated to the southern extension. Commissioner Fong referred to the four alternatives, and he asked how many gates would be added for each of the alternatives. Mr. Barrett said that each of the alternatives would have 32 gates. Commissioner Wise asked if staff believed that the estimate of 32 gates was accurate. Mr. Barrett said that based on the analysis, staff believed that the estimate of 32 gates was an accurate estimate. Commissioner Wise noted that the Airport would be initiating the next Master Plan in seven to ten years, and he asked if the alternatives allowed for future growth. Mr. Barrett said that the purpose for initiating a Master Plan every seven to ten years was to account for growth and economy changes. Commissioner Caldwell inquired about an increase in the number of runways. Mr. Barrett explained that the review of the airside would be Phase 2 of the Master Plan, and he said that there wasn’t a need to add runways because the existing runways were currently being underutilized. Commissioner Fong inquired about year-over-year enplanement growth. Mr. Hayes said that he believed that the compounded annual enplanement growth would be three to four percent over the 20 years. Commissioner Young asked if all of the gates would allow for the maximum size aircraft. Mr. Barrett said that staff was planning for the critical demand aircraft for the Airport, he explained that the FAA categorizes aircraft based on the aircraft’s size, wingspan, and speed, Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 9 and he said that the size of the Airport’s aircraft would basically stay the same and that staff had accounted for the potential for international service and that two of the gates would be able to accommodate wide body aircraft. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Hayes to give the Commission a sense of what the forecasted cost would be for the four alternatives. Mr. Hayes explained that the cost estimates had not been completed at this stage, and he noted that the reuse of the facilities would be less costly than the replacement of the facilities. Mr. Hayes said that the next step of the planning process was to refine the alternatives, plan out the phases in which the alternatives would be built, and to put a cost estimate to each phase. Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that Alternative 3 would be a complete rebuild which would make it the most expensive of the alternatives. Commissioner Martin inquired about the financing of the project. Mr. Barrett explained that once the terminal design alternative was chosen, staff would begin the process of financial planning which could involve Airport revenue, grants, and private equity. He said that there were several avenues that the Airport could leverage for the financing of the project. Commissioner Wise asked if the City Council would be voting on the terminal design in November. Mr. Hayes said that in order for staff to move on to Phase 2 of the Master Plan, which is airfield planning, the City Council would need to approve the terminal design because the airfield needs to be tied into the terminal. Mr. Barrett explained that the next steps would be for Mead & Hunt and Aviatrix Communications to evaluate and address the comments from the public, the information would be reviewed by the Master Plan Working Group, the preferred alternatives would be brought back to the Commission to for consideration, and the Commission would make their recommendation to the City Council. Commissioner Suero asked which of the alternatives would be the least intrusive to the airlines, airport operations, and the passengers. Mr. Barrett explained that each of the alternatives would have various degrees of impact. Commissioner Suero noted that with Alternative 3, the current terminal would still be able to function while Alternative 3 was being constructed. Mr. Barrett said that it would be dependent upon the phasing. Mr. Hayes said that part of the phasing process would be to figure out how to minimize the impacts during construction. Commissioner Fong inquired about federal funding opportunities. Mr. Barrett confirmed that there would be federal funding opportunities. Commissioner Young asked if there was general guidance around the reusable life of reuse facilities versus a new facility. Mr. Hayes said that they had their building engineers tour and inspect the Wexler terminal and the concourses to conduct a systems analysis to determine what systems could be added on to and what systems could be expanded and upgraded. He said that the engineers determined that the systems in the Wexler terminal are dated and that a report would be provided with Mead & Hunt’s recommendations for the upgrades that would be needed. Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 9 Chairman Dada exited the meeting at 6:03 p.m. Vice Chairman Corcoran said that he believed that the public open house went great and that there was a great turnout from the public. He said that based on the comments he heard at the open house, he felt that the reaction from the public was positive. 8.B Marketing and Air Service Update Executive Program Administrator Brown noted that the Marketing and Air Service Update had been provided in the agenda packet. 8.C Measure J Airport Administration Manager Carpenter introduced Finance Director Mooney, she said that she works closely with Mr. Mooney, and she noted that Mr. Mooney was also providing Measure J updates to the Measure J Oversight Commission. Ms. Carpenter said that staff would be asking the Airport Commission to vote on what projects to use the Measure J funds on. Mr. Mooney explained that in 2012, the FAA passed a rule that required that any local aviation fuel tax that had been collected from 2008 to current had to be set aside and used for airport related expenses. He said that the City put the Measure J sales tax in place in 2012, and in 2017, the Measure J Oversight Commission began to set aside the estimated amount of $200,000 a year for the Airport and there was now an estimated $1.3 million in the Airport’s Measure J fund. Mr. Mooney explained that the Finance Department would be working with Airport staff on an analysis to confirm the actual amount of available Measure J funds. Mr. Mooney further explained that the City had been required to provide a process to the FAA that explained how the City would be setting aside the Measure J funds, and in 2013, the City submitted a process to the FAA that stated that at the end of every month, the Finance Department would calculate the Measure J tax from the monthly fueling reports, and the Measure J funds would be set aside each month. Mr. Mooney said that there had been a significant amount of turnover in the Finance Department and the Measure J process was forgotten about until 2017 when the Measure J Oversight Commission began to set aside the estimated amount of $200,000 a year for the Airport. He said that the Finance Department was working on determining if they would abide by the process that had been submitted to the FAA, or if an amended process would be submitted to the FAA. Mr. Mooney said that the $200,000 a year would continue to be set aside until the process was determined and that the Airport staff had been directed to move forward with using the $1.3 million to fund Airport projects. Mr. Mooney noted that there was also Measure D that was passed in 2018 for a half cent sales tax that has been deposited into the City’s general fund, and he said that no funds have been set aside for the Airport for the Measure D tax and that an analysis Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 9 would also be done to determine the total amount of funds that should have been set aside for the Airport for Measure D. Commissioner Wise asked if it could be possible that $200,000 per year was overestimated for Measure J, and if so, would the Airport have to return some of the funds. Mr. Mooney said that he didn’t believe that the amount was overestimated and that if the amount was overestimated, the Measure D funds would make up for the difference. Vice Chairman Corcoran voiced his concerns about the Measure D funds being deposited into the City’s general fund, he said that he wanted to understand how the funds could be used for specific applications, and he said that he would argue that using the funds to support the customer experience at the Airport would be the proper application of funds. Mr. Barrett said that the staff had prepared a list of existing projects for the Commission to consider for the Measure J funds to be applied to, and he said that staff was also open to any projects that the Commission would like to consider that weren’t included in staff’s list. Mr. Mooney explained that there were three approvals that must be completed in the following order before the Measure J funds could be used: 1) The Airport Commission must approve the projects; 2) The Measure J Oversight Commission must approve the projects; and 3) The City Council must give the final approval of the projects. Commissioner Caldwell asked if there was the possibility of the funds being forfeited if they weren’t used. Mr. Mooney said that there was no risk of the funds being forfeited and that the funds were officially restricted for Airport use. Ms. Carpenter reviewed the following four proposed projects: 1) Baggage Claim – Design & Construction; 2) Baggage Handling System – Design; 3) Elevator Replacement; and 4) Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Truck. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Commissioner Burke if there had been any projects that had come up in the Marketing and Business Development Committee meetings that would have a quicker or more direct impact on customer experience. Commissioner Burke said that there weren’t any projects that were coming to mind. Commissioner Wise asked if it would be easier for the Measure J Oversight Committee to approve one project versus several projects. Mr. Mooney said that in his opinion, submitting one project to the Measure J Oversight Commission would be desirable. Commissioner Wise asked Mr. Mooney if the Commission should use the full $1.3 million or if the Commission should hold on to some of the funds. Mr. Mooney reiterated that the Airport would continue to receive $200,000 each year. Ms. Carpenter noted that the Commission could choose to defer the decision to a later time and that the Measure J funds would continue to earn interest. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked staff if there were any other projects that were on staff’s wish list. Mr. Barrett said that the staff had a very long project wish list. Vice Chairman Corcoran recommended that staff submit their full project wish list so that the Commission could evaluate which projects would have a more immediate impact and that would align closer to the vision of the Measure J tax. Mr. Barrett said that staff could work on providing a list of additional projects that could be completed Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 7 of 9 sooner than the proposed projects. Vice Chairman Corcoran proposed that the Commission continue the Measure J agenda item to the October Commission meeting to allow staff additional time to prepare a list of additional projects and to also allow the Commissioners time to submit their project ideas to staff, and he referred to the shade structure project as an example of a project that would improve the passenger experience. Commissioner Feltman exited the Zoom meeting at an unknown time. ACTION: To continue the Measure J agenda item to a future Airport Commission meeting. Moved by Commissioner Wise, seconded by Commissioner Pye and unanimously approved noting the absence of Berriman, Delgado, Feltman, Hughes, Park, and Wiseman. 8.D Financial Summary Update Airport Administration Manager Carpenter provided an overview of the financial summary ending on August 31, 2023. 8.E Concessions Update Airport Assistant Director Keating presented the updated concession projected opening dates schedule. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Keating to point out the changes from the original schedule. Mr. Keating reported that the 30, 60 and 90-day design reviews were continuing to move forward with the City, and he said that concessions had reached a significant milestone when the retail was passed on from Paradies to The Marshall Retail Group (MRG). Mr. Keating said that staff had met with Paradies and their construction team G4, and he said that the construction demolition and asbestos removal and remediation was moving forward for the El Mirasol and Coachella Valley Coffee location. Mr. Keating also reported that on October 18th from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., MRG was hosting a local vendor outreach at Visit Greater Palm Springs. Mr. Keating provided an overview of the updated concession projected opening dates schedule, and he noted that the Pink Door and the I PSP vending opening dates had shifted by approximately 30 days or more as MRG works on getting their vending contractor onboard. Mr. Keating said that Nine Cities would also be pushed out by approximately 30 days or more because of a delay in construction, Hey Joshua had moved up by five months, In Motion had been pushed out by three months, El Mirasol had moved up slightly, and Desert Oasis and Uptown Essential have been pushed back a week. He said that the Duty-Free cart and the courtyard coffee truck had also been pushed out slightly while staff works with MRG on the main stores. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked Mr. Keating to explain what was being done with the construction walls. Mr. Keating said that a construction wall would be going up at the Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 9 Las Palmas Oasis location, and he said that the wall had been designed by MRG and Paradies and that the wall would display what is coming and what is open for each of the concession locations. Vice Chairman Corcoran asked if a similar construction wall would also be placed at the RJ Concourse. Mr. Keating explained that there wasn’t space to place a construction wall at the RJ Concourse, and he said that Paradies would be adding a design to the wall for Nine Cities. 8.F Projects and Airport Capital Improvement Program Update Airport Executive Director Barrett noted that the update had been provided in the agenda packet, he reported that staff was continuing to work behind the scenes to get the outbound baggage handling system (BHS) moving forward, and he said that staff was expecting to receive a 30% design on the BHS in October and that would be when staff would begin to engage with the airlines and TSA. Mr. Barrett explained that the BHS project would take much longer than the inbound baggage claim project because the delivery methods were different and because staff wanted to ensure that the Airport had enough cash on hand to fund both projects. He said that the BHS has a couple more years until it is completed and that he wasn’t expecting any BHS delays over the next couple of years while staff continues to work through the process. Mr. Barrett reported that Phase 1 of the Federal Inspection Station (FIS) study had been completed, he said that Visit Greater Palm Springs had initiated Phase 1, and he explained that the FIS is essentially a facility for Customs and Border Protection to accommodate international air service. He said that the Airport staff and Visit Greater Palm Springs would be meeting to review the case studies for Phase 1 to determine how to proceed with Phase 2. Commissioner Adams asked if there could be a temporary FIS put in place at the Airport. Mr. Barrett said that staff was looking into the feasibility of a temporary FIS, and he noted Customs and Border Protection prefer not to work out of temporary facilities. 9. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT: Airport Executive Director Barrett reported that earlier in the year TSA issued a mandate that all national commercial airports had to prepare an insider threat employee screening system, he said that the mandate did not provide clear guidelines, and staff had been working for months to develop the system to have it in place by TSA’s deadline of September 25th. He said that in order for staff to meet TSA’ deadline, the City Manager had to declare an emergency to allow staff to be able to procure the services needed to implement the system, and the Airport had hired Allied Universal Services to conduct the employee screening. Mr. Barrett said that he wanted to bring this contract to the Commission’s attention because it would be an added expense of $267,000 on the Airport’s budget. Mr. Barrett reported that an HR specialist had been hired for the Airport and that he had been working with the HR specialist on a daily basis to ensure that the HR Palm Springs Airport Commission Action Summary Minutes of Regular Adjourned Meeting September 20, 2023 ______________________________________________________________________ Page 9 of 9 specialist understands the Airport’s hiring priorities and needs. He said that three Fire Captains had been promoted, four operation specialist positions had been filled that week and that the maintenance technician positions, and the Deputy Director of Capital Development were open for recruitment. 10. COMMISSIONERS REQUESTS AND REPORTS: Vice Chairman Corcoran asked staff and the Commission to work on preparing a list of the projects that could be funded by the Measure J funds. 11. REPORT OF CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS: 11.A. Past City Council Actions 11.B. Future City Council Actions 12. RECEIVE AND FILE: 12.A Airlines Activity Report July and August 2023 12.B Airline Activity Report Fiscal Year Comparison 13. COMMITTEES: 13.A Future Committee Meetings Vice Chairman Corcoran noted that Commissioner Burke was the Chair of the Marketing and Business Development Committee, Commissioner Feltman was the Chair of the Operations, Properties and Facilities Committee, there was currently a vacancy for the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, and he was the Chair of the Ad Hoc Design Review Committee. Executive Program Administrator Brown reported that Commissioner Young had volunteered to serve on the Budget and Finance Committee, and she said that there was one remaining vacancy on the Budget and Finance Committee that needed to be filled. ADJOURNMENT: The Airport Commission adjourned at 6:54 P.M. to a Regular Meeting on October 18, 2023, at 5:30 P.M. ____________________________ Christina Brown Executive Program Administrator