Brd Min 10/21/05

COLORADO AIRPORT OPERATORS ASSOCIATION
MINUTES – BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
OCTOBER 21, 2005
DENVER, COLORADO

I. Call to Order

Vice President Ron Dent called the meeting to order at 7:08 am. Present for the meeting were Ron Dent, Vice President; Mike Reisman, Secretary/Treasurer; Brian Condie, Scott Brownlee, Lorie Hinton and Janell Barrilleaux.

Ron introduced and welcomed Traci Plunkett as the new Executive Secretary for the Association.

Guest present was Travis Vallin, CDOT and Dennis Heap, Front Range Airport.

II. Approval of Agenda

Ron Dent asked for any additions or changes to the agenda. Janell added one item under new business regarding an environmental issue concerning stormwater Environmental Limitation Guidelines.

III. Minutes: June 9, 2005 Board of Directors Meeting

Ron asked for any additions or amendments. Scott Brownlee motioned for approval of the minutes. Mike Reisman seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

V. Reports of Officers and Committees

a. Financial Report

Secretary/Treasurer Mike Reisman presented the financial report as of September 30, 2005. The profit/loss year to date totals $22,564.76 for net income. Cash flow statement indicates a balance in the bank of $61,054.86. After additional review and discussion by the Board, Janell Barrilleaux motioned for approval of the financial report. Scott Brownlee seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

b. Conference Committee

1. Spring 2005

Janell Barrilleaux discussed the Spring 2005 conference in Winter Park. The conference was a big success and the sponsors were very generous.

2. Legislative Reception

Dennis Heap asked if the Board wanted to host the reception this year. It was discussed that the reception is needed especially in light of the important issues this year. The Board discussed whether or not to hold the reception at the Brown Palace and based on the history of the reception and the location of the hotel, it was agreed to keep it at the Brown Palace again this year. Traci will contact Dennis to coordinate the hand-off of information to get the reception scheduled for late February, 2006.

3. Spring 2006

The Spring 2006 Conference has been changed from Aspen to Glenwood Springs due to the hotel in Aspen renovating the hotel during the time of CAOA’s conference. Instead, the conference will be held May 10-12, 2006 and will not be in conjunction with the NW Chapter of AAAE. It will be held at the Hotel Colorado and the contract is in the process of being signed for those dates. Room rates are approximately $120/room. There are 130 rooms at the hotel and all of those rooms have been reserved for the conference. Brian Condie will be taking the lead on organizing this conference and asked the Board for assistance in agenda topics. Mike suggested the fuel excise tax issue, the highway fund issue and encouraged Brian to send out a broadcast e-mail to the airports and corporate members to gain additional topic ideas. Also Janell usually hosts an environmental session and Ron also suggested a legal issues session. Regional air service, minimum standards, and self-fueling are other topics of interest for the membership.

3. Spring NW Chapter Meeting

This item will be deferred until the next Board Meeting.

4. Fall 2006/Spring 2007

The Fall 2006 Conference will be held somewhere on the Front Range and again will be in conjunction with the grant hearings. Travis stated his willingness to continue to coordinate this conference.

Spring 2007 Conference will be held at a site to be determined. The Board is currently scouting for interested airports to host this conference. Suggestions were made such as Breckenridge or Keystone.

5. Website Committee

Mike Reisman reported that the web resource center is being used by the membership. Mike receives reports weekly from Rob Duncan on the number of hits the website receives and it has been averaging 1,500/month. The resource center has been receiving 4-5 downloads per week. Mike encouraged the membership to continue to update the information they have submitted and asked for additional contributions of bid specifications, minimum standards, leases, etc so the information within the resource center does not get outdated.

6. Membership Committee

The Board discussed the issue of whether or not the annual membership fees include conference sponsorship listings for corporate members. Mike reported that after review of the January 25, 2005 Board Meeting minutes where the Board discussed this issue, at that time it was decided that the membership fees did not include conference sponsorship listings. In the past, in order to keep the conference host from going back to the corporate members for sponsorship there were several levels of memberships which included an automatic listing as a conference sponsor depending on what their membership level was. This enabled the corporate sponsors to budget for one amount for CAOA sponsorship for the year. After additional discussion, the Board decided to continue with what was decided in January and talk to the corporate members about what their concerns are and additionally, their thoughts for what would work for them. This item will be added to the next Board Meeting agenda for discussion.

No other committee reports were given.

VI. Other Business

Special Traffic Management Program (STMP) – Greg Dyer from FAA Denver Center will be at the General Membership meeting today to discuss the changes to the STMP for the upcoming 2005/2006 ski season. Because of the STMP which is implemented each winter by the FAA has impacted so many airports throughout the mountains, CAOA began communicating with Denver Center about receiving updates to the implementation of the STMP and ways of improving access of information and communication with CAOA members.

Travis reported that as a part of the sponsorship cost of the booth for NBAA this year, CAOA has purchased a roping machine which can be used at various events including this year at NBAA. The roping machine can also be set up at the Legislative Reception and other conferences.

Ron reported that the ATA, NATA, AAAE, and ACI have requested an extension to the compliance dates for the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure rule from the Office of Emergency Management. Janell stated that the guidance document is still not finalized which means there must be extensive industry comment on the document. The EPA has stated in writing that the finalized guidance document is supposed to be out 6 months prior to the rule implementation dates taking effect. The compliance date is expected to be extended to coincide with this new timeframe, however, no new dates have been given yet. It is unlikely the document will be out in October, possibly November or December. Janell will keep the Board updated as she obtains additional information.

VII. New Business

Scott Brownlee reported that he has received information regarding the federal excise taxes on aviation fuels being deposited into the highway fund, as opposed to the Aviation fund. Currently the federal excise tax is $.219/gallon and as a part of the Energy and Transportation Act of 2005 the tax is being increased to $.244/gallon effective 10/1/05. Because Scott as the airport manager for Montrose also runs the FBO, he received a fax from AvFuel’s tax manager that stated that this tax increase amount will be deposited into the Highway fund. Wholesale customers will now need to file a form in order to keep the increase in the Aviation fund. Only by filing the form will it trigger the transfer from the Highway fund into the Aviation fund. If the form is not filed, the increase of $.219/gallon will remain in the Highway fund and $.025 will not be refunded to the airport.

After some discussion, Ron asked Scott to talk to Jim Elwood regarding this issue to see what AAAE has heard and what their position is and also whether or not it actually went into effect 10/1/05. Scott will report back to the Board when additional information is received.

The mountain radar study report will be given at the General Membership meeting. The Aeronautics Division will be meeting with FAA officials in Washington DC in mid-December to work on an MOU with the FAA for the implementation of Phase I of the Mountain Radar project which would include Hayden, Steamboat Springs, Craig and Rifle.

Travis discussed the ongoing issue of the request from United Airlines for a fuel tax abatement. He reported that if Denver is supportive of this issue then the airlines will move forward with their request. The airlines are agreeable to capping the amount on a yearly basis or change the sales tax to an excise tax rate. Travis spoke to Lori Fox with United Airlines and explained how these different alternatives would not be beneficial overall for airports as an industry. Because of the raising cost of fuel, fuel revenues are increasing however, the amount of fuel being pumped is decreasing. He reiterated to Lori that it would be very difficult for CAOA, the Dept. of Transportation or the Division of Aeronautics to support anything that would limit their ability to maintain the system and less fuel tax refunds would limit the airport’s ability to continue to maintain their airport’s infrastructure. Travis will keep the Board posted as to movement of this issue but informed the Board to be prepared to discuss the benefit of the refund of fuel taxes to the airport industry in front of the Legislature and stressed that the Legislative Reception will be an important part in beginning these discussions with individual legislators.

Travis is coordinating with the Congressional Delegation regarding putting together an Aviation Summit. He has asked for available dates for this to take place from both Senator Ken Salazar and Congressman John Salazar and is waiting to hear back from them on a date. However, more success will probably be in contacting and meeting with their Colorado staff members. The staff members are an important step in gaining the support of our congressional representatives. They will also be invited to the Legislative Reception.

Janell reported that the Stormwater Environmental Limitation Guidelines (ELG) is moving forward. The deadline is 3 years from August, 2004 to complete the requirements. Final questionnaires from the airlines and airports went to OMB this week and they have 30 days to review and then finalize. The potential effect on the different size of airports varies depending on the amount of de-icing fluid being used each year. Janell will ask the general membership if they receive a questionnaire to contact her so that the answers to the questions can be coordinated and consistent due to the complexity of the questions and different interpretations. Janell will report back to the Board as additional information is received.

The next Board Meeting will be held in conjunction with the Legislative Reception in February, 2006. Traci will send out a notice to the Board when the date is chosen.

A motion to adjourn was made by Mike Reisman. Brian Condie seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.