Airport Advisory Board

MINUTES - CITY OF DEKALB AIRPORT ADVISORY BOARD January 26, 2016 The Airport Advisory Board held a meeting on January 26, 2016 at the Airport Maintenance Shop. Mitch Hallgren called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. A. ROLL CALL Mitch Hallgren called the roll and the following members of the Airport Advisory Board were present: Dick Anderson, Bryce Deter, Robert Owens, Jack Bennett, Bernard Pupino, Jeff Jacobson, Bryant Irving, Jim Rhoades, Mitch Hallgren and Chuck Lanning. Members absent at roll call were: Larry Luxton, Kate Noreiko. Also present were: Tom Cleveland, Airport Manager, Tim Holdeman, Public Works Director, and Jeff Kohlert – Fly America. B. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA – ADDITIONS/DELETIONS A motion was made by Jim Rhoades to approve the January 26, 2016 agenda, seconded by Bryant Irving, and approved by voice vote. C. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Citizens were asked if anyone would like to speak. There was no public participation. D. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Dick Anderson to approve the December 15, 2015 minutes, seconded by Bernie Pupino, and approved by voice vote. E. OLD BUSINESS - NONE F. NEW BUSINESS 1. Ellen Divita, Economic Development Director for the City of DeKalb spoke to the Airport Advisory Board about how to proceed with marketing the airport. We discussed the current Airport Marketing Plan. Ms. Divita told the Airport Advisory Board that the airport is incorporated in the strategic plan of the City. Technology will be the basis for next year’s budget so the airport has to strive to update its technology. The 2011 Economic Impact Study was discussed. Airport Manager Tom Cleveland said this study showed that the airport was bringing in $10.7 million dollars of economic impact to the region. The Illinois Department of Transportation – Division of Aeronautics is telling us they may do a new economic impact study this year. Ms. Divita discussed the three big revenue sources that we have are fuel sales and services, hangar rental/land leases, and development of airport property. Fuel sales are steady but need to increase with the increase of based and transient aircraft. For example, this could be accomplished with more manufacturing companies moving their  operation to the DeKalb area and utilizing the airport with jet aircraft. All City of DeKalb owned hangars are full. Some of the questions asked was: should we build more, what type do we build, do we get the private sector to build more. There are many area’s to develop on the airport. One of the main areas discussed was the corner of Peace Road and Pleasant Street. The Airport Advisory Board members asked about a restaurant being built. Possibly purchasing the Frontier Building on the airport to allow for additional land to be developed on the corner and moving our airport maintenance facility to the Frontier Building then turning our existing airport maintenance facility (the old DeKalb Ag hangar) back into a hangar for a flight department to use. Large hangar development was discussed in the area of our existing new corporate hangar. Utilizing the Airport North Industrial Park to benefit the airport was discussed. Further development of this industrial park with manufacturing would give the airport another opportunity to benefit from the cargo shipping side of it. Ms. Divita discussed that this area along with Northern Illinois University should be an incubator for high tech operations to keep professionals in this area. Ms. Divita will follow up with the Airport Advisory Board during the next couple months. 2. National Business Aviation Association – Airport Marketing Conference – Airport Manager Tom Cleveland attended the NBAA – Schedulers and Dispatchers conference on January 19 – 22. This conference is geared to professional education, leadership training, safety and marketing of airports and the latest aviation products and services. At this conference, I was able to market DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport and our services to all air charter companies in attendance. There were over 1400 aviation booths and 2500 people in attendance. I was able to continue business relationships and create new ones. Networking with these air charter companies and seeing what other airports do to market themselves and improve business was a huge part of DeKalb being represented at this conference and will benefit us greatly. G. COMMITTEE REPORTS Airport Manager’s Report: • All City owned T-hangars are currently full. • The Northern Illinois University Men’s and Woman’s basketball teams utilized DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport six times last week. Airport staff had to de-ice the charter aircraft once. The teams will be using the airport numerous times during the next 2 months. H. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned 6:40pm Respectfully submitted by Tom Cleveland Minutes approved by the Airport Advisory Board on February 16, 2016.