Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout25.01.09 - Minutes, Hag Regional AirportHagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2025 Page 1 of 5 HAGERSTOWN REGIONAL AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION Minutes of the Open Meeting January 09, 2025 The Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission held a public meeting on Thursday, January 9, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the Hagerstown Regional Airport Terminal Conference Room, 18434 Showalter Road, Hagerstown, Maryland. Commission members present: Rob Ferree (Chair), Austin Colby (Vice Chair), Randal Leatherman, Laurence Gross, Samuel Cool, Curtis Berry and ex-Officio County Commissioner Randall Wagner. County staff members present included Andrew Eshleman (Director of Public Works), Neil Doran (Airport Director), Jonathan Horowitz (Director of Business Development), Gene Bolanowski (Airport Operations & Security Manager), Tina Smith (Airline Station Leader), Giselle Butt (Office Manager), and David Douglas (Administrative Assistant). CALL TO ORDER Rob Ferree called the meeting to order on January 9, 2025, at 2:59 pm. CITIZEN’S PARTICIPATION None. No visitors were in attendance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion was made by Mr. Cool and seconded by Mr. Leatherman to approve the minutes of the November 14th, 2024, meeting. The motion passed unanimously. INQUIRE/RECOMMEND- CURTIS BERRY The Chairman inquired and Mr. Berry expressed his willingness to serve an additional three-year term on the Airport Advisory Commission. The AAC will proceed to recommend to the Board of County Commissioners that Mr. Berry be reappointed to server a second term. INQUIRE/RECOMMEND- LAURENCE GROSS The Chairman inquired and Mr. Gross expressed his willingness to serve an additional three-year term on the Airport Advisory Commission. The AAC will proceed to recommend to the Board of County Commissioners that Mr. Gross be reappointed to server a second term. REVIEW OF AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION APPLICANTS The Airport Advisory Commission (AAC) members reviewed four applicants who expressed interest and had applied for consideration to potentially serve on the AAC. Motion was made by Mr. Colby and seconded by Mr. Berry to recommend to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) that Mr. George Meyer as first choice for appointment to serve on the AAC. Mr. Aaron Vittini was second choice and Mr. John Cavey ranked as third choice. The motion passed unanimously. Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2025 Page 2 of 5 ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN Motion was made by Mr. Gross and seconded by Mr. Berry to nominate Mr. Colby as the new Chairman of the AAC. Mr. Colby accepted. The motion passed unanimously. ELECTION OF VICE CHAIRMAN Motion was made by Mr. Leatherman and seconded by Mr. Cool to nominate Mr. Berry as the new Vice Chairman of the AAC. Mr. Berry accepted. The motion passed unanimously. AIRPORT DIRECTOR’S REPORT Neil Doran, Airport Director, provided his report. He thanked Rob Ferree for his six years of service on the AAC including as Chairman. The new Allegiant flight schedule has been released with dates through early September 2025. There will be 18 additional flights for Summer 2025 when compared to Summer 2024. The parking lot project is almost complete. Staff training will occur on January 10th and full activation of the system should happen in mid-January. The Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) expansion project is under review by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA is reviewing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents from 2017. The FAA is stating the current documentation is outdated and a new NEPA is needed. FAA has also expressed concerned about the west-side portion of the new Proposed Apron being in/under the 02-20 Runway Protection Zone (RPZ). Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) staff are working with ADCI consultants on a path forward. HGR received a partial reimbursement of $1.15M for the 2023 land acquisition of the New Heights parcel. HGR also received a $265,000 grant from the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) to help cover some of the cost for the terminal parking lot and Spring 2025 airfield painting and rubber removal projects. Two new televisions have been installed behind the Allegiant ticket counter. The televisions will display the latest Allegiant logo and serve as a flight information display. Mr. Doran, Mr. Eshleman and staff have been very busy, dedicating many hours on the FY26 Capital and Operational budgets over the past month. HGR will be hosting, for the second time, a Global Entry Enrollment Event on January 28th. The aprons used by Sierra and Nevada Corporation (SNC) will need to be evaluated for their weight bearing capacity. This is due to the increased use of the aprons by heavier business jets. HGR will work with their airport consultants to study the aprons conditions and strength/capacity. Airport Design Consultants, Inc. (ADCI) will also conduct a study to consider the build out of additional square footage beyond the initial FAA-eligible 4,800 sq. ft. This is part of the East-Side Terminal Expansion project funded/awarded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-Airport Terminal Program (BIL-ATP). This additional terminal expansion space could be for the development of a future Airline Operating or Crew Base at HGR. Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2025 Page 3 of 5 Mr. Eshleman and Mr. Doran will bring before the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) for the FY26 budget an additional $850,000 request to purchase an Airline Ground Support Equipment Package and $1.97M for those additional spaces within the airport terminal needed to more realistically pursue airline operating/crew base prospects. REVIEW OF PROPOSED FY26 OPERATIONS AND CAPITAL BUDGET Mr. Doran discussed several projects that are included in proposed FY26 Capital and Operational budgets. Projects for that fiscal year and for FY27 and FY28 could include: RVZ/ROFA/Fairchild Firehouse demolition, purchase of a snow removal loader/plow, T-Hangar Taxi lanes rehabilitation, Taxiway A rehabilitation, Runway 2-20 rehabilitation, potential Air Traffic Control Tower replacement, potential replacement Fuel Farm facility, land acquisitions and adjustments to better address growth and related staffing needs. AIRPORT OPERATIONS REPORT Mr. Bolanowski, Airport Operations & Security Manager, provided his report including that HGR hosted a few operations in support of travel by both the President and First Lady of the United States. HGR also had a few snow events during the months of December and January. Mr. Bolanowski also reported on the Airport Tower Operations. For calendar year 2024, there were a total of 32,317 take- off and landing operations during Air Traffic Control-staffed hours. Note: It’s likely a few thousand additional annual operations also took place afterhours. Mr. Bolanowski attended the American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Security Summit in Washington, D.C., from December 2nd - 5th, 2024. From December 9th - 13th, 2024, Mr. Bolanowski attended Incident Command System (ICS) 300 and 400 training at the Public Safety Training Center. Mr. Bolanowski met HGR’s newly assigned Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inspector, Mr. Robert Pippisian. AIRLINE SERVICES UPDATE Ms. Smith, Airline Services Leader, provided her report including there was one Ferry Flight for Allegiant in December due to mechanical issues. Ms. Smith is keeping track of staff’s accumulated hours resulting from flight delays, cancellations and staff training classes. The Allegiant flight on Monday, January 6, 2025, was cancelled due to weather. The airline staff is getting acclimated to the new Boeing 737 aircraft. HGR is also having monthly meetings with TSA passenger screening officials to improve communications and coordination. COMMISIONER UPDATE Mr. Wagner, County Commissioner, provided his report including how well the airport responded to the recent snow events. On January 8th Mr. Wagner attended a police academy graduation. There was a total of 16 graduates. The first public hearing for the draft Comprehensive Plan 2040, a plan Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2025 Page 4 of 5 forecasting future land use and growth management in Washington County, will be held on Monday, January 13th at the Public Safety Training Center. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Mr. Horowitz, Director of Business Development, provided his report including that an immediate focus for future, local Economic Development efforts will center around the growth of HGR. Guy Winterberg, the assistant director of Tri County Council, aided the airport in receiving the initial $755,000 grant for the airport’s I-81 digital signage and Air Park Rd utility extension project. Mr. Winterberg is also assisting the airport in receiving another $153,000 in unused funds from the Business Development department. These will be used for those same airport projects described above. One of the potential tenants of the New Height Industrial Park has encountered some issues with securing a lease. Paul Perini, president of Perini Properties Corp., is moving to Las Vegas and it appears he will also continue efforts to sell those properties/parcels directly south of the airport along Showalter Road. AAC MEMBER UPDATES Mr. Colby informed the board that the Hagerstown Aviation Museum (HAM) will be hosting an event to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Fairchild Aviation Corporation/Fairchild Aircraft Manufacturing Company and the 30th anniversary of the Hagerstown Aviation Museum. This will be held on September 12th -14th, 2025. This three-day event will include Wings and Wheels, a Hangar Dance and Fairchild aviation clinics. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, was also recently supplied with certification paperwork from the Hagerstown Aviation Museum (HAM). This is another important step towards achieving the future goal of adding a A-10 “Warthog” aircraft to the expanding aircraft museum collection here at HGR. Mr. Ferree, who has been involved with the airport over the past 15 years, praised airport staff and the Director for the progressive changes in the airport over the past few years. CLOSED SESSION Motion made by Mr. Cool and seconded by Mr. Gross to convene in closed session at 4:27 p.m. to discuss the appointment, employment, assignment, promotion, discipline, demotion, compensation, removal, resignation, or performance evaluation of appointees, employees, or officials over whom this public body has jurisdiction; any other personnel matter that affects one or more specific individuals. The motion passed unanimously. The members present during closed session were Rob Ferree (Chair), Austin Colby (Vice Chair), Randal Leatherman, Laurence Gross, Samuel Cool, Curtis Berry and ex-Officio County Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of January 9, 2025 Page 5 of 5 Commissioner Randall Wagner, Andrew Eshleman (Director of Public Works) and Neil Doran (Airport Director). RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION Motion made by Mr. Gross and seconded by Mr. Colby to reconvene in open session at 4:47 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Motion made to adjourn by Mr. Colby. Motion was seconded by Mr. Cool. The meeting was adjourned at 4:48 p.m.