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HomeMy WebLinkAbout25.07.10 - Minutes, Hag Regional AirportHagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of July 10, 2025 Page 1 of 4 HAGERSTOWN REGIONAL AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION Minutes of the Open Meeting July 10, 2025 The Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission (AAC) held a public meeting on Thursday, July 10, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. at the Hagerstown Regional Airport Terminal Conference Room, 18434 Showalter Road, Hagerstown, Maryland. Commission members present: Austin Colby (Chair), Curtis Berry (Vice Chair), Laurence Gross, George Meyer (via telecom) and ex-Officio County Commissioner Randall Wagner. County staff members present included: Andrew Eshleman (Director of Public Works), Neil Doran (Airport Director), Gene Bolanowski (Airport Operations & Security Manager), Machelle Dwyer (Business Leader, Business Development), Giselle Butt (Office Manager) and David Douglas (Administrative Assistant). CALL TO ORDER Austin Colby called the meeting to order on July 10, 2025, at 3:02 pm. CITIZEN’S PARTICIPATION None. No visitors were in attendance. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion was made by Mr. Gross and seconded by Mr. Berry to approve the minutes of the May 15, 2025, meeting. The motion passed unanimously. AIRPORT DIRECTOR’S REPORT Neil Doran, Airport Director, provided his report including that he attended Jumpstart, an Air Service Development Conference, in Indianapolis from June 9th-11th. Mr. Doran had the opportunity to meet with Breeze Airways and Landline. Mr. Doran also attended the MAC Regional Aviation Conference in Ocean City from June 12th-13th. It was a good opportunity to meet with other airports within the state and to highlight Hagerstown Aviation Museum (HAM) and Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA), bringing attention to these great resources HGR has to offer. Tim Seibert, a Volaire consultant, will be attending the August AAC meeting to discuss the development of an Air Carrier Incentives Plan. Shannetta Griffin, the new Executive Director/CEO of Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA), visited the airport on July 10th. Ms. Griffin met with Mr. Doran and Mr. Eshelman and took a tour of the airport. Mr. Doran met with Antietam Broadband to discuss ways to bring about more reliable internet service at the terminal. Mr. Doran is also going to speak with Tetra Tech regarding a potential project to improve HGR’s Airport Emergency Plan (AEP). Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of July 10, 2025 Page 2 of 4 The cost for an updated Siting study and 30% Design effort for the proposed replacement Air Traffic Control Tower has come in lower than expected due to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) concurrence that the Virtual Immersive Siting Tower Assessment (VISTA) portion of the study is not necessary. This will reduce costs from $283,000 down to $157,000 and reduce the overall time needed to complete the study. Mr. Doran provided an update on other projects around the airport:  C. William Hetzer was awarded the NW Quadrant Utility Expansion project  The Digital Sign project was awarded, and the completion date is scheduled for later this year  The bids received for the Terminal Expansion project came in lower than expected. With the remaining funding the airport hopes to replace the seats in the hold room. Replacing the seats qualifies for an FAA grant and the bid award would likely go to Callas who performed the previous hold room expansion.  ARFF Demo/RVZ/ROFA project will need to be pushed to next year since only one bid was received and deemed unreasonably high in price.  Hagerstown Regional Airport (HGR) is setting up an online SWAG/merchandise store and will have signs in the terminal and other locations around the airport for those interested in purchasing HGR-branded items. Mr. Doran wanted to thank the Airport team for staffing the increased number of airline flights, including some with extended flight delays, and to thank the Board of County Commissioners for supporting the increase in the number of employee positions to 39. Mr. Doran also wanted to thank Mr. Bolanowski for all his hard work in overseeing the annual badging and related training processes and thanks also to the firefighters for working long hours and overnight shifts providing Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) with standby services. AIRPORT OPERATIONS REPORT Mr. Bolanowski, Airport Operations & Security Manager, provided his report including:  The airfield painting project was completed on April 20th.  Repair work addressing damage caused by the windstorm on April 20th.  The airport completed the annual Part 139 FAA inspection, May 6th-8th.  The Aviation Career Expo is taking place November 7th from 9am-2pm. The Golden Knights Parachute demo team is expected to perform a demonstration during the event.  HGR had an operation in support of the President of the United States (POTUS) on June 8th. Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of July 10, 2025 Page 3 of 4  The Civil Air Patrol (CAP)’s flight academy took place June 28th - July 6th.  Mr. Bolanowski and Mr. Doran attend the Hagerstown Aviation Museum 100th anniversary planning meeting on June 7th. This event will be held from September 12th through the 14th.  On July 15th the airport is anticipating a visit from the Maryland Army/Air National Guard and the Maryland Department of Emergency Management. They are updating plans involving the potential use of the airport during natural disasters, coastal evacuations and for other logistical support needs.  Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be holding an intelligence briefing meeting with a few HGR staff members.  HGR’s inspection by the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA) is scheduled for August 4th, and our TSA inspection should be happening sometime during July.  The Civil Air Patrol (CAP) adult fly-in will be held from August 25th-29th.  Mr. Bolanowski will be attending the employee appreciation breakfast on September 9th to celebrate his 10th year working at HGR airport. AIRLINE SERVICES UPDATE Ms. Smith, Airline Services Leader, was unable to attend the meeting. In her absence, Mr. Doran provided an update including that we are 7 weeks into the 12-week period of our busy summer season. Ms. Smith’s airline team has added two new employees. Ms. Smith also recently attended an NTSB Emergency Response Readiness seminar in Washington, DC. Finally, there were a few delayed flights and one cancellation due to the weather during the month of June. COMMISSIONER UPDATE Mr. Wagner, County Commissioner, had no current updates for the commission. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Mr. Horowitz, Director of Business Development, was unable to attend the meeting. In his absence, Ms. Dwyer, Business Leader, Business Development, provided the following updates:  AEK real estate bought the Sylvania Center building on Pennsylvania Ave.  Both the Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics (PIA) school and the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have expressed interest in the leased parking lots at the Nick’s Airport Inn given the increased expected enrollment at PIA and with SNC’s anticipated growth from 450 to 750 local workers.  The Maryland Wine House, located on Oliver Dr, had their grand opening on May 21st  A Wawa is being constructed on Pennsylvania Ave behind the T-Mobile store Hagerstown Regional Airport Advisory Commission Meeting Minutes of July 10, 2025 Page 4 of 4 AAC MEMBER UPDATES None. No member had any current updates for the commission. CLOSED SESSION Motion made at 3:39 pm by Mr. Berry and seconded by Mr. Gross to enter closed session 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. In the closed session, the Commission discussed and voted to: •Rank and recommend to the Board of County Commissioners of Washington County the applicants to fill the vacant seat and to serve on the Airport Advisory Commission Present during the closed session were Austin Colby (Chair), Curtis Berry (Vice Chair), Laurence Gross, George Meyer (via telecom) and ex-Officio County Commissioner Randall Wagner. County staff members present included Andrew Eshleman (Director of Public Works), Neil Doran (Airport Director), Gene Bolanowski (Airport Operations & Security Manager), Machelle Dwyer (Business Leader, Business Development), Giselle Butt (Office Manager) and David Douglas (Administrative Assistant). RE-ENTER OPEN SESSION Motion made at 3:51 pm by Mr. Berry and seconded by Mr. Gross to reenter open session. The motion passed unanimously. ADJOURNMENT Motion made to adjourn by Mr. Gross. Motion was seconded by Mr. Meyer. The meeting was adjourned at 3:52 p.m.