Friday, March 01, 2013

Clay Center Municipal (KCYW), Kansas: Spicer alone submits bid for full airport services

Two of the three proposals submitted to the City of the Clay Center for the airport manager and fix-based operator contracts did not meet all of specifications the city requested for those contracts.

The city’s Property and Rec. Committee reviewed three proposals for the airport on Thursday, but because the committee lacked a quorum, no action was taken on who to recommend for the airport contracts. 

Mike Spicer, the current airport manager, and Scott Heinen and Glenn Heinen, of Heinen Bros Agra Service, submitted proposals and draft contracts which differed significantly from each other, but were the most complete. Ty McNeil submitted his resume in applying for airport manager, but he did not list any airport or flight experience and submitted no proposals for how he would operate the airport.

The ad requesting proposals asked for “proposals for fixed-based operator services, including any or all of the following: full-service refueling, community hangar operations and ground towing,  and aircraft maintenance services.” The ad also asked for  proposals for flight training, aircraft rental, art charter services,  and other specialty services.

Spicer submitted a proposal and lease that is essentially the same lease he and his wife Pam have been operating the airport under for the last three years. Under that lease, they have been responsible for aircraft maintenance and operation, air charter services, aircraft and hangar rental, flight training and sale of aviation fuel and oil.

City attorney Dusty Mullin reported that one of the main differences is that the Heinen brothers posed “to upgrade the fuel system out there.” Rather than operate a full-service station,  the Heinens propose to install an automatic fuel pump payable by credit card and turn that system over to the city.

They propose to invest “approximately $44,000 in upgrading the existing fuel system at the airport to allow fueling 24 hours a day, which will give aviators the assurance that fuel will always be available,” the Heinens said in their proposal submitted through an attorney. “Although Heinen Bros Ag Services, Inc. would be the hands-on operator of the airport, we would request that the city assume responsibility for the processing of the credit cards at the fuel pumps and the general oversight of the fuel pumps. The city would receive any profit from the fuel sales.”

The Heinens also proposed to rent the shop and a hangar for $200 a month, which they asked to be credited for in exchange for their investment in upgrading the pumps.

In contrast, the Spicers have proposed to continue operating the pumps as they always have, which includes certification and training to operate the underground tanks. Pilots can now access fuel at the airport at any time with a phone call when the Spicers aren’t physically present at the airport.

Another key difference in the proposals is in qualifications and having an aircraft mechanic and inspector at the airport. Mike holds FAA aircraft and powerplant mechanics licenses and is a certified FAA aircraft inspector. He holds commercial and instrument single engine, multi-engine and jet type ratings and is a FAA certified flight instructor in both single and multi-engine aircraft. He has been appointed by the FAA to their elite safety team, and has over 15,000 flight hours in single engine, multi-engine, turbo prop and jet aircraft. The Spicers have run the airport for over 40 years.

The Heinen brothers, on the other hand, provide aerial application services for ag chemicals, which they have done in six states the last 20 years. They proposed to  upgrade the pilot’s lounge and to contract out a flight instructor, but had no clear proposal on how they would provide mechanic services other than to include it in the fixed-base operator contract, which was a carbon copy of what Spicer submitted.

Mullin noted that the airport manager contract between the Spicers and the Heinens were very similar. Both would rent hangars, collect fees and keep the rental under a three-year contract. They would also be responsible for half of the utilities and the full amount of phone service.

Spicer’s contract was for $8,700 a year -- which is what he was paid in the last contract. The Heinen brothers asked for $10,000 per year. They also said they “would be in a position to assume management of the airport at any time prior to June 1, 2013 if needed without additional cost to the city.”

The Heinens said in the letter through their attorney that their interest in running the airport began in April of last year after they had some problems with the current airport management.

“My client was forced to relocate his operation last year to a neighboring airport to avoid unnecessary difficulties in operating which may have placed their pilots at additional risk,” Brian M. Jacques, of Sloan Law Firm, said in a letter to the city.

Mike said he did not kick the Heinens out of the Clay Center airport. He counseled them for “unsafe activities” at the Clay Center airport, which he did through his role as an FAA safety team member and as required by the airport manager’s contract.

The spray pilots had left their planes running unattended on the ramp in front of the office for 45 minutes to an hour at a time, Mike said. While it’s common for spray pilots to leave planes running while fueling or loading spray, in this case, what they were doing was dangerous because of the traffic on the ramp and pedestrian traffic near the airport office, Mike said. 

The FAA Flights Standards District Office in Wichita followed up on the incident and said in a letter to Spicer that they had discussed the incident with the pilot and operator and were confident that they understand the “increased diligence required to mitigate any potential hazard that may be caused by agricultural operations on public ramps.”

While the committee did not discuss what recommendation would be made, Mayor Jimmy Thatcher asked Property and Rec. Chairman Dennis Ouellette to make a recommendation on the airport contracts at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

Ouellette arranged to speak with Pam and Mike Spicer in further detail about the services they provide and to tour the airport Friday afternoon.  

Source:   http://www.ccenterdispatch.com

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