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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