Members of the airport commission met Thursday and received an update on airport improvements.
Martha’s Vineyard airport commissioners met Thursday, Nov. 12, and received an update on the positive status of the airport efforts to meet FAA standards, after an annual inspection in May identified a number of deficiencies.
Airport Commission chairman Myron Garfinkle via a video call, co-chairman Bob Rosenbaum, and interim airport manager Deborah Potter told commissioners that the airport is remaining on track to meet internal and external deadlines to correct the failings.
These include completion of a 10-year master plan, building a new aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) building, updating a wildlife hazard-management plan, and repainting lines on the runway tarmac.
The FAA granted just under $900,000 to the airport in 2011 for the design of a combined AARF and snow-removal equipment (SRE) storage building. As a result of delays and very little progress, the FAA handed the airport a Dec. 31 deadline to submit a design plan.
The design plan must be completed so that the airport can apply for the FAA grant money needed to build the ARFF. Currently, the design is at 80 percent completion, and the next step is to get budget estimates and calculate costs, Mr. Rosenbaum said. The airport is working toward an internal Dec. 15 deadline, Ms. Potter said, and the project will likely be put out to bid in January.
“I think the team has done extremely well in meeting some very tight and strenuous goals,” Mr. Rosenbaum said.
A number of things had to be completed by the airport in order to maintain its Part 139 status as a commercial airport. Ms. Potter said the FAA would still like to see more staff training and documentation in several areas, however they are “working on that to [FAA] satisfaction.”
Ms. Potter said the FAA was satisfied with the wildlife hazard staff training. The airport is working toward obtaining habitat management permits, and an update to the wildlife management plan is still in progress.
The FAA is satisfied with the tarmac lines painted on Oct. 5, 6, and 7 by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
The 10-year master plan was funded in 2012, and the FAA generally expects to see a copy of it within one to two years. In October, Mr. Garfinkle reported that the airport was about to pass the three-year mark. Thursday, he said the master plan “continues to move forward.”
Ms. Potter said the airport is on target with revenue and expenses to date. Roughly, it has incurred about $2.3 million worth of expenses, and $4.1 million of revenue without the reserve budget. That’s 83 percent worth of projected revenue to date, and it’s typical to generate a substantial amount of that revenue early in the season, she said. Expenses are around 56 percent from the projected budget, which Ms. Potter said is also typical for halfway through the fiscal year.
The FAA awarded a $600,000 grant to the airport, which will cover 90 percent of the costs for a front-end loader and sweeper. Equipment was also installed to help expedite TSA operations.
In other business, the commission approved with conditions a request by MassDOT to install a continuously operating reference station (CORS), a global satellite navigation system that is part of a statewide project designed to assist surveyors, engineers, and GIS mapping professionals with a variety of information. The GPS system, which will be installed near the airport business park access, will be available to the public free of charge, and MassDOT will be responsible for all costs.
The commission heard a request for a self-service car wash on lot 34 in the airport business park in Edgartown. Commissioner Christine Todd questioned whether the project should be referred to the Martha’s Vineyard Commission (MVC) given its potential environmental impacts. Ms. Potter said an MVC referral is usually the jurisdiction of the town, and the MVAC vote would only be the first in a line of necessary approvals. Ultimately, the commission tabled the proposal until the December meeting in order to have more time to individually review the project plan.
Negotiated resolution
There was only one mention of the outstanding status of airport manager Sean Flynn. Mr. Garfinkle said the commission was “continuing in good faith with conversation and exchanging ideas for a negotiated resolution with Mr. Flynn.”
In September, in a special closed-door meeting, the commissioners voted to place Mr. Flynn on paid administrative leave. The vote followed behind-the-scenes, and ultimately unsuccessful, efforts by Mr. Garfinkle to craft a separation agreement with Mr. Flynn.
At that time, Mr. Flynn said efforts to oust him were an outgrowth of the long and debilitating battle between the Dukes County Commission and its appointed Airport Commission, and violate the terms of his contract. He promised a costly legal battle if there were no resolution.
The September vote formalized Mr. Flynn’s status, which had been up in the air for more than seven weeks. In an email to The Times on Thursday, Mr. Flynn said he is still on paid administrative leave.
Mr. Flynn is now in the fourth month of a new three-year contract that took effect July 1, worth $138,882 annually. Under the terms of the contract, if the airport commission dismisses Mr. Flynn, the commission must pay him through the end of the three-year contract. The commission, by majority vote, could terminate the contract for cause by meeting a number of conditions.
No comments:
Post a Comment