MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF THE INDIAN WELLS VALLEY AIRPORT DISTRICT
October 13, 2004

NOTE: This meeting was tape recorded and the tape is available at the airport office.

1. CALL TO ORDER

President Dave Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Directors Bates, Bozack, Farris, Mohn, and Rosenthal. Also present were District Manager, and District Counsel Scott Nave through telephone conferencing. Members of the public present were: Ann Norris, Brad Glasco, Arden Wallum, Shel Simonovich, Jim Paris, Mr. Spoons, Ms. Judith Gerard, members of the seventh grade at Murray Middle School, and others.

2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

Director Farris led the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

3. CONSENT CALENDAR

A. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting and Special Meeting of September 1, 2004 and waive further reading of the Minutes.

B. Approval/ratification of the Payment Register of October 13, 2004

C. Approval of Financial Report for August of 2004.

D. There was a short discussion on items on the payment register.

Motion was made by Director Mohn, seconded by Director Farris, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED. Motion was passed by voice vote: 5 ayes. Director Bozack abstained from item 3.A. in the vote as she was absent from the September meeting.

4. PRESENTATION BY MRS. JUDITH GERARD AND MEMBERS OF THE MURRAY MIDDLE SCHOOL

Mrs. Gerard explained that the members of the Aeronautics Club at Murray Middle School had successfully completed all of the requirements to earn the Award of Excellence in Aerospace Education presented by the Civil Air Patrol. Although the club has been in existence for a few years, the requirements were actually completed in a six month period instead of the customary year. A brief history of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) was given, and it was explained that it is actually an auxiliary branch of the United States Air Force. The young people diligently worked in order to complete all of the requirements, which included participation in a Young Eagles event held by Inyokern Airport. Ms. Gerard added that very few schools obtain this award and it is a high honor indeed. The students are also members of the CAP, as is Mrs. Gerard.

In gratitude to the District for assisting in their project, the student representatives Lester Lauritzen, Curt Spoons, and Daniel Snyder presented certificates to the District, the Directors, the airport manager, and airport volunteer Charlene Spencer. Each student gave a brief statement when presenting the certificates.

The Directors congratulated the young people, as did all of those present, and voiced their hopes that they would continue to pursue their interest in careers in aviation, as well as thanking them for the certificates.

5.A. APPROVAL: AGREEMENT FOR MANDATED COST CLAIMING SERVICES: SHIELDS CONSULTING GROUP, INC. 

The District has had a contract with Shields to provide services for three years. Because of the fiscal crisis facing the State, all of the funds due the Airport have not been received; however, the State now says that they will begin paying interest on funds due and they plan to resume payment to the local agencies in year 2006. There was a discussion about the wording of the agreement, with advice given by District Counsel Scott Nave. Several Directors voiced their opinion that although staff could complete the forms and applications, due to work load and time constraints it is more economical to utilize the services of Shields Consulting. Ms. Bass explained that the instructions and forms are quite lengthy and some of the eligible items could be missed. Ms. Bass was instructed by the Board to explore the training mentioned in the agreement.

Following the discussion, motion was made by Director Farris, seconded by Director Mohn, TO APPROVE THE CONTRACT WITH SHIELDS CONSULTING GROUP, INC. FOR A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS. Motion was approved with a voice vote of 5 ayes.

 5.B. CLOSED SESSION: MANAGER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

This item was moved to Agenda item 10.B.

6. DISTRICT COUNSEL

District Counsel had no report but congratulated the District on a successful air show.

7. DISTRICT MANAGER 

• Skywest enplanements for the month of September were 986. Ms. Bass explained that September is traditionally a slow month for the airline as it is the last month of the federal fiscal year.
• The gate project is nearly completed, and as soon as the Edison Company completes the electrical hook-up the cards will be distributed and combinations to the personnel gates furnished to the airport tenants and users. The staff is planning at this time to be available on one or two week-ends to facilitate this process. Following completion of this portion of the security project, the paving and security barricades will be done with the funds remaining.
• The Capital Improvement Plan is due to the FAA in November this year, instead of January as in the past, and the forms have been revised and are much more comprehensive. Mr. Seymour will be working on this and it will be presented to the Board at the November meeting.
• There have been several responses to the Request for Qualifications for engineering and planning consultants, and these will be reviewed and hopefully ready for review and approval by the Board of Directors in November or possibly December.
• Trona Airport had their annual inspection this week and were told they are required to have a current Airport Layout Plan (ALP). Coincidentally, one of the consulting firms which visited the airport had a copy of the ALP done for Trona many years ago. Copies were obtained and provided to Mr. Phillips in order to assist him in updating the ALP to comply with State regulations.
• Ms. Bass gave a report on the air show conducted on October 6. The planning and coordination with the Airport this year were both excellent, which was appreciated by the staff. The meetings with air show representatives were run smoothly and efficiently. Set up and tear down, as well as clean up, were all done in a timely fashion with a lot of hard work by everybody, but also a lot of fun. There were sufficient volunteers for all of the tasks. There were no noise or other complaints received by the District. There were a few minor first aid matters at the event, which were handled by Liberty Ambulance. The FAA air traffic controllers and the F.S.D.O. representative agreed that everything was done properly and they enjoyed the day at Inyokern. Fuel sales were: Air show – av gas, 261.15 gallon and jet fuel, 953 gallons. The air show was given a discount on the fuel. The Snow Birds purchased 4476 gallons of jet fuel.

  In summary, the event was held with no problems, and only compliments have been received by the District from many spectators and participants. The Pacific Flyer had a photographer present along with other media persons, so the airport received very favorable publicity with the event. Ms. Bass added that because of cooperation and coordination between air show and airport personnel, she believes the charge to the air show should be reviewed next year and possibly reduced.

8. COMMITTEE REPORTS

Director Bozack reported for the ad hoc committee regarding the booth at the air show. Thanks were given to Mr. Lee Phillips who loaned his “shade” for the booth. Ms. Bozack added that there was no wind this year but in future years the District may want to obtain a sturdier canopy for providing shade. Thanks were also given to Mr. Brad Glasco who worked in the booth and Mr. Arden Wallum who assisted with the tear down at the end of the day. Mr. Tom Bozack not only assisted with the booth, but he also supplied the photographs. The grid panels purchased were attractive and worked well. These can be used for booths at events in the future. The people who visited the booth were interested in the airport, with many of them unaware of the commercial air service, giving the volunteers the opportunity to provide information which may increase our passenger numbers. Many of the airport brochures were given out, along with some other literature about the attractions in the surrounding area. Ms. Bozack also had some suggestions for future booths including ear plugs if the booth is at the air show. Some pictures of the booth were supplied by Ms. Bozack and passed around.

Everybody complimented and thanked Mr. and Mrs. Bozack for their efforts which resulted in a booth which was both informational and attractive.

9. PUBLIC COMMENT

• Mr. Simonovich commented that some pilots are still using a left hand pattern for runway 20, and it creates an unsafe condition.
• Mr. Simonovich asked about painting lines showing the tie-down spots as well as directional lines to the fuel facility. Ms. Bass explained that these are not required, but if the airport has them they must conform to regulation sizes designated by the California Division of Aeronautics. In the last few months three airports were cited for lines which are not standard, and at least one airport simply removed them. These lines are normally used at airports where the parking ramps are extremely crowded, a problem which Inyokern doesn't have. Ms. Bass will check into the DOA standards regarding the lines.
• Mr. Brad Glasco expressed his appreciation to Mr. and Mrs. Bozack for their work on the air show booth.
• Mr. Jim Paris asked if the airport has any plans for an AWOS or ASOS. Ms. Bass responded that if there are sufficient grant funds available, the District is looking at a Superunicom.
• There was a question about runway paving, and Ms. Bass responded that Runway 20 is scheduled to be widened and will be overlaid at that time.

10.A. BOARD COMMENT

DIRECTOR FARRIS: Mr. Farris had no comment.

DIRECTOR BOZACK: Ms. Bozack commented that the name tags made for the air show were good, and can be used again.

Ms. Bozack also brought up a suggestion made by Larry Warkentin some months ago that a security/safety meeting might be held to brief local pilots on security measures at the field. Director Bozack added that the AOPA security program could be discussed and their signs used at the field. It was suggested that a barbecue might be held at the time this is done. There was short discussion about the safety seminars which could be done again if enough people are interested in attending.

DIRECTOR MOHN: Director Mohn thanked all of the members of the public present for their participation in the meeting.

DIRECTOR BATES: Mr. Bates agreed with Mr. Mohn that is great to have people present at the meeting giving comments.

DIRECTOR ROSENTHAL: Mr. Rosenthal said he was happy that the air show was a good one with no problems. He added his thanks to the members of the public at the meeting.

10.B. CLOSED SESSION: MANAGER PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

The Board of Directors adjourned to close session at 8:25 p.m.

The Board of Directors returned to open session at 8:42 p.m. President Dave Rosenthal announced that an evaluation of the managers performance was done in closed session. No action was taken.

11. ADJOURNMENT

Motion was made by Director Bates, seconded by Director Farris, TO ADJOURN THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF INDIAN WELLS VALLEY AIRPORT DISTRICT OF OCTOBER 13, 2004 at 8:50 p.m.. Motion was approved by voice vote: 5 ayes

Submitted by
Nancy Bass, Executive Secretary