Airport
authority mulls ending helo lease
The Santa Ynez Airport Authority held its monthly meeting
March 6 at the airport administration building. The public portion of the
meeting was considerably shorter than usual because board Chairman Willy
Chamberlin, board President Jim Kunkle, and board
Treasurer David Romero were absent.
During public comments, the board heard information on a
complaint sent by an airport user to the Federal Aviation Administration Flight
Standards District Office in Van Nuys regarding the careless operation of an
operator of a helicopter at the west end of the airport. It was reported that
the operator of this helicopter had been warned several times by the airport
management not to take off from the taxiway between hangers. This operator was
informed that helicopter operations must be conducted from the designated areas
at the east end of the main ramp area, but has disregarded repeated requests to
do so.
The authority is having county counsel review a proposed
change in the airport lease agreements to allow the termination of the lease of
this operator should continued careless operations occur.
A report by Airport Operations Manager Keegan Bailey
regarding the storage of non-aviation vehicles and trailers near the glider
port at the east end of the airport indicated that several of the vehicles had
expired license tags and the owners would be contacted to remove the vehicles.
The area had seen an accumulation of derelict and non-operable vehicles that
had been stored or parking on the airport property without permission. Romero
and Bailey are working on getting this area cleaned up and are contacting the
owners.
Board member Jeff Hecker
reported that the painting has been completed on the trim sections of the large
maintenance hanger housing Santa Ynez Aviation. He
reported that the lessee had reported a problem with the large bi-fold
electrically operated doors and that a contractor, who performs electrical
maintenance around the airport, would investigate the problem.
Airport consultant Kim Joos, in
her report on the status of the airport’s conditional use permit, indicated that
the rough grading plan had been completed. Joos also
provided the board with photographs that portrayed the effects of landscaping
on the proposed hangers. She indicated that even with a lack of foliage, as
would be the case during winter, the proposed work to be done by Arcadia
Landscaping would effectively shield the hanger’s visual impact from Highway
246.
Jeff Hecker provided
information on the progress on the five-year maintenance improvement plan for
the airport administration building. Hecker has
received pricing on the installation of double-pane windows for the building
that will aid in saving energy by keeping the building better insulated.
Reporting on progress being made on the U.S. Forest
Service administration building proposal, Kim Joos said
that the county would need to be the sponsor for the state loan. The forest
service has agreed to lease the new building for $49,000 per year with a four
percent annual increase.
Joos
additionally reported that the Water District application study has been
received and that the current pipeline is more than capable of supplying the
airport with all its water needs.
A final report by Joos on the
status of Grant 11 shows that the airport will be meeting with representatives
from Bethel Engineering on the application of a sealant to complete the
unsatisfactory job previously done by another single source contractor. A test
strip will be applied to ensure that the new composition will be adequate to
provide protection on the ramp area.
The authority retired to executive session at 7:50 PM to
discuss items relating to a public hanger license agreement and Grant 11
negotiations.
The next regularly scheduled Airport Authority meeting
will be held on Thursday, April 3, 2008.