PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRPORT DISTRICT, PARISH OF BEAUREGARD, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT REGULAR MEETING MARCH 3, 2005.
The Beauregard Parish Airport District Board met in Regular Session on Thursday, March 3, 2005 at 5:00 P.M. The following board members were present: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman; Wayne Hall, R.M. Simmons, Eugene Loftin and Karl St. Romain. Those absent were: Elton Pickering and Hugh Dubose. Also present were: John B. Jones, III, Airport Manager; Lee Lancon, Lancon Engineering Inc., Justin Walker, President, Flex Air and Charles Hudson, Flex Air.
Mr. O'Neal opened the meeting by asking Mr. St. Romain to give the invocation. He then welcomed all those present to the March 2005 airport board meeting.
Mr. O'Neal asked if there were any amendments to the agenda. Mr. Jones said that he had no amendments and there were no other amendments requested. Therefore, Mr. Hall made a motion to accept the agenda as written. Mr. St. Romain offered the second and the motion was unanimously approved.
The next item was approval of an amendment to the 2005 budget. Mr. O'Neal asked Mr. Jones to review the requested amendment. Mr. Jones told the board that the main purpose of the amendment was to account for special project funds budgeted to be received and/or disbursed in 2004 which, in actuality, were not received or disbursed. He asked the board members to direct their attention to the budget amendment in their respective folders. Specifically, under the revenue section the revenues were significantly increased to show those funds that were not received in 2004 but are now expected to be received in 2005. Likewise, in the expense section there were expenses on projects which did not actually occur in 2004 but are expected in 2005. As a result there was also an expense increase shown for 2005. The bottom line results in an increase of the year end carryover from 2005 to 2006 in the amount of $4,464.00. He explained that the bottom line is not a large difference. However, since individual line items do have large variations a budget amendment is required. There was a short discussion. Mr. Hall then made a motion, which was seconded by Mr. Simmons to approve the amended budget. The motion passed unanimously.
The next item of business was approval of the minutes of the February 3, 2005 Regular Board Meeting. Mr. O'Neal asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes. There were none. Mr. Simmons made a motion seconded by Mr. Hall to approve the minutes as written and mailed. The motion was unanimously approved.
Mr. O'Neal then recognized Mr. Justin Walker. Mr. Walker was attending as a representative of his company Flex Air. He provided each member with a written request and told the board that Flex Air was interested in leasing the property located between the corporate hangar and the AFSS. Specifically, the request is to begin discussions on leasing 1.5-2 acres to provide space for construction of a new 120' x 100' hangar. He asked what types of arrangements were available for discussion. Mr. O'Neal reviewed the requirements for a property lease for aviation purposes, which has rental advantage over leases for non-aviation purposes. He emphasized that all leasing must follow state bid laws and they require that the property be advertised as available for lease. Mr. Jones then summarized the provisions normally included in leasing. These provisions pertained to length of lease, renewal options, improvement requirements, and disposition of property at the termination of the lease. There was a lengthy discussion between Mr. Walker, Mr. Hudson, and the board members. All board members were in agreement supporting the request. A motion was made by Mr. Simmons to support the request by Flex Air and to authorize the Airport Manager to proceed with discussions and preparations for a property lease. Mr. Loftin offered a second to the motion which was unanimously approved.
Mr. O'Neal then moved to the next item on the agenda which was a report on the status of airport projects. He recognized Mr. Lee Lancon, Consultant Engineer, and asked that he make the report. Mr. Lancon began with the Taxiway A & B Construction Project. He told the board that since the last meeting there had been very little progress due to the inclement weather throughout the month. Mr. Loftin asked how much of the dirt work was completed. Mr. Lancon responded that the dirtwork on Taxiway B was complete and that some of the stone was already in place. He said that the dirtwork on Taxiway A was approximately 75% complete.
He then discussed the project to Reconstruct Taxiway E. He informed the board that the federal funding allocations for the project had been approved in the amount of $699,753. That amount represents the 95% federal share of the project. The remaining 5% would, hopefully, be allocated by the state. Mr. Lancon said that the advertising for bids on the project had been approved and was underway. A pre-bid construction meeting was scheduled at the airport on March 8, 2005. He said bid receipt and opening was set for March 22nd. However, since that date conflicted with a Baton Rouge Meeting, the bid opening would be changed to March 24th. There was a brief discussion. No board action was necessary.
Mr. Lancon then presented drawings which showed construction suggestions for restrooms on the east side of the hangar. The rooms to be used were, at one time, actually equipped and used as restrooms. He said there was adequate room for handicapped accessibility and the drawings showed them with the necessary handicapped accessibility features. He recommended that a plumber be brought in to determine if the old sewer connections were intact and open.
He then discussed modifications to the existing restroom for handicapped accessibility. He said that the men's room would require changes including removal of a wall and moving the toilet. However, the Ladies room would require only minor changes. Those included the required toilet, changing out the lavatory and changing the door to the outside. This would provide handicapped features and could be a unisex restroom for the handicapped.
He also spoke on changes to the lounge front door. Mr. Lancon said that the present door needed to be replaced and could be replaced with one that had the handicapped hardware. There was a lengthy discussion by the board. Mr. O'Neal mentioned that any new restrooms on the hangar East Side needed to be very easy to clean, provided with heat and air conditioning, and could be easily equipped with a shower. There was additional discussion and Mr. Jones was asked to obtain additional details and information.
There being no further business a motion was made by Mr. St. Romain to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mr. Hall and passed unanimously.
Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman
Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer