PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRPORT DISTRICT, PARISH OF BEAUREGARD, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT SPECIAL MEETING APRIL 24, 2007.
The Beauregard Parish Airport District met in Special Session on Tuesday, April 24, 2007 at 5:00 P.M. The following board members were present: Hollis Ray O’Neal, Chairman; Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer, R.M. Simmons, Wayne Hall, Eugene Loftin and Hugh DuBose. Absent was Karl St. Romain. Also present: Mayor Ron Roberts, City of DeRidder; John B. Jones, III, airport Manager and Lee Lancon, Lancon Engineers, Inc.
Mr. O’Neal opened the meeting by asking Mr. Pickering to give the invocation. Mr. O’Neal then welcomed all those present to the meeting. He reminded the board that since there was no quorum for the April 5 meeting this meeting would be for both April and May.
Mr. O’Neal then asked if there were any amendments to the agenda. Mr. Jones, Airport Manager, said that he had two amendments. The first was a parish public works proposal regarding property between Graybow Road and the Timber Rock Railroad. The second was to approve selected timber thinning as requested by Mr. Cooper, Airport Forestry Consultant. Mr. O’Neal asked if there were any other amendment requests. There were none. A motion was then made by Mr. Pickering to approve the amended agenda. Mr. Loftin offered the second and the motion was unanimously approved. The Public Work Proposal was listed as Item C under Grounds and Maintenance. The Timber Thinning was added as Item D under Grounds and Maintenance.
Mr. O’Neal then asked if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes of the March 1, 2007 Board Meeting. There were none. A motion was made by Mr. Pickering, seconded by Mr. Simmons to approve the minutes as written and mailed. The motion was unanimously approved.
The next item on the agenda was a presentation by Ron Roberts, Mayor of DeRidder, pertaining to economic development. Mr. O’Neal recognized and welcomed Mayor Roberts. The mayor outlined economic development activities and incentive currently underway not only locally, but throughout the parishes of Southwest Louisiana. He cited the Southwest Louisiana Economic Development Alliance as one example. The mayor explained that there are numerous requests received from the state for information on certain types of sites or facilities that may be available in this area. At the present time Calcasieu Parish has no industrial site available for such development. However, in Beauregard Parish the airport has one of the largest areas in the state that could be used for such development. He felt that the airport could be an ideal megasite.
Mayor Roberts emphasized that Louisiana has ample funds being made available for economic development. The Southwest Louisiana Alliance, along with other interested groups, has been, and will be going back to Washington, D.C. in an effort to obtain funding for infrastructure. There is definite interest in developing the airport. He said that the City of DeRidder would be very interested in assisting the airport board in any such efforts. Mayor Roberts then thanked the board for the opportunity to speak. Mr. O’Neal thanked the mayor for his interest.
After the Mayor had left there was a brief discussion. A motion was then made by Mr. Simmons to appoint an airport delegation to visit further with the Mayor regarding his presentation. Mr. Pickering offered the second and the motion passed unanimously. Mr. O’Neal appointed Mr. Simmons, Mr. Jones and himself to the delegation.
The next item was a request from Mr. Russell Williams to exercise his option to extend his property lease for ten years. The Airport Manager, Mr. Jones, said that he had received a written letter from Mr. Williams asking for the extension. Mr. Jones said the initial term of the original lease ran to September 2007. The lease provides the Lessee with two ten year renewal option. Mr. William wished to exercise his first ten year option. A motion was made by Mr. Loftin to approve the request. Mr. Simmons offered a second to the motion which was unanimously approved.
Mr. O’Neal then moved on to the Forestry Department lease. He asked Mr. Jones to explain the renewal. Mr. Jones told the board that the Forestry lease for the Louisiana Forestry District office had already expired and had no further options. He said that he had been advised that the Forestry Department did want to continue to lease the property. Since the previous lease and its options had already expired, a new lease would have to be drawnup. With no further discussion Mr. Simmons made a motion to prepare a new lease with the same terms, conditions, and length as the previous lease. Mr. Loftin seconded the motion which was unanimously approved.
At this time the chairman recognized Mr. Lee Lancon, Lancon Engineers and asked him to report on the airport construction projects. Mr. Lancon first addressed the project to Construct Taxiway A – Phase II. Mr. Lancon said that initially the bids were to have been opened at this meeting. However, in order to provide bidders additional time he had issued an addendum to postpone the bid opening until Thursday May 3, 2007 at 5:00 P.M. This does meet with statutory requirements and was agreeable to the FAA and state officials. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Mr. Loftin to authorize, in advance, acceptance of the low bid submitted at the May 3, 2007 meeting. Such acceptance would be conditioned upon the recommendation of Mr. Lancon, and the approval of the Chairman of the Board, State Aviation Division, and Federal Aviation Administration. Mr. DuBose seconded the motion which was unanimously approved.
Mr. Lancon then presented a “Proposal for Construction Materials Testing Services” for the taxiway project that was submitted by Fugro Consultants, Inc. He explained that this was a required service and had to be performed by a firm acceptable to the FAA. Fugro did meet the necessary requirements and Mr. Lancon recommended acceptance of their services. Mr. Simmons made a motion to accept the proposal by Fugro. Mr. Loftin offered the second and the proposal was unanimously adopted.
Mr. Lancon then addressed the board request for cost estimates on an emergency generator to power the main hangar when there is a loss of power. He said that in accordance with board instructions, cost had been developed for two options. The first option was to provide power to the entire building and areas powered through the building. The estimate cost for this option was $104,000.00. The second option would only provide power to specific identified circuits in the facility. The second option would cost as estimated $70,500. After a lengthy discussion it was agreed to search for funding sources for either of the presented options.
The next agenda item was to approve a resolution and joint service agreement with the state DOTD for a Foreign Object & Debris (FOD) runway cleaner. This agreement would provide the airport with a cleaner through a state grant and at no cost to the airport. Following a brief discussion, Mr. Pickering made a motion to adopt the resolution and approve the sponsor/state agreement. Mr. Loftin offered the second and the motion was unanimously approved a Resolution Number 02-07.
Mr. O’Neal then moved on to the Police Jury Public Works request. Mr. Pickering, Public Works Director had two items for consideration by the board. The first was to send a resolution requesting funding assistance to finish hard surfacing the Old airport Road all the way from U.S. 190 to Graybow Road. Presently only a small portion adjoining U.S. 190 is hard surfaced. Mr. Pickering said that this was a necessary undertaking if this area was ever going to be considered for any type of economic development. He also reminded the board that this could become a part of a west side by-pass around DeRidder if that ever became a reality. A motion was made by Mr. DuBose to adopt a Resolution requesting state funding assistance to hard surface Old Airport Road all the way to Graybow Road. Mr. Simmons offered the second and the resolution was unanimously approved as Resolution Number 03-07. The resolution to be sent to the Secretary, Dept. of Transportation and Development, the State congressional delegation, and state legislative delegation.
Resolution Number 03-07 Date April 24, 2007
Beauregard Parish Airport District No. 1
The Beauregard Parish Airport District 1 of the Parish of Beauregard met in special session on this date. The following resolution was offered by Mr. Pickering and seconded by Mr. Loftin.
A resolution requesting state funding assistance for construction of a 2 mile by-pass extension joining LA 3226 to the junction of Graybow Road and Pine Ridge Road.
Whereas, Old Airport Road is connected to U.S. 190 and the LA 3226 By-Pass at the northern end, and to Graybow Road at the southern end, thereby linking two hard surface high traffic arteries,
And Whereas, this unimproved link is a shorter and more direct route from the south to the by-pass and the Boise Cascade Paper Mill than LA 27 and U.S. 190 which go through the City of DeRidder,
And Whereas, Beauregard Regional Airport property, suitable for economic development, bordering the entire road on both sides, could be greatly enhanced and developed for the benefit of the entire area.
And Whereas, future planning could easily link this road to LA 27 and even U.S. 171 providing a western corridor around DeRidder, a necessary prerequisite to rapid hurricane evacuation and rapid military deployment to the south from Ft. Polk,
And Whereas, the Beauregard Parish Police Jury has previously paved a portion of Old Airport Road in an effort to attract business and industry.
Now Therefore Be It Resolved, that the Board of Commissioners, Beauregard Parish Airport District 1, Beauregard Parish, Louisiana does hereby request state assistance in providing funding to complete the hard surfacing of Old Airport Road and to connect said road to Graybow Road at it’s junction with Pine Ridge Road.
And Be It Further Resolved, this resolution be sent to the Secretary, Department of Transportation and Development, Aviation Division, Department Transportation and Development, State Congressional Delegation and State Legislative Delegation.
The resolution was approved with the following vote:
Yeas: 6 Nays: 0 Absent: 1
The second public works proposal concerned the narrow band of airport property located on the south side of Graybow Road between the road and the railroad. The trees along this strip had been recently harvested and there was numerous stumps and considerable debris left on site. Mr. Pickering proposed that the Police Jury be allowed to level this area so that it would be the same elevation as the surrounding terrain. The Police Jury would remove excess soil and use it in re-routing Old Airport Road. In exchange, the Police Jury would level the ground, fill in the low places, and remove stumps/debris left from the logging. After a brief discussion Mr. DuBose made a motion to approve the proposal. Mr. Simmons seconded the motion which was unanimously approved.
The last item concerned timber thinning. Mr. Jones informed the board members that the Airport Forestry Consultant had contacted the airport regarding two areas that needed to be thinned. The first was along the west side of the Old Airport Road and contained approximately 40 acres. The second was inside the fence, along the entrance road into the airport. After a brief discussion a motion was made by Mr. Hall and seconded by Mr. DuBose to approve the thinning with the condition the portion along the entrance road would be left clean and debris free. The motion passed unanimously.
There being no further business, Mr. Pickering made a motion to adjourn which was seconded by Mr. Simmons. The motion was unanimously approved.
Hollis Ray O’Neal, Chairman
Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer