PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRPORT DISTRICT, PARISH OF BEAUREGARD, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT RE-SCHEDULED MEETING, JUNE 9, 2003.
The Beauregard Parish Airport District #1 met in Rescheduled Session on Monday, June 9, 2003 at 5:00 P.M. The following Board Members were present: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman; Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer; R.M. Simmons, John Sandlin, Eugene Loftin and Wayne Hall. Absent was: Karl St. Romain. Also present were John B. Jones, III, Airport Manager; John Albert Windham, Auditor; Lee Lancon, Engineer; and Tim Cooper, Forestry Consultant.
Mr. O.Neal asked Mr. Loftin to give the invocation, after which Mr. O'Neal welcomed all those present for the re-scheduled June Board Meeting.
Mr. O'Neal then asked if there were any amendments to the agenda. Mr. Jones, Airport Manager, requested that three items be added as follows:
Mr. O'Neal asked if there were any additional amendments. There were none. A motion was made by Mr. Sandlin, seconded by Mr. Simmons to accept the agenda as amended. The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. O'Neal then asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of the May 1, 2003 Board Meeting. There being no corrections, a motion was made by Mr. Pickering, seconded by Mr. Loftin to adopt the minutes as written and mailed. The motion was unanimously approved.
The first item of business was adoption of the 2002 Audit Compliance questionnaire which must be adopted by resolution of the board. Mr. Jones explained that this was a questionnaire that was completed each year and furnished to the auditor as required by law. The questionnaire was passed around for each board member to review.
Upon a motion by Mr. Simmons, seconded by Mr. Hall the following resolution was offered.
Resolution No. 01-03
The 2002 Audit Compliance Questionnaire. (attach. 1)
The aforesaid Resolution having been submitted to a vote, the vote thereon was as follows:
Yeas: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Elton Pickering, John Sandlin, R.M. Simmons, Wayne Hall, Eugene Loftin.
Nays: None
Absent: Karl St. Romain
Whereupon, the resolution was declared adopted on June 9, 2003.
Mr. O'Neal then recognized Mr. John Albert Windham, Airport Auditor and asked him to give the 2002 Audit Report. Mr. Windham informed the board that the 2002 Audit had been completed. He said the audit results were similar to those of recent years. He had given an unqualified opinion which is the most favorable result that can be given by a CPA. The Report has been transmitted to and accepted by the Legislative Auditor. He made a detailed report and then a summary along with certain recommendations. The Operating Statement reflected depreciation expense of $172,619 which must be included as an expense even though it is not an actual expenditure. As a result the operating statement shows a loss which includes this depreciation. The more accurate record for actual airport activity is the Cash Flow Statement. This statement does not include depreciation and is a cash basis. The Cash Flow Statement reflects a positive cash flow of $14,264. Mr. Windham said that this is a true picture of airport activity. He also emphasized that there were no findings to indicate any non-compliance with statues and procedures.
Mr. Windham said that he had noted several items during the audit which he had also discussed with Mr. Jones. The first item was compensated absences. Airport policies on these absences are very liberal allowing 160 accumulated hours of vacation and 480 hours of accumulated sick leave. Under this policy the liability of the airport is approximately $18,000 which represents 25% of the available airport cash. It is the largest liability of the airport with exception of notes payable. It would be possible, if everyone were at the maximum, to have a $32,000 liability which would be 44% of cash. These policies go back many years and were very common practices. However, many entities are now having to change to reduce this debt burden and recommendations are to reduce these debts. Mr. Sandlin said that the same problem had occurred at the city and the Chamber of Commerce. Both had to make changes. Mr. Pickering commented on problems in the Public Works department caused by the policies. Mr. Pickering asked Mr. Windham if he had any recommendations on this problem. Mr. Windham said that he did have some examples he could review. Mr. Sandlin said he would also be glad to work on a solution.
Mr. Winham said that he had also talked to Mr. Jones regarding the Revenue & Expense Chart of Accounts. He said that he felt that there were too many accounts which would lead to confusion and errors. He said that the airport could narrow these down to produce a more meaningful chart of accounts. Mr. Jones said that he agreed with Mr. Windham and had already began work on reducing the accounts. The members took no action but agreed with the recommendations.
Mr. Windham said that his last comment concerned depreciation. He said that prior to 1994 all depreciation items were lumped together from prior years. Because of that he is unsure where all of it come from or lengths of depreciation. Mr. Windham said that, if the board wished, it could hire a firm to perform a fixed asset inventory. From the inventory it may be possible to charge off a portion of the depreciation and bring it into a more realistic amount. Mr. Loftin asked about the cost of such a study. Mr. Windham did not give a cost estimate but suggested the board get a cost estimate and then consider at that time. There was no action taken by the board.
The next item of business was item A under Grounds and Maintenance, approval to give the airport manager Power of Attorney to sign for USDA Programs. Mr. Jones explained that the airport, as property owner, for land farmed by the Smith Brothers, was eligible to participate in various government programs administered by the USDA. The Power of Attorney would permit the Airport Manager to sign for participation in these programs. A motion was made by Mr. Sandlin, seconded by Mr. Simmons to approve the Power of Attorney for USDA Programs. The motion passed unanimously.
Grounds and Maintenance item B pertained to the Hay Agreements. Mr. Jones informed the board that one of the Airport Hay Contractors had notified the airport that he did not plan to continue his hay agreement. Therefore, Mr. Jones, was requesting the members advise him of any individuals who would be interested in taking over that section of hay.
No action was taken.
The next item was to consider a resolution setting priorities for State and Federally funded programs being requested by the airport.
Upon motion by Mr. Sandlin, seconded by Mr. Hall, the following resolution was offered:
Resolution 02-03
Whereas, the Beauregard Regional Airport has completed an FAA and DOTD approved Master Plan/Airport Layout Plan which outlines specific future development of the Beauregard Regional Airport, and
Whereas, the Beauregard Regional Airport is desirous of implementing Master Plan/Airport Layout Plan recommendations which provide for needed improvements and upgrade as shown below to maintain and substantially improve the safety, usability, and future economic impact of the airport, but does not have sufficient funds of it's own to finance the needed improvements.
Now, Therefore Be It Resolved that the Beauregard Parish Airport District #1 does hereby adopt the following Improvement Priority Program:
The aforesaid resolution having been submitted to a vote was passed unanimously as follows:
Yeas: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Elton Pickering, Wayne Hall, John Sandlin, R.M.
Simmons, Eugene Loftin
Nays: None
Absent: Karl St. Romain
Where upon, the resolution was declared adopted on June 9, 2003.
The next item of business was a resolution was to give Mr. O'Neal, Chairman, and signatory authority to sign any all documents.
Upon a motion by Mr. Sandlin, seconded by Mr. Simmons the following resolution was offered:
Resolution 03-03
Whereas the Beauregard Regional Airport has completed and FAA and DOTD approved Master Plan/Airport Layout Plan which outlines specific future developments of the airport, and
Whereas, funds have already been requested for a portion of those future developments as follows:
Construct Taxiway A, A-1, B, B-1
AIP No. 3-22-0015-119-2003
Now Therefore Be It Resolved that Mr. Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman of Beauregard Parish Airport District #1, is hereby authorized to sign all documents, contracts, and agreements pertaining to the aforementioned projects including the Federal grant agreement and the City/State agreement.
The aforesaid resolution having been submitted to a vote was unanimously approved. The vote thereon was as follows:
Yeas: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Elton Pickering, Wayne Hall, R.M. Simmons
John Sandlin, Eugene Loftin
Nays: None
Absent: Karl St. Romain
Whereupon, the resolution was declared adopted on June 9, 2003.
The next item of business as to discuss a timber pole sale. Mr. O'Neal recognized Mr. Cooper, Timber Consultant, and asked him to address the board on this item. Mr. Cooper reminded the board that the last timber sale had included a pole sale. At that time there were no bids received on the poles. This was due partly because of poor market conditions and partly because of the weather, which created difficulties getting poles out of the woods. Mr. Cooper said he felt there might be more interest now in the poles. He said that he would recommend that the board advertise by asking for $5,000 down then a price per ton on poles, and per ton on pulpwood tops. There was a lengthy discussion among board members. A motion was made by Mr. Pickering, seconded by Mr. Loftin to advertise for bids for a pole sale. The board expressed the desire to be paid each week for poles sold, with a final date of payment of October 31, 2003. The motion passed unanimously.
Mr. O'Neal then recognized and asked Mr. Lee Lancon, Engineer, to bring the board up to date on the airport projects. Mr. Lancon reported on the projects one by one.
Installation of ODAL Lighting System:
Mr. Lancon said that the ODAL installation had been completed, inspected, and approved by the state. He requested that the Certificate of Substantial Completion be approved by the board. Upon a motion by Mr. Hall, seconded by Mr. Simmons the Substantial Completion was unanimously approved.
Airport Layout Plan:
Mr. Lancon said that the ALP was basically complete. He had already previously submitted all but the two property use sheets to the FAA and State. The property use sheets were submitted a week ago. He said that he was waiting for comments or corrections from the FAA. At this time no action was being requested from the board.
Taxiway Project:
Mr. Lancon told the board that the soil testing had been completed and a report furnished to the airport. There was some silt detected which would have to either be removed or stabilized. He requested that the charges for soil testing be approved for payment. Approval for payment was unanimously approved. The motion was made by Mr. Loftin, seconded by Mr. Simmons. There was then a lengthy discussion on the new taxiway project. The discussion was finalized with Mr. Lancon indicating that he would like to receive bids on the project by August 15, 2003. If all proceeded accordingly he would ask the board to authorize advertising for bids at the July board meeting.
Mr. O'Neal asked Mr. Jones to report on the Gilliam Railroad Service Rental agreement. Mr. Jones said that Mr. Gilliam had signed the month-to-month lease, had made a deposit, and paid two months rent. The company had already begun moving crossties and equipment in when the crossties and a forklift were burned up during early morning fire on Sunday May 25th. Mr. Jones said that it appears that the fire was arson and, as such, was being advertised in “Crimestoppers”. Operations had resumed at the site. Mr. Jones said that this was for the board's information only and that no action was required.
The last item of business was a Public Relations report by Mr. Sandlin. He advised the members that he had been in contact with the Public Affairs Office at Ft. Polk regarding surplus military equipment/aircraft to be used as a permanent display at the airport and W.M.C.C. All the necessary forms had been completed and forwarded to the Dept. of the Army. Mr. Sandlin said that he didn't know how long the process was but that he was very optimistic. The members voiced their appreciation to Mr. Sandlin.
There being no further business Mr. Pickering made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Simmons seconded the motion which passed unanimously.
Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman
Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer