PROCEEDINGS OF THE AIRPORT DISTRICT, PARISH OF BEAUREGARD, STATE OF LOUISIANA, TAKEN AT REGULAR MEETING, JANUARY 8, 2004.
The Beauregard Parish Airport District Board met in Regular Session on Thursday, January 8, 2004 at 5:00 P.M. The following board members were present: Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman; Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer; John Sandlin, Wayne Hall and Eugene Loftin. Those absent were: Karl St. Romain and R.M. Simmons. Also present were: John B. Jones, III, Airport Manager; Lee Lancon, Consultant Engineer; and Tim Cooper, Forestry Consultant.
The meeting was opened by Mr. O'Neal who asked Mr. Sandlin to give the invocation. Mr. O'Neal then welcomed those present to the first meeting of 2004.
Mr. O'Neal then asked if there were any amendments to the agenda. There being no amendments to the agenda, Mr. O'Neal then asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of the December 2003 meeting. There were no corrections to the minutes. Mr. Sandlin then made a motion to approve the minutes as written and mailed. The motion was unanimously approved.
Mr. O'Neal then moved to the Grounds and Maintenance section of the agenda. He introduced Mr. Lee Lancon, Airport Consultant Engineer, and asked that he report on the taxiway project and make a recommendation on the construction bids opened at the December meeting.
Mr. Lancon then addressed the board and reminded the board that the project base bid was within the funding limits of the project. However, there were not adequate funds for any of the bid alternates. The base bid would complete the taxiway on the East Side of Runway 18/36 and do all the dirt work on the West Side of the runway. It would not provide any lighting. By accepting the base bid only there would be approximately $153,000 left over in the grant. Mr. Lancon told the board members that he and the airport manager, Mr. Jones had participated in several conference calls with the FAA and State Aviation officials trying to utilize the $153,000. The end result of the calls was there was a possibility of first reducing the grant by the $153,000, then taking that same sum, adding in the airport's entitlement fund of $150,00, and increasing the State portion by their appropriate share to make a change order which would be Alternate #1. If this were done as a change order we would have to know whether this would be in accordance with various state laws. These various discussions were ended with the understanding that Mr. Jones would get a legal opinion from the Airport Legal Counsel. Mr. Jones then advised the board that he had contacted Mr. Lestage and had received an opinion from Mr. Lestage along with an Attorney General opinion on a similar case. The opinion was that it was not a violation of state bid law to have the change order. Each board member had a copy of the letter in their file.
Mr. Lancon then said that he was recommending that the board accept the base bid of Apeck Construction, Inc., which was the low bid, and authorized the chairman to sign the contract and any other appropriate documents for the project. He also recommended that the chairman be further authorized to sign the abovementioned change order when and if funding became available and notification was received from the FAA and DOTD.
Mr. Loftin then made the motion to accept the low base bid submitted by Apeck Construction, Inc. for the construction of Taxiway A & B and to authorize the Board Chairman, Mr. O'Neal to sign the contract and all other pertinent documents. Mr. O'Neal would be further authorized to sign a change order and pertinent documents to add alternate 1 submitted by Apeck Construction, Inc. if funding and approval was given by the FAA and State DOTD. Mr. Sandlin offered the second to the motion, which passed unanimously.
The next item on the agenda was to discuss the 2004 timber sales. Mr. O'Neal recognized Mr. Tim Cooper, Forestry Consultant. Mr. Cooper then presented the board with a new 5 year timber harvesting plan. He also presented the board with his recommendation for the 2004 sale. The sale included three areas to be clear cut and four areas to be thinned. Mr. Pickering asked if it would be possible to have a pole sale in those areas first. Mr. Cooper replied that most of the poles in these areas had already been cut. After a lengthy discussion a motion was made by Mr. Hall and seconded by Mr. Loftin to authorize Mr. Jones to advertise for the 2004 timber sale bids. The motion was unanimously approved.
The last agenda item for discussion was the conversion of AvGas to a self-service system. Mr. O'Neal reminded the board members that, in the past, they had frequently discussed installing self-service equipment for AvGas but had never done so because of cost. He said that the 2004 budget did include funding if available within the budgeted amount. He also pointed out that the process would require two sets of quotes. The first set for equipment and shipping to the airport. The second set for installation of the equipment. There was a short discussion after which a motion was made by Mr. Pickering to authorize the Airport Manager to solicit and receive quotes for self-service equipment. The motion was seconded by Mr. Loftin and unanimously approved.
There being no further business the motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Pickering. Mr. Loftin made the second and the motion was unanimously approved.
Hollis Ray O'Neal, Chairman
Elton Pickering, Secretary/Treasurer