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KENANSVILLE — The Duplin County Airport Commission meeting was called to order Tuesday night, followed by a prayer, dinner and approval of past meeting minutes. Gage King was welcomed to his first official meeting.
Airport Director Joshua Raynor, presented a new $2 million change order to the board for approval for the new spec hangar and rehab project. Justin Wright of Daniels and Daniels was present to explain the project.
“These design-to-build projects are built to have transparency. We are in this business to build a quality product and hopefully move on to do more projects with you knowing you can trust us,” Wright said. King probed Wright to clarify the larger line items of the budget including electrical, plumbing, and metal building. The board discussed whether or not lightning protection should be added to the project for $40,000. Lightning is a considerable problem at airports, but protection does not necessarily prevent all damage. Wright and the board discussed that systems could be retrofitted at a later date but will never be cheaper than they are during initial construction. Wright also confirmed that every part of the building will have grounding as part of the already planned construction. The choice between polished and epoxy flooring was also discussed for the project. Some expressed concern about the longevity of maintenance on epoxy floors, but others praised how it contributed to the all white, clean and bright interiors in the hangars. The board decided to leave the plan as is with epoxy flooring but with a contingency to change to polished floors at a later date if they want to change it.
The location of air conditioning units was also discussed. Once all concerns were addressed, the board voted to approve the change order to release the rest of the construction funding for the spec hangar and rehab project.
Wright clarified that geo checking is not part of the budget. Raynor suggested that the best way to use the rehab budget is to replace roofs and insulate all existing hangars to become weatherproof. He suggested that letting Daniels and Daniels handle the larger portion of the work will allow them to purchase in bulk, take advantage of discounts, and maximize the use of available funding. The board plans to continue discussing how to best use the rehab portion of the project’s funding.
The board then discussed an update on the Connector Taxiway A3 construction. A few lights remain as well as new larger taxiway designations with updated aviation standard call signage. A change order was needed to allow for $10,000 in additional funding for soil-related changes and updated LED lighting voltage. It was clarified that the funding was available within the existing grant, so the board approved the change order for the additional Taxiway costs.
Raynor gave an update on the Fuel Farm. He said he had received an award letter from the Department of Transportation for part of the funding, and he is still waiting on the rest. An update was also given on the Apron Rehab project. The scope of the work – set to include updating the approach – has been presented to the Department of Aviation. It will then come to the board for approval. Funding for the Apron Rehab project has already been secured. An update on the Runway Rejuvenation project was also given. Raynor said the airport still plans to close from Aug. 4 to Aug. 10, but may reopen sooner depending on surface drying time.
Raynor then discussed Capital Improvement funding. “The next five years of projects using federal dollars have to be secured to allocate funding,” Raynor said. Pre-application forms have to be submitted for each project by Aug. 15. Two of the projects include the taxiway design and a fencing update. State funding will still be pursued for available projects in addition to the federal funding. The board discussed the fact that the Strategic Planning Committee has not met yet. They plan to wait until after the first of the year to have clarity on what funds are available.
The Airport Operations Budget was discussed including $132,000 needed to meet the 10% required match on all the current projects and $41,000 for a new passenger golf cart and leased vehicles.
“The county and a lot of towns are going to leasing vehicles instead of owning them. That’s what we do in Warsaw,” Mayor A.J. Connors explained. Fuel sales reportedly collected 81% of what was budgeted and overall operations for the month were 319 activities requiring airport services.
Raynor presented an idea to change the entry roundabout. Instead of grass, he suggested a flagpole surrounded by commemorative bricks. The board liked the idea of a flag pole but asked for more thought to be given to the design. Raynor then presented a staffing issue. Full-time and substitute Airport Technicians are needed, but open positions have not been filled. Therefore, the airport has to adjust its scheduled hours to open at 8 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. every other Monday.
