DeKalb Times

City of Dekalb Airport Advisory Board met Sept. 29.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

A. Roll Call

B. Approval of Agenda – Additions / Deletions

C. Public Participation

D. Approval of Minutes – August 25, 2020

E. Old Business

1. AWOS (Automated Weather Observation System)

Airport Manager’s Summary: The AWOS displays have been operating intermittently as of late. I contacted our AWOS technician who said we have not had any interruption in the data feed to their central computer. Our staff knows to cycle the power to the computer located in the flight planning room, which so far has brought the system back to operation each time. I have asked the staff to track the times when this is occurring so I can provide the information to the AWOS technician. The AWOS-contracted technician is scheduled to arrive the week of September 28 for the quarterly/yearly inspection with an FAA inspector present. The current lack of availability to remotely record NOTAMs at the end of the weather observation recording will be addressed with them during the site visit.

F. New Business

1. New Line Service Staff

Airport Manager’s Summary: On Monday, September 21, the newest Line Service staff member, John Holiday, will meet with Renee and Michelle Brening, Human Resources, for his new hire orientation in the upstairs conference room. John brings a strong customer service background as well as mechanical skills and dedication to civil service as he will be retiring from the DeKalb County Sheriff's department at the end of the year, where he has most recently been a detective. He receive initial training during weekend shifts until his schedule will allow for regular weekday shifts. Since he lives locally, he will be readily available for after-hours call-outs.

2. FAA 2020-21 AIP

Airport Manager’s Summary: On Tuesday, Sep. 15, our CMT engineer contacted me about the FAA 2020-21 AIP letter regarding projects that will seek FY2021 Discretionary funding. The FAA requires that all project seeking Discretionary funds must have the environmental work started, and preferably completed, by October 1 of the federal fiscal year being requested. DKB is slated for the project, below. If the project can progress within a timetable provided by CMT, then the Intergovernmental Agency Agreement and Local Share would be due before the end of FY2021 (Sep/Oct or Nov/Dec) and TIF #1 funding may be able to be used. Bill Nicklas gave CMT the go-ahead with the environmental clearance at a not-to-exceed cost of $5,000.00 to meet the Oct. 1 submission date.

G. Reports

a. Airport Manager’s Report

Bill Nicklas, Andy Raih and I have evaluated the airport spaces and equipment store within to determine best locations to store Public Works, Fire Department and Airport vehicles for seasonal and cold storage. As such, I spoke with Jeff Petersen, EAA Chapter 241 President about moving their trailer, sign and mobile road sign out of the Quonset hut and into the barn at 3331 Pleasant and requested they sign a hold harmless agreement for the storage. He signed the agreement and they will move their items as soon as we are able to coordinate with the other moving responsibilities Andy has within the City. The Airport foam/Crash 6 truck will be housed in the West Community hangar for the winter along with the Deice truck so that both are handy and ready to move during inclement winter weather. I also talked with Alex Nerad, Egyptian Theater, about the three semi-trailers stored at 3331 Pleasant. He informed me that the Theater rents two of the trailers to store equipment previously used for their Haunted House project, and he thought the third belongs to DFD. Jeff McMasters, DFD, was unaware of that fact and sent two crew in a fire truck to the site to enter the unknown trailer, which is extremely deteriorated and was filled with myriad items, none of which belongs to the Fire Department. Burt Johnson called the Police Department and started an abandoned vehicle process. Alex will review with his board the viability of the Haunted House in the future and determine if they need to continue storing the equipment or dispose of it.

I have been and continue to work with Matt Rose, City Attorney, on reviews of leases and SASO agreements for clarity and consistent language across our legal documents.

This month, I worked with Doug Eaton, City IT Department, to create hangar aerial maps for inclusion in tenant leases.

In preparation for our new Line Service technician’s training, we established an account with the National Air Transportation Association (NATA) for us to use their resources for accredited Line Service training, which is supported through our fuel supplier, WorldFuel and Phillips 66. We will use the FY2019 budgeted funds for Dave Dahlberg, Kevin Howard and John Holiday to get started. I will budget training for the remainder of the staff for FY2021.

On Tuesday, Sep. 8, Mario and I headed out to the east side of Runway 2-20 to collect the quarterly stormwater samples at our two outlets. Both samples were completely clear.

On Wednesday, Sep. 9, repairs to the north wall of the 2200 Pleasant Street Airport Maintenance hangar were begun and were completed on Friday, Sep. 11.

On Thursday, Sep. 10, Jim Mason arrived unannounced and criticized me for our JetA fuel price being $1.00 too high as compared with Burlington, WI. He claimed there is a City Ordinance for a $.50 profit margin on jet fuel. I communicated with Bill Nicklas and I asked Ruth Scott to research the City Council minutes. She discovered the item had been presented to the City Council for discussion only on 4/19/2017. The Airport Advisory Board discussed it also during their regular meeting on 4/25/2017. Bill sent an email to Jim and copied Mayor Smith, explaining the many efforts that are being made to improve revenues at DKB.

We have begun some basic demolition of the FBO lobby in preparation for the rehab work anticipated in the next year. We are utilizing repurposed items from old City Hall to reduce overall costs. Also, a ComEd contracted vendor from Quiet Light Solutions arrived on Friday, Sep. 11, to perform a lighting evaluation in the FBO and KEC classroom buildings. He will recommend replacement fixtures with the FBO rehab in mind, some of the cost for which will be covered by grant monies.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Sep. 15-17, fourteen DFD crew members arrived each morning at 9am for Airport Familiarization Training. We initially met in the upstairs conference room where I was able to instruct them in airport basics. I then brought them to the West Community hangar and demonstrated hangar door operation for accessing Crash 6, showed them several aircraft, discussed aircraft operations safety, and gave an overview of the Fuel Farm.

On Thursday, Sep. 17, I met with Stephanie, City Legal Department, regarding insurance renewal paperwork and was able to help her complete the required form for airport general insurance. She provided a list of equipment, such as tugs and snowblowers, that we will review for accuracy.

On my way back from that meeting, I noticed two FAA vehicles parked at their hut at the south end of a residential driveway along Pleasant Street. The lighting technician informed me that they had repaired the Runway 9 PAPI and REIL light systems. I met their newest technician assigned to our region and got his contact information. They will be contacting me regarding installing a gravel access path, a 1-vehicle-wide lane, from Taxiway B between the corn fields north of the taxiway and along the north fence line paralleling Pleasant Street to access that hut from the air side, instead of having to drive on the resident driveways to access the hut when repairs or maintenance are required.

Due to the increased call-outs we experienced in July, we officially increased our After-hours Call-out Fee from $50/staff to $75/staff which better covers our staffing costs and brings us closer in-line with current industry rates.

Mark Pumphrey replaced burned-out lights in two T-hangars this month.

On Wednesday, August 26, I worked with DeKalb PD Sgt. Kwasniewski and drone pilot Bob Myers to coordinate a flight over Peace Rd, north of Pleasant, cornfield east of Pacific Pride gas station, as they tried to locate a suicidal pedestrian who had run into traffic and then into the cornfield. I alerted local air traffic via a transceiver. The drone battery was exhausted after a brief flight and had to land before locating the individual; however, the police did apprehend the man when he exited the field. Also, a Hawker 4000 arrived about 1pm, two passengers rented an Enterprise BMW, and the pilots used our Pilot Lounge. They departed around 4:30pm after purchasing 405 gallons of JetA fuel.

On Thursday, August 27, a Plane Solutions’ Cessna 680 Sovereign, chartered by IDI Distributors, arrived from Flying Cloud, MN, at 9:30am, two passengers deplaned and were picked up. The two pilots utilized our pilot lounge, conference room and courtesy car. After purchasing 251 gallons of JetA fuel they departed around 3:45pm. An Integrated Flight Resources’ Cessna 560 Citation 5 based at DuPage Airport (DPA) landed at 10:15am after practicing instrument approaches and purchased 300 gallons of JetA fuel. We hosted the Kishwaukee Education Consortium Aviation Program Orientation in the West Community hangar.

On Friday, August 28, Rich Reynolds helped an older couple with a situation that is likely a scam for adopting kittens from North Carolina who were to be flown to DKB. They had been told they needed to pay additional money for insurance. Rich suggested they request a photo of the aircraft that was flying the cats, and there was no response. He then helped them connect with PD for filing a report and advised Commander Lekkas of the scam. This is the third similar incident we have encountered since I started at DKB in April.

On Monday, August 31, I received a call from Frank Bostelmann, Vagabond Flying Club based at DuPage Airport (DPA), who let me know that one of their member pilots during his take-off roll had hit one of the landing light stanchions on the east side of R20. I drove out and found the light lens intact about 25’ feet to the southeast of the base and the light stanchion about 100’ away from the base. I texted pictures to Andy and Mark Pumphrey. I emailed Frank and told him we would give him a price for parts and labor when we have affected the replacement. Mark completed the repair the next day and VFC has been invoiced for the costs involved.

On Tuesday, September 1, we received a call from McNeely Air Services who were dropping off baby chickens at O’Hare Airport (ORD) in a Shorts 330 twin-turboprop which would be transferred to a China Airlines aircraft for international transport and would then stop at DKB for JetA fuel at approximately 3:00am Wednesday, Sep. 2. Burt Johnson stepped up to do the call-out and they purchased 494 gallons of JetA fuel. On Wednesday, Sep. 9, I received a call at 7:45pm from McNeeley Air Services requesting a 3am call-out Thursday morning for their Shorts 330 twin-turboprop after they drop off baby chickens at ORD. Mario stepped up to accept the early morning call to duty. The pilots purchased 431 gallons of JetA fuel. They are enjoying our low JetA fuel price, $2.90, as compared to ORD’s JetA fuel price, $7.87, which doesn’t include an additional fuel handling fee. They save approximately $2,500.00 by flying from ORD to DKB, purchasing fuel and then flying back to home base.

On Wednesday, Sep. 2, a medivac helicopter landed on our Jet Ramp due to low cloud ceilings preventing their landing at Kishwaukee Northwestern Hospital. An ambulance brought a patient injured in an accident at Peace/Rt 38 and they flew the individual to a Rockford trauma center. A single-engine Piper Commanche landed with 2 pilots and 2 cats, and resided in the West Community hangar for three nights while the Casa de Aero runway was getting repaved. A Pacific Aerospace Ltd P-750 XSTOL single-engine turboprop aerial survey aircraft landed and took 118 gallons of JetA fuel.

Also, that afternoon, Mike Burke, Filtration Corp, arrived and troubleshot our problematic AvGas 100LL fuel farm. At this point, considering the issue that we had been experiencing were during extremely hot temperatures, he surmised that since our fuel farm piping is painted a relatively dark blue, that we have been experiencing fuel vaporization in the lines causing the pump to lose its prime and not work. I then went with Mike to the 2200 Pleasant St. maintenance hangar ramp for him to evaluate the deice truck. He told me that three years ago in 2017 he had evaluated the truck and made numerous recommendations for parts to be replaced or repaired. He noted that most of them, if not all, have not been attended to, such as the auxiliary engine oil has not been changed since 2015. There are numerous important gauges that are non-functioning, still. He is compiling a list of the noted items and anticipated costs to obtain the parts and or have them performed the labor, so we can determine if I can task Tom Brian with the repairs or we contract Filtration Corp for completion.

In mid-August I had been contacted by a gentleman who was looking for a banner towing operation so that he could arrange a banner to be flown over his parent’s care facility in celebration of their 60th wedding anniversary. I was able to provide him with a phone contact. On Thursday, Sep. 3, a banner towing pilot arrived, hooked up the banner, accomplished the 20 minute flight, returned to DKB, dropped the banner before landing, and gathered it up, post flight before departing to its home base in Indiana.

On Wednesday, Sep. 9, an Airbus AS 350B3 pipeline inspection helicopter landed to avoid stormy weather, and the pilot purchased 90 gallons of JetA fuel before departing to skirt storms on his way north to Duluth, MN. Pipelines are required by the Federal law to be inspected every 21 days. He remarked that we are super convenient and said he would give us a 5-star rating for our quick service.

On Thursday, Sep. 11, a Pace Aviation Citation 525 arrived in the morning, their passengers rented an Enterprise car, and their pilot utilized our courtesy car and pilot lounge. The pilot purchased 250 gallons of JetA fuel.

On Saturday, Sep. 12, A Eurocopter medivac helicopter landed before 10:30am because the clouds were too low to land at Kishwaukee Northwestern Hospital. They transferred a COVID-positive patient from KNH to Loyola. They did not purchase any fuel.

On Monday, Sep. 14, a NetJets fractional ownership Cessna Citation Sovereign landed at 9am. The passengers rented an Enterprise car and drove to Woodstock to look at purchasing a 1978 TransAm. The pilots used the pilot lounge and purchased 550 gallons of JetA fuel. After lunch, Dave experienced an issue with the Jet fuel truck refueling system and had to tow the jet to the fuel farm to refuel it, then they towed it back to the ramp parking area prior to the passengers returning. They departed around 2pm.

At 12:42 pm the Chicago Tracon Air Traffic Control called my cell phone and notified me that a pilot flying in our traffic pattern had noticed that an aircraft was off the edge of Runway 20 and a person was walking heading south along the taxiway toward the main terminal building. I requested Dave Dahlberg to take the Line Service pickup and go out to the runway, and I followed in the Blazer. We met the pilot on foot along Taxiway C and I offered that he could ride with me in the Blazer to the aircraft. Since the runway was already closed for mowing operations, we were able to move freely on the runway. I took pictures while Dave assisted the pilot with gathering personal items from the aircraft which was just off the pavement in the grass, basically intact except for a sheared propeller. We drove the vehicles back to the south ramp and Dave contacted Jeff Kohlert in his maintenance hangar. At that point, Dave had to assist with the Sovereign refueling, so Jeff, the pilot and one of Jeff’s technicians drove out to the aircraft to assess its status for being towed. They were able to tow it by securing the tailwheel on the truck bed gate and pulled it to Eric Dienst, Rev’d Up Motorsports, in Midwest Hangar Corp hangar 2. I took a video of the aircraft’s path along R20. The pilot indicated that on landing a piece of the left wheel fairing had lodged in the brake and locked up the wheel, causing him to lose control as the aircraft slowed to almost a stop and in turn ended up with the propeller striking the runway surface. The pilot was uninjured, aside from his ego, perhaps. Once I returned to my office, I contacted our regional FAA contact to start the formal accident/incident reporting process. I then received a call from an FAA accident/incident investigator who was en route to DKB. I called and extended the NOTAM for the runway closure to 2:30pm. Dave and I went back out to the runway with brooms and a bucket to pick up debris on the runway so it could be safely reopened. I met the two investigators who asked me basic questions and then took them to Eric’s hangar to meet the pilot and inspect the aircraft. Jeff then took the investigators out to the incident site so they could view it. I met with them again at the end of their site visit.

In the middle of the aircraft incident, I received a call from Mark Jagiello, Mortenson Superintendent for Facebook Data Center construction site, letting me know that the FAA had declined their submission for the height of the six cranes necessary for constructing the buildings, as their height will encounter the Instrument Landing System approach corridor to Runway 2. I accepted their request to have a Microsoft Teams meeting to discuss the circumstance. The FAA specialist who signed the letters had indicated that the airport/sponsor could weigh in on the decision. Following the meeting, I called the specialist and left an urgent voice message and followed up with an email. I also spoke with Bill Nicklas who contacted Doug Klonowski, CMT Engineer, for him to assist as able. The following morning, I talked with Mark, Mortenson, and found out their anticipated schedule to be Sep. 28 for initial crawler cranes installation followed by steel delivery and start of steel installation anticipated on Oct 5. I spoke with Fred Souchet, FAA Specialist, who gave expert explanations regarding the installation and operation of the movable cranes at the Facebook/Mortenson construction site south of DKB. I then consulted with the CMT engineers and drafted a letter to acknowledge the Notice of Presumed Hazards for the six cranes and the parameters to which we agreed for the lengthy Facebook Data Center construction phase (18 months, estimated). The six cranes (285’ AGL) in each of their prescribed locations on the construction site will adversely impact the protected airspace for the DKB Runway 02 ILS (Instrument Landing System) approach. The construction general contractor, Mortenson, and crane operator, Area Erectors Inc., have made assurances that they will operate the cranes at full height (285’ AGL – Above Ground Level) Monday through Saturday during the hours of 0630 LCL to 1900 LCL, Central Time, for which an FDC NOTAM (Flight Data Center - Notice to Airmen) will be in effect indicating that the R02 ILS MDA (Minimum Descent Altitude) will be increased by 160’ and the R02 RNAV/LNAV MDA will be increased by 80’. Outside those times of crane operation, the cranes will be lowered to a height not to exceed 137’ AGL, which allow both approaches to offer the published MDAs. Mortenson’s compliance with these parameters is acceptable to the Airport Sponsor, the City of DeKalb, and me as Airport Manager. They will also advise if there is any operation required outside of those times so that adjustments can be arranged. On Wednesday, Sep. 16, I was included in an email from Robert Hahn, IDOT-DOA, regarding the FB crane letters of Presumed Hazards, who it seemed was weighing in on the matter on behalf of DKB. My first action was to forward the email to Doug and Terry, CMT, for their response. In the meantime, Fred Souchet responded to my letter and emailed letters of Determination of No Hazard to John Hall, Area Erectors Inc. Doug and Terry agreed that I should respond to Robert’s email and attach my letter addressed to Fred, explaining our position of no issue.

On Tuesday, Sep. 15, the AgriFlite West Air Tractor operated from our Jet Ramp starting at 6:30am. Kevin Marshall, owner/pilot, made numerous trips throughout the day to seed fields north of DKB, and his son was on site to assist with seed loading and refueling from their JetA fuel hopper. At the end of the day they wanted to purchase JetA to refill their hopper, but at that time both JetA fuel truck hoses were inop. The JetA fuel truck continued to have pump issues in the afternoon. Tom Brian came to troubleshoot the electrical system and found the wiring in the cabinet to be a mess and two wires not connected to anything else. A fuse was blown during the troubleshooting which he replaced. I called Daney, Perry Maintenance, in hopes that they might have a wiring diagram, but they do not work on the Bosserman system, which is obsolete.

A Cessna 560 Citation V chartered jet arrived at 9:30am from Clemson University, South Carolina, and the passengers rented an Enterprise Suburban to drive to Rochelle for a scouting visit. The pilots used our courtesy car and pilot lounge and purchased 120 gallons of JetA fuel. They departed mid-afternoon. Prior to their departure, we had a line of 100LL customers waiting to use the self-service 100LL AvGas pump!

On Wednesday, Sep. 16, the local Culver’s owner flew in his TBM single-engine turboprop for the day and parked on the South Ramp.

I spent most of the afternoon with Mike Burke, Filtration Corp, and Dave Dahlberg, line service, on the ramp at the Jet fuel truck as Mike troubleshot the two separate fuel hose issues. We were able to assist him by me operating various switches and Dave standing on top of the fuel truck operating the nozzle while Mike chased wires and was in and out of the truck cab and under the truck on a dolly. During a basic review of the truck, Mike found two bolts that need to be safety-wired on the single-point hose nozzle and the jet truck battery needs to be replaced due to difficult starting and corroded contacts and posts. I texted Andy and Tom Brian about both items. Mike discovered that the single-point fueling “dead-man switch” was defective; they have one in stock and Gordon was asked to bring it on Thursday morning at 6:30am to replace it. Mike also found a wire that was not connected inside the electrical box which prevented the over-the-wing hose from operating. He reconnected the wire, and the system was restored to working order.

On Thursday, Sep. 17, Mike Burke and Gordon Tompkinson, Filtration Corp, arrived very early and replaced the dead-man switch on the JetA truck, so the truck is now in good working order. They also troubleshot the 100LL fuel farm fuel pump intermittent stopping issue, determined that the electric motor that runs the fuel pump is wearing out, most likely the internal brushes are worn, and recommended replacement, which they can provide to us and our PW electricians can easily accomplish the replacement. Mike is gathering data for comparing fuel truck replacements versus maintaining our current equipment. He and Gordon both agreed that we should consider replacing the fuel farm in total and keep our older trucks as the back- ups; they will provide us information on this, also.

c. Budget

Airport Manager’s Summary: I have met with Andy Raih and Bill Nicklas and Josh Boldt to review the FY2021 budget process and have been reviewing expenditures for establishing the most accurate budget numbers possible considering the present budgetary constraints.

d. Hangar Rentals

Airport Manager’s Summary: On Wednesday, August 26, we received a signed Tie-down Tenant Agreement from a Cessna 150 pilot who has been on the south ramp for at least 8 months. His rent is paid in full.

On Friday, Sep. 4, the AgriFlite West Air Tractor crop duster twin-turbo prop arrived, and Mario helped him move the aircraft into the 2200 Pleasant St Maintenance hangar for a month lease.

I received three additional requests for T-hangar spaces for new tenants and one request for a current tenant to move to a hangar without asphalt flooring since our last Board meeting. Our waitlist is currently at 16, with three of those being current tenants who would like to vacate their asphalt floors for concrete floors and/or heated hangars.

A replacement tenant for E6-9 has agreed to move in on October 1.

T-hangar tenants, Gary and Isabelle Kavorik are vacating E1-9 at the end of August since they sold their airplane and are moving to Florida. I have started contacting those on our wait list to find a replacement tenant; I am waiting for responses.

H. Adjournment

https://www.cityofdekalb.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_09292020-1889