DeKalb Times

City of Dekalb Airport Advisory Board Met April 27.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

A. Roll Call

B. Approval of Agenda – Additions / Deletions

C. Public Participation

D. Approval of Minutes – March 23, 2021

E. Old Business

1. Deice Truck

Airport Manager’s Summary: The new deice truck was power washed and looks like new! A small hydraulic leak at an o-ring was discovered during an exercising. During the same time, it was discovered that the boom joystick would not move the bucket left and right. Mike Burke, Filtration Corp, troubleshot and found that a PQ board needs to be replaced and the vendor from whom we purchased the truck will send a replacement to us. The boom can be operated from inside the truck cab. The old deice truck title was returned to us from IL Secretary of State and was signed over to the vendor with the Bill of Sale for our trade in.

2. 2200 Pleasant St. Hangar

Airport Manager’s Summary: The ComEd Environmental/Safety and Arcadis contracted environmental inspectors performed a site inspection on Tue., Mar. 30. I answered a questionnaire about the building and grounds histories and responded to several emails and phone calls for additional information. A short list of punch items was presented for our attention and Andy Raih and Thom Brian have been attending to them since the inspection, with completion anticipated prior to May 1.

3. DeKalb Chamber of Commerce – Drive-thru Expo – Friday, May 14

Airport Manager’s Summary: CMT has assisted in communications with IDOT Division of Aeronautics who completed their airspace review and is awaiting FAA department approvals. I will be emailing tenants this week to offer them the opportunity to display their aircraft.

4. Flight/Ground Operations

Airport Manager’s Summary:

Michelle Brening and I interviewed five candidates for Line Service Technician and the best applicant’s pre employment background and reference checks were completed this week. We anticipate him starting at the next pay period cycle.

I received five new requests for hangar rentals in the past month.

I received the PM 2 reports on the emergency generator and our Ground Power Unit (GPU) from Rush Power and reviewed it over the phone with Kevin. They reported that the GPU needs a fuel line replaced as well as spark plugs. I emailed and requested that they provide a quote for replacements which we reviewed.

On Saturday, Mar. 27, an Embraer Phenom 300 arrived, and the pilots purchased 580 gallons of JetA fuel before departing.

On Tue., Mar. 30, A Phi Medical Bell 407 helicopter landed, and the pilot purchased 73 gallons of JetA fuel. The pilot returned in the afternoon and purchased another 71 gallons.

On Wed., Mar. 31, the JetA fuel truck experienced a minor fuel leak at the end of single-point refueling of a Win Aviation CASA twin-turboprop whose auto fuel shut-off valve was inoperative, which caused fuel to back up the fuel hose and leak out of a gasket. Mike, Filtration Corp, provided phone tech support and recommended greasing a fitting, which Jon and Thom accomplished.

On Fri. Apr. 2, I received notice that Jim Mason was terminating his Community hangar tenant lease, as he is selling his Rockwell Aero Commander twin-engine turboprop.

Also on Apr. 2, a Lancair single-engine experimental piston aircraft arrived, the owner purchased self-serve 100LL AvGas, and then taxied out to depart on R20. He was taxiing at a fast pace due to an alternator issue, so he rode hard on his brakes which caused the right main wheel brake to catch on fire. Kyle and Drew, PW electricians, were working along the north end of Taxiway C, noticed the fire and flagged down the pilot. They quickly used their PW dump truck on board fire extinguisher to put out the fire. Kyle then called me, and I sent Burt in the Line Service pickup and I followed in my Blazer. The right brake assembly and inner part of the right main tire were melted. The pilot decided to taxi back to the South Ramp and will leave it tied down until at least Monday when he will return with parts and tools to fix it. Thanks to our PW staff quick thinking, a potentially worse situation was avoided!

This past month we have experienced significant issues with the 100LL AvGas fuel truck. The coolant leak has increased and the cold start difficulties persist. We are working on a replacement solution with Mike Burke, Filtration Corporation.

On Monday, Apr. 5, I received the FAA 5010 three-year airfield inspection report from IDOT which noted items for attention, none of which was a surprise as I was witness during the entire inspection process. These items require repair:

• The north end of R20 Runway End Identifier Lights (REILs), off the north end of the runway, are inoperative and need to be repaired. (Repaired within three days by PW electricians.)

• Significant lateral cracking was noted in the taxiway pavements Scheduled runway and taxiway projects will rectify this.)

• Runway and Taxiway edge lights that heaved need to be repaired to the correct height of 3” above grade at the frangible fitting. (PW electricians had already been working on this as time allowed and will complete by early May, 2021.)

On Tue., Apr. 6, ATP Flight School, based at DuPage (DPA), had a significant loss of oil pressure in flight but was able to land safely on R20, taxi to the ramp and shut down the engine, which then leaked a puddle. Rich applied oil dry to capture it. The instructor and student contacted their Maintenance Department and then reached out to Fly America and Win Aviation for assistance. They tied down the plane and obtained transportation back to DPA. A replacement engine is being shipped to DKB and the Fly America technicians will install it.

Also on Apr. 6, Wayne Riser, owner of the Sycamore Culver’s, arrived in his TBM single-engine turboprop and requested to be put in the Community hangar overnight. He was picked up by Enterprise to get his rental car. The following day, he returned with several passengers and purchased 103 gallons of JetA fuel before departing to Lexington, KY.

On Mon., Apr. 12, Line Service staff experienced 100LL fuel farm not pumping fuel. Fuel pump ran. On Tue., Apr. 13,Mike Burke, Filtration Corp, arrived and worked with Rich to troubleshoot the 100LL fuel farm. He found the flapper in the check valve was stuck. He strongly recommends that we paint the piping white to prevent fuel evaporation which can cause the pump to lose its prime.

On Wed., Apr. 14, and aircraft incident occurred at about 11:50am when a Piper Arrow single-engine aircraft arrived from DuPage Airport (DPA) and upon landing on Runway 27, the right main landing gear scissor trailing link center bolt sheared which caused the linkage to separate and then allowed the wheel assembly to rotate 90-degrees. This caused the aircraft to skid to the right side of the runway, spin 180- degrees and come to rest in the grass immediately to the north side of the pavement, having perfectly pirouetted around a runway light fixture without coming into contact with it! The pilot was shaken, but unhurt, exited the aircraft and began walking toward the FBO. I looked up from my computer and noticed him walking on Taxiway A and then saw the Arrow sitting alongside R27. Jon Costliow was working in the upstairs hallway, so I told him to run down and meet the pilot. I called Flight Service and closed R9/27. Jon drove the pilot out to the plane and Jeff and one of his technicians drove out in their vehicle, and I drove out in my Blazer. I took photos and video. After an evaluation, Jeff determined they could replace the sheared bolt, return the wheel to it’s proper direction and pull it on its own gear to the hangar. I called the appropriate FAA office to alert them to the incident. The aircraft was put in our Community hangar because Jeff didn’t have room in his. The pilot called the owner who arrived within an hour with his wife. One of the FAA investigators was at Win Aviation and walked across the parking lot to start the investigation. Jeff stated that by his brief examination, he determined that the aircraft was in overall poor maintenance shape.

Later in the afternoon, A Piper J3C-65 Cub arrived on its way from Florida to Minnesota and the pilot purchased a whopping 5 gallons of 100LL AvGas. The pilot told Jon that it was a WWII scout aircraft that spotted Panzers in the Battle of the Bulge.

On Wed., Apr. 21, A BAE Hawker 800 twin-engine corporate jet arrived mid-morning on its way from Van Nuys to Portland, ME. The pilots purchased 1142 gallons of JetA fuel before departing.

On Thu., Apr. 22, Rich observed an inbound Cessna Citation twin-engine corporate jet on FlightAware from Flying Cloud, MN. It arrived at 1:30pm and picked up two passengers on its way to Cincinnati, OH. The pilot paid the ramp fee but did not purchase any JetA fuel before departing. Rich encouraged the pilot to arrive with minimum fuel on Sunday during its return flight to take advantage of our low JetA fuel price and quantity discounts.

On Fri., Apr. 23, I closed R9/27 for the afternoon, so Drew and Kyle, PW electricians, could work on pushing runway lights down to required heights. When they were at the east end of the runway, they found that the R27 north REIL control box was damaged. I contacted Alan, FAA Nav/Lighting, for input. Kyle and Drew removed the control box to determine what would be needed for repair. I issued a NOTAM for equipment out of service until May 5, pending parts and repair.

5. Fuel Revenues

Airport Manager’s Summary:

March fuel sales as recorded:

Airport Advisory Board Agenda Page 4 of 6

Month 100LL gal Sales JetA gal Sales

March 2021 5,102.8 $20,450.83 4,756.8 $16,515.42

vs.

March 2020 1,768.6 $8,004.77 2,688.0 $8,256.45

On Tuesday, April 6, we received a full load of JetA fuel and we were able to maintain our current pricing, staying below regional competition. On Monday, Apr. 26, we anticipate receiving a full load of 100LL AvGas, but will need to raise our pricing due to the higher per-gallon cost currently.

6. TIP Projects (Transportation Improvement Program)

a. DKB-4331 Taxiway-Rehabilitate T-hangar Pavements, Entrance Road Auto Parking Lot Airport Manager’s Summary: We have been able to process a couple of the outstanding payments to Hanson Engineering with two remaining, pending IDOT processing the Withholding payments to us that we will then pass through to Hanson.

b. DKB-4556 Replace the Existing Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) Units on Runway Ends 2, 20 and 27 with Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) Units

Airport Manager’s Summary: CMT is still anticipating a Pre-Construction meeting in May, with construction by William Charles Construction beginning in June.

c. DKB-4800 Rehabilitate Runway 2-20

Airport Manager’s Summary: On Thursday, Apr. 15, I received notice from IDOT that the project is active, and I submitted the Design and Special Services invoices from CMT to IDOT. Last week I started the payment process for our Local share of the project which is $3,604.75.

d. DKB-4875 Rehabilitate Taxiway C

Airport Manager’s Summary: On Tuesday, Apr. 8, a CMT surveyor and a crew arrived and took pavement samples. The project’s engineering process was at 35% completion mid-March. CMT has stated that they anticipate completing the engineering in time for the IDOT July 2021 bid letting.

F. New Business

1. Events

a. DeKalb County Health Department Hazardous Waste Collection

Airport Manager’s Summary: This event has been rescheduled for Saturday, July 10, times to be determined, at the 2100 Pleasant West Ramp.

2. Airport Improvements

a. FBO Redesign

Airport Manager’s Summary: All contractor work has been completed except for exterior tuckpointing on the South entrance and windows replacement, which is expected to begin the last week of April or first week of May. Furniture procurement is in process. Additionally, a couple of the Line Service staff have replaced the almond light switches and outlets with white elements for an updated appearance. The Public Works electricians will also extend the upstairs Conference room ceiling light fixture whips so they can be positioned correctly.

b. Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program (ACRGP)

Airport Manager’s Summary: IDOT is waiting for Grant Application instructions from the FAA, which they will then forward to Illinois airports. DeKalb Airport has been allocated $13,000. I anticipate utilizing the funds toward necessary equipment repairs.

G. Adjournment

Airport Advisory Board

The Airport Advisory Board of the City of DeKalb, Illinois, held a Regular meeting on February 23, 2021, at the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport, 3232 Pleasant Street, DeKalb, Illinois, in the West Community Hangar.

Chair Robert Owens called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

A. Roll Call

Robert Owens called the roll and the following members of the Airport Advisory Board were present: Paul Borek, Scott Carlson, Richard Dowen, Matt Duffy, Melissa Gallagher, Bernard Pupino, Robert Owens, James Rhoades, and Tony Faivre.

Also present was Airport Manager Renee Riani and a guest, Eric Dienst.

B. Approval of Agenda – Additions / Deletions

Paul Borek moved to approve the agenda; seconded by Bernard Pupino. Motion passed by a majority voice vote of those present.

C. Public Participation

Eric Dienst declined to comment until later in the meeting.

D. Approval of Minutes – January 26, 2021

Matt Duffy moved to approve the minutes of January 26, 2021 meeting; seconded by James Rhoades. Motion passed by a majority voice vote of those present.

E. Old Business

1. Deice truck

No questions or discussion.

2. 2200 Pleasant St – potential ComEd lease

Renee Riani provided an update to the process of redlining the lease with anticipation of have final approval by ComEd Group VP by the end of the week.

3. Flight/Ground Operations

Scott Carlson commented on the quantity and scope of snow removal equipment failures during the snow events. Eric Dienst commented on the snow piles impeding the fire hydrant west of the Midwest Hangar and the snow that had been moved in the west parking lot that was piled in front of his dumpster. Renee responded that those items would be brought to Andy Raih’s attention. She commended Andy and his Snow Crew and the Line Service staff for their dedication to moving the volumes of contaminants and responsiveness to tenant requests for assistance in moving snow to gain better access to their hangars. No further questions or discussion.

4. Fuel Revenue

Renee Riani explained that JetA fuel prices have escalated, as have 100LL AvGas. A load of JetA was delivered on Mon., Feb. 22, ahead of another $.10 price increase that occurred on Tue., Apr.23. We continue to maintain competitive pricing in the region.

No questions or discussion.

5. TIP Projects

c. DKB-4331 Taxiway-Rehabilitate T-hangar Pavements, Entrance Road Auto Parking Lot No questions or discussion.

d. DKB-4556 Replace the Existing Visual Approach Slope Indicator (VASI) Units on Runway Ends 2, 20 and 27 with Precision Approach Path Indicator (PAPI) Units

No questions or discussion.

e. DKB-4800 Rehabilitate Runway 2-20

No questions or discussion.

f. DKB-4875 Rehabilitate Taxiway C

No questions or discussion.

F. New Business

1. Events

a. DeKalb County Health Department Hazardous Waste Collection – Saturday, May 1

No questions or discussion.

b. DeKalb Chamber of Commerce – Drive-thru Expo – Friday, May 14

Matt Duffy shared that the time is set for 4pm to 7pm and details are being determined. No further questions or discussion.

c. DKB hosting Cessna 140 aircraft during the week of the EAA Oshkosh AirVenture airshow/fly-in, July 26-Aug. 1, 2021

Renee Riani updated that Jeff Kohlert, Fly America, had requested permission to offer grounds for overnight camping and parking for those pilots who wish to gather in advance of a mass fly-in to OSH, date to be determined. No questions or discussion.

3. Airport Improvements

a. FBO Redesign

No questions or discussion.

b. DKB Air Park

No questions or discussion.

c. Airport Coronavirus Response Grant Program (ACRGP)

No questions or discussion.

d. Fuel Supplier RFP

Renee Riani requested assistance from Board members when the preparations take place in March. No questions or discussion.

Robert Owens introduced the newest Board member, Richard Dowen.

H. Adjournment

Bernard Pupino moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by James Rhodes. Motion passed by a majority voice vote of those present. Chair Owens adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m.

https://www.cityofdekalb.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04272021-1992