Airport – April 2, 2024

Meeting Minutes

Boundary County Airport Board Meeting April 2, 2024.

Present: Pat Gardiner, Rick Durden, Bob Blanford, Mark Weber, and Trey Dail.

Airport Manager: Dave Parker

The meeting was called to order at 5:35 PM by Bob Blanford.

Rick Durden moved acceptance of the minutes of the March 2024 meeting, Mark Weber seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.

Old Business

Environmental Assessment—Update

Dave Parker and Trey Dail reported that the EA is “out for review” within the various “lines of business” in the FAA. They received informal communication that, thus far, the lines of business within the FAA had only minor comments. Once the review is complete, probably within the next month, it goes to FAA legal.

The closeout of the existing grant discussed at last month’s meeting as well as the application for a new (approximately $50,000, with County share approximately $2,900) is taking place. The application for the new grant has been signed by the Commissioners.

North Bench Fire Land Leases Update

Dave Parker reported that it has been signed and he is awaiting the check.

Update—Power Line Poles South of Runway

Trey Dail reported that he has been in touch with Tollhouse Energy/Smith Creek Hydro, the owners of the power line that must be buried. That is encouraging news as previously the company had not been responsive. A meeting is scheduled for next week to discuss the project, funding and to schedule the design of the project.

New Business

Farm Lease Expired

As Dave Parker reported at the last meeting, the farm lease for areas on the airport that can be farmed has expired. In addition, Northern Air personnel have done a great deal to clear weeds, rototill and generally improve areas suitable for farming that have not been in use due to their condition. Using a photo of the airport he showed the areas on the airport that can now be farmed, although made it clear that the quality of the land for agriculture ranges from average for the surrounding area to well below average in certain spots. After all of the work that has been done, the land suitable for farming has gone from 44.2 acres to 71.3 acres. He also noted that some of the plots are small enough that a farmer may not want to cultivate them due to the work involved for the expected return and that a farmer will have to fertilize a significant percentage of the newly available land.

Mr. Parker reported that his survey of farmland lease rates showed that they ranged from $45 per acre for poor quality land to $90 per acre for excellent land. He will be advertising for bids from individuals interested entering into a lease to farm the airport land. The Board discussed the length of such a lease. The general consensus was that it would have to be at least five years long for the farmer to recover the investment in fertilizing the land and shouldn’t be more than seven years due to potential price fluctuations for such a lease over time.

Hangar E Taxiway Construction and Hangars—Action Item

Per the direction of the Board, Trey Dail prepared a rough plan for construction of a gravel taxiway for hangars in the area of hangar E. It would allow for construction of only five hangars. Dave Parker raised his concerns over problems with snow removal on a gravel surface. There was also discussion of using recycled asphalt for the taxiway. Dail will work out expected costs for the discussed construction to be presented at the next meeting. The matter was thus tabled until the next meeting.

Report on March 20, 2024 Meeting with the FAA on (CIP) Capital Improvement Projects

Dave Parker and Trey Dail met with the FAA regarding the CIP that the County provided to the FAA for airport construction over the next several years—this has been in the works for more than five years. The FAA will be providing up to $6 million over the next three years for construction under the current CIP. Generally, it is broken down to $1 million in 2025 for relocation/burying of the overhead power lines south of the runway with $5 million in 2026 and 2027 for the runway rehab, shift and a potential extension to improve the level of safety for airport operations. Of significance, in one of the years we are getting 100 percent of the grant money that the FAA has earmarked for the state of Idaho. Further, of significant importance for upcoming years, the FAA is not allocating any of its discretionary funding to general aviation airports, only to airline airports. It is going to be hard to get federal money for small airports in the future.

As we made cuts in the funding we were requesting in the CIP, we note that the funding will not allow for extension of the parallel taxiway when the runway shift takes place. We will be working with the FAA to get as much of the proposed runway extension as possible.

Because we will lose our instrument approach once construction on the runway starts and it is a multi-year project to get a new one designed, we have filed the initial request with the FAA for a new instrument approach, so we are in line.

Report on USFS Fire Use Agreement

Dave Parker reported that a new agreement for airport use by the U.S. Fire Service for firefighting this summer has been negotiated and is ready for Commission approval—it is similar to the agreement that was put into place for the Trestle Creek Fire.

Dehart Zoning Update

Dave Parker reported that 0.13 acres of the Dehart land has been given to the airport. Deharts are joining two five-acre parcels to form one ten-acre parcel and will be building a house on it. They have been given notice regarding airport noise and Dave Parker stated that he has been working with the Deharts during the process and sees no problems with what they are planning from an airport viewpoint.

House Off of the South End of the Runway

Trey Dail and Dave Parker have a meeting scheduled with the owners for next week

Welding Shop Off of the North End of the Runway

The FAA has advised that the County needs to arrange a right of first refusal to purchase the property whenever it goes on the market and to negotiate an avigation easement over it due to its position relative to the airport. Dave Parker and Trey Dail will be meeting with the owners. The FAA/State money for an easement expires on June 30, 2024

As the meeting was winding down, Dave Parker noted that we will need to discuss the airport budget at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:41 pm.

Fuel Sales for March: 100LL-2,706.0 gallons; Jet A-5.23 gallons.