Foothills airport authority may consider maintenance shop privatization

Sept. 27, 2012

Sept. 27--MORGANTON -- A current employee at Foothills Regional Airport is proposing the authority allow him to privatize the maintenance shop at the airport.

Lynn Mace, who handles maintenance at the airport, said he and his wife would like to operate the maintenance shop as their own business.

Tamara Mace said the pair is ready to go as far as procuring insurance, and all they need is a lease agreement for the hangar.

Authority member Don Wright said he thought the Maces would find plenty of work and the airport would be happy to let someone else handle maintenance work.

Board attorney Louis Vinay had several questions about the proposal, leading authority Chairman Wayne Abele to suggest the Maces meet with Vinay and interim airport manager Brent Brinkley before the authority makes a decision.

The authority awarded a $217,500 contract to Kearey Builders of Statesville to build concrete foundations and erect T-hangars at the airport. The contract is subject to approval by the N.C. Department of Transportation, Division of Aviation.

Consultant Mike Darcangelo of AVCON said the first time the project was sent out to bid, two companies responded but there were irregularities.

Vinay said a third bidder tried to submit a proposal, but the authority could only receive bids from contractors who are pre-qualified by the North Carolina DOT.

Darcangelo said there are about 14 contractors who are pre-qualified to erect T-hangars.

The project was re-bid Monday and the authority received two bids, Darcangelo said. Kearey had the lowest bid.

Prior to selecting Kearey, the authority was in a closed session for about an hour to discuss legal and personnel matters. The board did not take any action immediately following the closed session.

Brinkley updated the authority on the airport and said the past month went well.

Regarding receivables, Brinkley broke down the report into active and inactive accounts through the end of August.

Active accounts owe $26,374 and a little more than half that amount is up to 30 days over due, Brinkley said.

On the other hand, inactive accounts owe $24,259.61, and all but about $2,000 is more than 90 days past due, Brinkley said. The report today includes only a few additional days beyond the last report in August, so that number hasn't changed much.

The airport is trying to recover that money from inactive accounts by filing liens, Brinkley said.

He also discussed implementing a written billing policy that spells out what to do about late payments. At the board's August meeting, it had asked Brinkley to contact similarly sized public airports to learn more about their policies.

Brinkley suggested the airport send letters to accounts up to 30 days past due and send letters and make a phone call to accounts up to two months past due. Accounts past 90 days would receive a letter, phone call and the account would be sent to collections.

Any accounts past 90 days can only purchase items with a credit card, Brinkley said.

The authority briefly discussed whether the policy should be written or left up to the airport manager's discretion. It chose to have Brinkley develop a written policy that would be up for the authority's approval at its next meeting.

Brinkley made two requests to the authority: to spend $1,300 on pilot supplies (such as log books, batteries and cleaning materials) and up to $500 for a chainsaw. The authority unanimously approved both requests.

Pilot's supplies have not been restocked in awhile, Brinkley said. Those supplies are sold at a mark-up.

The airport needs the chainsaw to maintain trees on its property, and right now there are trees blocking approach lights, Brinkley said. Owning a chainsaw would save the airport money in the long run.

Authority accountant Norm Sherwood delivered a financial report, showing the authority's cash balances, revenues and operating costs.

The authority's operating, capital/fuel and savings accounts had an ending balance of $88,249.47 as of Sept. 20. A total of $88,919.35 checks were written from the operating account and $45,329.62 from the capital/fuel account.

Deposits totaled $86,574.86 in the operating account and $60,970.09 in the capital/fuel account.

Revenue and operating expense reports for this fiscal year have not included a column showing the budgeted amount, Sherwood said. The next report will include that information, and the authority will consider an amended budget for approval.

City of Lenoir Finance Director Danny Gilbert, who is offering oversight and guidance for the airports finances, said he and authority accountant Sherwood are working on providing financial reports that anyone can read and understand.

The report ending Aug. 31 shows a gross profit of $18,651.90 for the month and $6,907.15 in additional revenues from rentals brought to total revenue to $25,559.05 for the month.

The month's expenses totaled $22,318.22 resulting in $3,240.83 in net operating income.

For the year to date, the authority has seen $47,662.61 in total revenue and $49,265.25 in total operating expenses.

As for contributions, Sherwood said the authority received Burke's contribution of $24,300, which includes $6,000 the commissioners approved for fiscal year 2011-12.

Copyright 2012 - The News Herald, Morganton, N.C.