Pease Airport Users’ Group Meeting Minutes

March 15, 2006

6:30 PM

Pease Development Authority

Board Room

I. Introduction: Andrew Pomeroy welcomed everyone and advised that Users’ Group Meetings will now be held twice annually. Everyone in attendance introduced themselves.

II. Airfield Activities:

A. Airfield Construction: There are four major projects this construction season.

1. Taxiway A OFA Project: On March 27 the final phase of the TWY A project begins. Pike will be tearing out concrete on the East side of TWYA. TWY A will be closed from TWY F to North of TWY C. Part of TWY C will remain open because air traffic will have to back-taxi on the runway and Charlie will be a “hold spot”. Lights and five new signs will be installed North of TWY C, a week or two into the TWYA project and this area will be open only to the NHANG. This part of the project is estimated to last approximately two months.

2. GA Apron Project: Beginning on March 21, there will be saw cutting and removal of concrete in front of half of both FBO hangars. This first phase is scheduled for sixty days. The tie down tenants will be relocated to west of the shelters and FBO parking will be there as well. Phase 3 will entail the other half of the concrete in front of Port City Air. During this phase the Tie Downs will be in place except for the taxiway to get to the T Hangars. The Tie Downs will be in an interlocking “T” formation. We will be able to get a lot more Tie Downs in that space. The T Hangar Aircraft will be displaced to the Nose dock hangars, with a parking lot behind it. The FBO’s will bid on ground services and the bid winner will be parking your aircraft, but you are free to chose whomever you want for fuel services. Bill Hopper emphasized that the relocation of aircraft for the project will be “over-coordinated” and owners will be invited to watch the moving of their planes. The window of opportunity to move the planes out of the hangars will be approximately one week. Once the pavement is gone your aircraft may be stuck there. We want to do what we can to make this have as little effect as possible on the GA tenants. The details of the contract and specifications with the FBO for pulling the plane in and out and response time, etc. are still being drawn up.

This entire phase will take place between 5/11 and 7/10 but the T-Hangar area will only be disturbed for about half of that time. It may be difficult to access property in the hangars on days when they are paving or painting. Jim Jackson asked about the slope between hangar 3 and hangar 2. Woody Wilson of HTA replied they would be installing a trench drain the whole length of the T hangars on the low side, approximately 10 or more feet from the Hangar buildings. The asphalt ramp grades will be extended out to the trench drain so it will still be sloped from both sides but won’t be as steep. A hangar 3 tenant expressed concerns about losing the “flat spot” between hangar 2 and hangar 3 on which he parks when he comes in and shuts down. It is important to have a spot where the airplane will not move when they get out or when they are refueling. Mr. Wilson said he would take a look at the grading and see if something can be done about it. The guillotine will not be used in or around the T-Hangars. Rather, the concrete will be saw cut and pulled out. The asphalt crew will need to be able to open the doors that hang out off the building to remove the old asphalt and repave it. So tenants will want to secure or at least cover any valuable such as tools that are in there. Though we will be watering the area to prevent it, some dust will be created. Phase four will take 60 days between July 11 and September 18. Phase 4A will take 30 days sometime during that same period. Phase 5 will be from September 19-November 20.

3. USAF BCA Project: This project will require Taxiway A to be closed between Taxiway L and M. They will be starting in May installing the underground re-claimer system similar to the one already installed on their apron. There is a fuel flume there from the Air Force days which is slowly migrating toward Haven Well. Once the footprint has been determined we will plan a by-pass taxiway around it. The details of aircraft size are yet to be determined. We hope for a taxiway to accommodate a Group 4 aircraft and would like to get as big an airplane as we can in there, but that will be determined by the exact footprint of the work. The project is still in design phases.

4. Residential Sound Insulation Project: Construction for Phase A is completed. Phase B will involve several homes, some historic. The second phase will go out to bid soon.

B. Airfield Maintenance: Joe McPherson reported that the Pease Maintenance Department will be crack sealing, joint sealing, and painting again this year, some of which will be conducted at night. Painting may include wingspan restrictions and in some cases a 15 minute PPR. Pavement and airfield lighting maintenance will be ongoing as well as mowing and chasing FOD.

C. Triennial Exercise: The FAA mandates this full scale exercise of the Pease Airport Emergency Plan once every three years. It will be conducted on May 13, 2006 from 6:30-Noon and all area police, fire and EMS will participate along with 5 area hospitals. The scene will be staged in such a way that it will not affect flight operations. The event takes about one year to plan and we would like to get everyone involved. Boston Maine has donated the use of an aircraft for the mock disaster. We are presently looking for volunteers to play accident victims. Volunteers will have a symptom card for EMS personnel listing their symptoms and volunteers will act their victim role as they are triaged and possibly transported to hospitals. A hot lunch will be provided. To volunteer please contact Andrew Pomeroy or Colin Mackenzie at the Pease Airport Management Office 433-6536. Because of the date mandates by the FAA this exercise is getting earlier and earlier in the spring and the weather can be unpredictable. We are hoping to conduct the next Triennial Exercise in the early fall, 2 ½ years from now so as to have more temperate weather.

D. Airport Operations: Airport operations personnel are on duty 24/7 and can be contacted at the office phone # 433-6536, their cell phone # 817-9411 or their pager #564-1983. For example, if you come in at 1 AM and will have issues coming in or out of the gate, call tower on final and they will relay your needs to the operations agent. Part of our job is to enforce airport rules such as making sure everyone’s badge is displayed properly, but we are also there to help out if you have any questions or concerns. If you want to go out on the airfield to see what field conditions are during the winter or during construction, call the agent and they will take you out there. The Airport Operations Agents are the people most in tune with what is happening on the airfield and are a resource for you to use any time.

E. Pease Development Authority: George Bald will be leaving his position of Executive Director of PDA to return to DRED on April 3. We will have an acting director and a search will be conducted for candidates for the position.

F. New Hampshire Air National Guard: Andrew Smith of NHANG, BCE reported that the Guard has four construction projects going on this year.

1. New Fire Station: The new ARFF station is 93% complete and is estimated to cost 6.1 million dollars. The project is expected to be completed at the end of April. The pre-final walk through will be conducted March 16, 2006.

2. Ramp Repair: The ramp repair project began last year and is scheduled to restart on March 27, 2006. This project is currently 87.5% complete and will cost 4.9 million dollars. It encompassed 41,500 square meters of concrete. It is expected to be completed by the end of June.

3. Hangar AFFF Replacements: $4 million has been secured from the Guard Bureau to do hangar AFFF replacements with ATF. It will encompass Buildings 253 (Fuel Cell) and 254 (Main Work Hangar). It also includes renovations to 253 for roofing, bathrooms, hangar floors and exit stairwells. It is currently going out to bid.

4. Fuel Spill Clean-Up: On December 31, 2004 there was a fuel spill in which approximately 8-9,000 gallons of fuel were expelled. All but approximately 3,000 gallons were recovered. A valve in a pit let go and for whatever reason the system did not report it. The computer system was in the process of and has since been upgraded, but at that time all of the safety nets that should have caught this error were down. Environmental Engineers did a site assessment and determined that there are three options that would work with remediation of the site. The most likely is that they will install a granulated activated carbon shed and will drill down borings and put in air emersion under the water table to bubble up the remaining contamination and collect it in wells and send it to the granulated activated carbon shed. Anything that comes up on the water table will get pumped out to recovery wells. The cost is approximately $80,000/year for 5-10 years for this remediation project.

G. Air Traffic Control: Ed Fish reported that that the ATC provides the full time Air Traffic Control in the tower and runs the GCA on the airfield and that serves as a way for them to train Guard Air Traffic Controllers. This year they will have their first ever Operation Readiness Inspection. During the month of June and from mid-August to the end of September the GCA is going to be off the air. You may see members out by the GCA in camouflage wearing their chemical ensembles and practicing in June for their inspection in September. Pease ATCS was selected by the Air Force to train Air Force Air Traffic Controllers deploying over to Iraq and Afghanistan that needed radar certifications. Any General Aviation pilots interested in practicing the radar approaches are encouraged to do so. For two weeks in April there will be another batch of trainees coming in. Civilians have to do radar approaches under VFR conditions under VFR flight plans. They cannot fly them IFR. About 7 new trainees will be coming here out of tech school in April and staying until the end of the year, so you may hear someone who sounds a little inexperienced, but there is always a certified controller behind them. If you have a concern, please voice it so that the monitor can step in and make sure everyone understands.

A question was asked regarding waiving the weight turbulence time limit. Mr. Fish responded that it is the pilot’s discretion to ask to have the time limit waived. ATC can waiver small behind large, but they cannot waiver anyone following heavy aircraft.

H. Airport Security: Brian Corliss of TSA addressed the increased security recommendations for General Aviation since 9/11. He addressed the importance of doing proper pre-flight planning and strongly suggested joining AOPA and requesting electronic notification for TFR’s as well as checking their website daily.

Dan Drumheller from Airport Security thanked all the General Aviation Badgeholders who had already responded to the GA Badge audit that was sent out to all General Aviation Badgeholders either by email or postal mail and reminded everyone who has not yet responded to please confirm the information and send it back as soon as possible. The US Visits Program is a US Customs and Border Protection program which requires certain individuals entering the country from overseas to be cleared with specific equipment which is only available at the terminal building. If you are coming in to clear customs, Customs will notify airport management through TSA and we will pass the information on to ATC so they will know where to direct the aircraft to clear customs. Bill Hopper said they are working to get the FBO’s bonded so aircraft can go there first and then be transported to Customs by van. Dan also announced that Gate P1 (the pedestrian gate to the GA area) has been up and functional for two weeks. The airside gate can only be opened once the landside gate is secured. There is an emergency exit button, but please do not use this unless it is absolutely necessary, such as if your card no longer functions or if there is an electrical outage and you are stuck. Access events are logged by the card reader and we will go back and check who used the emergency exit and the user will need to explain to our satisfaction why the emergency button was necessary. We plan to put a glassed in bulletin board in the sally port area to post notices that would be of interest to GA users, such as announcements for meetings. Gate 26, the vehicle gate by the T hangars may be staffed and left open at times during the construction process. When this is the case, the security agent manning the gate will need to see your badge to log your access, so please have it ready. When the gate is closed, it can be accessed as usual with your gate tag.

There have been a couple of occasions on which both the airside and landside hangar doors were left open, breaching security. If you are in the hangar and can see people entering and challenge them, it is permitted, but please be aware of your responsibilities.

I. Next Meeting: Bill Hopper stated that since we are now holding these meetings twice a year, they would be most beneficial as a pre-construction meeting and a pre-snow meeting. It was determined that Wednesday at 6:30PM was an agreeable time. The next meeting will be held September 16, 2006 at the same time, location to be determined.

J. Open Discussion:

Jim Jackson commented that the snow plowing operation by the PDA around the T Hangars, the taxiways and surrounding areas was excellent this year. Andrew Pomeroy mentioned that the Pease Airport Maintenance Crew has been nominated for an award for excellence in snow removal. Any airport users feeling the award is deserved are encouraged to write a letter before the end of this month and Andrew will forward them to the committee.

A question was asked regarding preconstruction meetings. Bill Hopper stated that there will be a lot of communication, numerous meetings from all hands to individuals before the T Hangar construction begins. Andrew Pomeroy stated that the goal is to meet with each individual T-Hangar owner and look at the hangar and discuss concerns. With permission to pull the aircraft out, they will photograph the plane and the hangar to ensure it is returned in the same condition.