Members of the 2009-2010 Grand Jury

Recommendations 3

• R1

  Page 8
  The Board of Supervisors should continue to fund our airports as they have done in the past. Any operating surplus remaining in the budget should be reinvested in the airports for future growth and improvements.
• R2

  Page 8
  The Grand Jury recommends the airports continue to adhere to their high standards of safety, service, and quality. We commend all three managers for their fine work, both in their offices and on the grounds throughout our airport facilities. This award would not have been given without the dedication of airport staff trained in the many procedures ensuring the safety of fuels and the flight line.
• R3

  Page 9
  The Grand Jury encourages the Airport Department to continue their compliance with DOT standards. Background Information: Plumas County owns and operates three airports within the county. Rogers Field in Chester, Nervino Airport in Beckwourth, and Gansner Field in Quincy. All three airports handle the typical traffic of private planes, with Rogers Field and Nervino Airport able to land jet aircraft. Airport traffic operates without control towers, but by the use of each pilot’s own visual discretion and radio transmissions concerning their intent of takeoff or landing. Runway lights are controlled by radio transmission from the pilot. Fueling is self service, using a card lock system. Hangar and tie down facilities are available at all three airports. Each hangar owner pays their own utilities and is responsible for any upkeep needed on their hangar. Rent is paid to the county for all hangars at a rate of 41 cents per square foot. Property tax and luxury tax is paid to the county each year at a rate of 1%. Charter and sightseeing flights and flight instruction is available at each airport. A light industrial aircraft repair business is operated at Nervino Airport. Rogers Field in Chester has a large building that houses the Chester Fire Department as well as the Chester Public Utilities District. Director of Facility Services The county’s Director of Facilities Services also supervises the Airport Department. Seventeen percent of the Director of Facility Services’ duties are devoted and budgeted for Airport operations. While supervising the two contract managers who oversee Rogers Field and Nervino Airport, he serves as manager for Gansner Field. Salary and benefits for the Director in his service to the airports is $21,001. Contract Managers Rogers Field and Nervino Airport are supervised by contract managers. These managers also have their own private air service business housed at their airports. Salary and benefits are $18,106. Each manager receives a benefit package and a PERS retirement. Additional income for the Chester manager comes through collecting one half of the profits from fuel sales and all of the tie down fees. Managers are not exempt from paying rent on their hangars or any other fees paid by other pilots. Managers can utilize non-county employees they have hired and trained for airport duties at their own expense. Duties of managers are (some duties may be particular to a given airport and not another):  Maintain safe, obstruction-free airport grounds  Perform fuel testing  Snow removal (estimated time is two hours for every inch of snow) 9  Refueling air attack aircraft  Maintaining runway lights and beacon  Monitor use of Unicom (radio frequency airport auto lighting)  Availability for FAA or DOT inspections  Record keeping County Owned and Operated Airports 1. Gansner Field, Quincy Runway length: 4,125 feet Future Airport Improvements Plan by year:  2011--Reseal Pavement, paint airfield markings  2012--Tee hangar site development, three 5 unit buildings  2015--Replace 4 unit tee hangar building  2017--Jet fuel tank dispenser 2. Rogers Field, Chester Runway length: 5,100 feet with 6,000 feet possible Chester houses an air attack base operated by the U. S. Forest Service. Future Airport Improvement Plans by year:  2011-2012--Develop east hangar area, including access road  2013--Extend taxiway A to end of pavement (35’ X 1,000’)  2014--Reconstruct tee hangar Taxiways (4 @ 60’ X 450’)  2017 New Snow Plow Vehicle 3. Nervino Airport Runway length: 4.625 with 6,000 feet possible Future Airport Improvement Plans by year  2010--New Snow Plow Vehicle  2010--Engineering Design  2010--startup of the US Forest Service Air Attack Base/multi-agency fire center  2011--Reseal pavement joints and paint airfield markings  2012--Tee hangar site development  2013-- Environment assessment study  2014--Engineering Design  2015--Replace 4 unit tee hangar building, plus  2016--Construct two 5 unit nested tee hangars, plus  2017--Jet fuel tank dispenser Increasingly, Nervino Airport is becoming a more important center with the traffic overflow from Stead Air Base in Reno. It is also the site of the county’s next U. S. Forest Service Air Attack Base. This development is facilitated by Plumas National Forest applying for and receiving $2.2 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It will become a multi-agency fire center. This facility would allow federal, county and private emergency response services to serve Plumas County. The Director of Facility Services says that he projects the Air Attack Base would also include a helicopter attack base for the Forest Service and a possible CareFlight station. The airport would be annexed into Beckwourth Fire District, allowing surrounding areas to get faster emergency response times. The county will receive rent from the Forest 10 Service ($25,000/year), Beckwourth Fire, and CareFlight. The Forest Service will pay for and construct their needed facilities with those capital improvements becoming county property in thirty years. This thirty year turnover is typical for all structures that are built on any airport properties by private parties. Department of Transportation Airport Inspection In June of 2009, the Department of Transportation (DOT) made an inspection for state permit compliance of our three airfields. Previous inspection letters and the most recent State Airport Permit were used for this evaluation. The corrections noted by the DOT reports, for all three airports:  Brush within the Runway Safety Area (60 feet side of centerline and 240 feet beyond each end of runway) needs to be removed  Coniferous trees that penetrate the FAR Transitional Surface needs to be topped or removed  Lip of runway needs to be filled and compacted flush to grade  Runway needs to be displaced for local highway penetrating Federal Aviation Regulations Approach Surface Concerning specific issues at Gansner Field on the DOT inspection of June 18, 2009, two items of concern were noted:  A fire hydrant between parallel taxiways  An electrical box on a segment of asphalt between taxiways It was recommended that the fire hydrant either be relocated or marked with reflective tape and be given a low profile barricade. The electrical box should also be given reflective tape and have a yellow “X” on the asphalt, at the side of the taxiway. Action on these two non-critical issues has yet to be taken, but is planned. Noting the resource burden associated with some of these needs above, the DOT remarked at the end of the inspection report, “The Department will continue to offer both financial and technical assistance to Plumas County.” Monies planned for these compliance issues were not provided because of our State’s own budget woes. An agreement stands between both state and county that the issues not resolved may be done at a later date. Rogers Field had similar small tasks to correct that included cutting down trees along the airport’s perimeter. Nervino had tall brush and weeds to cut down and an old truck to remove. Finances Total expenditures for 2008-2009: $358,674 Total revenues for 2008-2009: $373,070 *  Rents and concessions: $103,117  Sale of fuel: $225,705  State aid for aviation: $30,000  Fuel Facility-other: $7,286  Landing Fees: $5,940  Interest-Investment funds: $693  Reimbursements: $328.00 11 * Pumping fees of $8,291 come out of these revenues. Ten thousand dollars a year is paid on a loan that was taken out in 2006. This loan has been repaid. Additional funding is available through the FAA for specific improvement programs. The DOT inspects airport grounds once a year and provides major maintenance (e.g. resurfacing) through Cal Trans. This is funded by the FAA through their Airport Improvement Program. Plumas County employs an airport consultant to obtain FAA grants and oversee project designs. Mid Year Budget Report Revenues for this part of the year 2009-2010 are down by 23%. However the airports are currently running in the black by $7783. The shortage in revenue is partly due to the state freezing the California Aid to Aviation Program, in the amount of $30,000. Revenues were further diminished by the expected loss of fuel sales and the reduced rent when a lessee defaulted on last fiscal year’s lease. This property has since been leased to the Chester Fire Department in exchange for fire service. This default can result in loss of revenues in the amount of $18,000. Cautious optimism prevails for this next fiscal year. The state program for aviation is possibly going to be released on July 1, 2010. Additionally, this fiscal year, a loan to the state for the Roger’s field fuel farm has been repaid. This will allow a little more breathing room in the coming year. Other All three airports are in compliance with FAA regulations. Procedures To ascertain the leadership and general operation of our airports the Grand Jury gained information from the following sources: Interviews  Director of Facility Services  Rogers Field airport manager  Nervino Airport manager Airports Toured  Gansner Field  Rogers Field  Nervino Airport Documents reviewed  Supplier contracts: Branding and fuel from Exxon Mobile  Manager contracts  Land lease contracts  Plumas County 2008-2009 budget  2008-2009 Airport budget  Airport mid-year (2009-2010) budget report to Chief Administrative Officer and Board of Supervisors  DOT/FAA permit compliance reports  Airport capital improvement program (projected costs 2010-2024) 12