TO ALL,
UPDATE!!
Its been a little while since I sent out the last
update so I hope you have a little time to look at and absorb this
dissertation.
UPCOMING EVENTS
CHANDLER OSTRICH FESTIVAL MARCH 12,13,14, 2010
The Chandler Airport Alliance along with Quantum Helicopters and Chandler Air
Service will be putting a display at the Ostrich Festival. We hope to have a
helicopter and aerobatic airplane there along with promotional stuff for the
airport in general and hawking our own businesses. We will also have a display
from the
2ND ANNUAL AIRPORT DAYZ APRIL 17 AND 18TH, 2010
I know we did two last year but the fall program was just to practice a little
more on our presentation. The Board of Directors of the
We will again be looking for display aircraft and representatives from local
business around the airport. We would like to find a way to showcase more of
the airport and airpark area businesses. Maybe we can arrange for a public
address system (loaned) and coordinate some fly-bys. Any other ideas let me
know.
AIRPORT BUSINESS
STATUS OF THE AIRPORT BUSINESS PLAN
As of this writing the business plan is in its final stages of development. The
format is completed, table of contents, and about the 8th draft of all the
information. Our intent is to mention at the February Airport Commission
meeting (Feb. 10 7:00pm terminal bldg) the
current status and present it for review to the Commission and City Staff at
the March Commission meeting. It is very clear to those putting this together
there is a definite path the City can follow to improve the economic viability
of the airport, increase the support of the airport by the community and make
this place something to be proud of.
At the December airport commission meeting I mentioned, when asked, what the
impact the runway improvements, or lack of, would make on the outcome of the
Business plan and the future of the airport. This was briefly discussed and I
indicated then and now "without the completion of the runway the future is
very limited and the airport will not grow to meet the community needs".
As a result of that statement one of our local "activists" started
writing letters to the papers to re ignite the runway controversy and take a
shot at us. A pretty accurate article came out the
NOISE STUDY PROGRAM
We are keeping tabs on the progress of this report. As
mentioned in the previous update, it has come out clearly the airport is in
compliance with the FAA standards. Someone outside the consultants has added
information detrimental to the airport and made it sound like we have to do a
bunch of things to make the airport more quite outside the study area.
It also implies we (airport people) are not doing our part and need to have
further restrictions placed on us to make the neighbors under_the
traffic pattern happy. (that's not possible
we know) There will be another and final public meeting in the next 5 weeks and
we need to have a big turnout to hear what the loyal opposition has to say
about us and get our 2 cents worth in. I will keep you posted on this.
CITY BUDGETING PROCESS FOR THE AIRPORT
As you know the City is in the throes of trying to
figure out how to get our money to pay for their new City Hall and cover their
expenses. The Airport is vulnerable to increased fees and reduction of
services. It appears at this time the airport fees, since just being raised
only 4 months ago, (some retroactive) are not being threatened. Since there is not a lot of tenant services to reduce I expect that will
not change. We will keep an eye on this and will most likely remain status quo
AIRCRAFT TRANSIENT RAMP PARKING
As of last October Chandler Air Service has
taken responsibility for meeting and greeting transient aircraft in lieu of
City personnel. This change has provided a much better service and many
transient pilots have commented on the improvement. This should have freed up
the city personnel at the airport to do other productive things.
NEXT MEETING WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 10, 7:00 PM AT THE TERMINAL BUILDING
The commission has a new member bringing the
commission up to the full count of 7. He is Mr. Kelly McMullen from out in the
The commission has several committees meeting fairly regular now on budget,
promotion and land use planning, for example. Results of these meetings usually
show up at the commission for discussion. This particular meeting will have one
of our tenants bringing out some concerns he has for the airport. If any of you
would like to come by and maybe have 2 cents to add, feel free.
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING MONDAY FEBRUARY 8, AT 4:00 PM
WINDSOCK ROOM
Anyone is welcome to come. If you wish to come and are
not a member of the board just let me know and I will make sure we have plenty
of chairs. We will be discussing the upcoming projects, some items for the
commission meeting, the business plan and a new idea for T-Shades. Also we do a
lot of gossip. The new board is in place and we have been having 10 to 12
members showing up at each meeting.
I am setting up a separate email list for those of you who have sent in the
registration form to be a member of the actual corporation. As we progress
along this group will be used more to help with decision making. We will
probably have a registered member meeting in some foreign country in the dead
of the summer just for the tax write off and getting out of town. (Yeah, sure)
It should be noted that money used by the
MEMBERSHIP
We have added about 25 more names to our email list and seem to add more
each day. If you know of anyone who might be interested in what we are doing
and keep up with airport stuff let them know. One of our members and a pilot is
working on a newsletter for CAS. With that we should be able to come up with
more to read about airports and things to do. That newsletter will be funded by
CAS and there will be places for those businesses out there to blow their horn.
It will not be mailed to this list unless you request it. When the time comes I
will send out a plea.
WEBSITE
The website is being spruced up with color and more information. It will also will have a website links section for those who
wish to be able to be contacted by other
Coming up very soon will be a page with all the appropriate email addresses for
our public officials and the local papers. This is not to say we are going to
inundate them with letters. It just means if the need arises it will be easier.
As always if anyone wants off this list you just let me know and you will be
removed.
EDITORIAL!!
This year is an election year. We got a bunch of folks running for Chandler
City Council. I wonder how many of them would stand up and publicly say they
support growth for the airport. For that matter how many on the council have
the courage to repeat publicly their support for the airport? We all know the
answer to that. The next time I hear some official say the "people have
spoken" in reference to the vote to improve the runway, I am going to scream.
A previous council enacted an ordinance that effectively stopped the growth of
the airport and has cost the taxpayers way more money than if the airport had
been allowed to follow its natural path. Its all politics and we are a part of
it. It is a well known fact that if you put airport growth out to a public vote
it will not pass. That is why the FAA and State requires cities who receive
federal and state funding for airports to promise to support the airport and
the FAA gives them the authority to make those decisions without going to a
vote. State law even prohibits cities from restricting the length and width of
their runways.
If we could get all the candidates to publicly say they support the airport and
its needs then they would not have to worry about losing votes to the other guy
or gal who does not support the airport.
In the last few months it has become obvious the Airport Alliance has got some
attention. Your letters and letters from the community supporting the airport has increased and those from another planet have decreased.
Our airport can and will be a major contributor to our community and those who
use it. We need to keep the pressure on by listening and giving positive feed
back to our elected officials and the City staff. Cities all across the country
are busting their butt to get all they can for their airports to bring in jobs,
growth and income to their City. The City of
End of Statement!
I certainly appreciate everyone taking the time to read this note. If anyone
has any ideas, suggestions or ways we can make our airport better please let
the
Thank you very much,
John