The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM by President John Horn. Present were: Dave Martin, John Horn, Craig Cowles, Dennis Widby, Andy Andersen, Lynn McDonald, Carole Gabel, Alan Wright, Kattie Altman, and John McCoy.
Secretary: Robert was not in attendance, but the minutes from the previous meeting had been reviewed by all present. John McCoy made the motion to approve the minutes as reviewed and Dave seconded. All approved by voice vote.
Treasurer: The treasurer’s report was passed around and explained by John McCoy. The amount being held for the ODA was to be paid to them in June, so the existing cash balance appears higher than it actually is.
Architecture: Jim Kirkendall was attending a city council function and could not be present.
Maintenance: Craig explained the mowing that was being done with the tractor, including along the airstrip and in the big ditch at the Hoffmann intersection, as well as the weeds being trimmed down with the weed-whacker. The subject of taxiway surfaces was moved to “new business”.
Members-At-Large: Kattie had nothing to report. Alan had a copy of the ODA Board’s “rates and charges policy”, and delineated the cap on potential increases to 3 percent per year which already existed as ODA policy. In future negotiations with ODA, when they come about, Alan made the point that the ODA’s cap of 3 percent could and should be applied to any fees that the Independence airport might be expected to pay. The protections which already exist in ODA policy can, and should, be applied to fees that might be assessed at this airport.
Vice President: Dave brought up the letter that had been sent out by Larry Weber of the ODA regarding the Memorial Day Fly-By, and corrected an error in that letter stating that the OPA was sponsoring the event. The OPA merely provided the lunch in lieu of the restaurant which is currently closed and up for sale. A new letter will be sent out with a correction.
Old Business: Modifying the printed by-laws has been researched by Dick Wildman, and printing all-new books is only slightly more expensive than making stick-on pages for the old books. John Horn started the discussion by stating that the newly amended by-laws should either be posted on the website or we should have 200 new books printed, and abandon the idea for stick-on pages in the old books. Dave made the motion that the By-Laws be published electronically, allowing the proviso that those without computers get a printed copy from a Board member. John McCoy seconded. Discussion which proceeded from there centered around the cost of printing up a new book every time the By-Laws changed which could get expensive. Dave’s motion passed by unanimous voice vote.
The issue of “private property” signs for the east end of the taxiways was next on the agenda. From the standpoints of liability and security, with the first objective being to make it clear that the general public is not invited to walk on these taxiways and the second being that the signs be consistent from one taxiway to the other, this was unanimously considered a good idea. Dave showed some examples which had been made. There are some taxiways which do not need these signs, but there are others (such as the three to the North) which do need them. Some discussion about the north-south taxiway, which also has lots of incursions by strangers, revealed that the major problem here is that people who access the hangars leave the gate open instead of closing it behind them. Dave made the motion to buy eight signs and post them at the end of appropriate taxiways with three to go along the north-south taxiway. John McCoy seconded. All approved by voice vote.
The issue of the new roster keeper has not been answered; Karen Brown was undecided as of the last time she was queried on the subject. Gail Hill was suggested as a possible candidate. She will be contacted after the meeting.
New Business: Re-coating the taxiways, particularly to seal the new cracks which have opened up along Skylane and Cherokee and Comanche taxiways, is currently estimated at $7,214.00. Craig said that it is the same price per square foot as was done last time. Craig explained the different processes involved in these maintenance procedures, filling the cracks as well as the slurry (or finish) coat over the top. That price, as quoted, includes crack-sealing all of the taxiways and slurry-coating the three taxiways mentioned above. A question was asked about competing bids, and Craig’s answer was that there weren’t many companies that do this work and we have used this same company for the last six years. Some discussion centered around some intelligence-gathering regarding pricing by other companies, if only to reassure homeowners about the Board’s having made its best effort to pursue the best price. Two more estimates were requested, and Craig said he would get them.
There were some complaints about a specific neighbor on Stinson who has had a tractor-trailer and a fifth-wheel parked temporarily in front of his place, as well as other ordinance issues with that particular property, and there was some agreement that there needed to be some pressure brought to bear on the owner of this property. There is a time limit of 72 hours for a fifth-wheel to be parked in front of a property. Katie made the motion that the City be made aware of the violation at that property. After some discussion about identifying which City ordinance had been violated before contacting City Hall, the motion was revised to asking the City to look into this situation to see if City or County ordinances were being violated. The motion was seconded by Dave and approved by voice vote.
The last item on the agenda was the establishment of late fees for those who do not pay their fees on time. John McCoy stated that there were between 15 and 30 households who do not pay on time. A built-in grace period of 10 days could be allowed, but there needs to be some way to motivate the repeat offenders to pay on time. John made the motion that there should be a late fee of $25.00 per month, not to exceed $100.00, with the due date being January 31 of each year. Dennis seconded the motion after some discussion about the possibility of slightly higher dues with a discount for those who pay early; this was considered a more humane option but raising the dues would require a vote of the membership which was not desired at this time. After more discussion, it was decided to bring it up again as old business at the next meeting, and by then there might be a more clear-cut consensus as to what to do about this problem.
Good of the Order: There was some discussion about the annexation issue coming up before the City Council, i.e. that the ODA had requested that the City annex the airport in order to have access to the City’s water supply for fire hydrants. The consensus was that it would probably not make much difference for most people living here, though a possibility of increased City taxes for some properties was discussed (no one had firm data about this).
The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 PM.
Respectfully submitted by Robert English, IAHA Secretary, as transcribed from tape recording.