Several items dotted the Greeneville Airport Authority Board agenda during their June meeting Wednesday.
INTERLOCAL COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT – GMAA / CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP – The board approved the Interlocal Cooperative Agreement with the Town of Greeneville. A workshop between the board and City Council is scheduled for July 9th at 4 pm. The agreement gives clarity with operations at the airport on such things as transparency and moving forward with the master plan.
AIRPORT MANAGER REPORT/UPDATES – Angela Alley requested and the board approved the same pay increase for airport employees as was approved a day earlier by the City Council for Town of Greeneville.
ACTIVITY AND FUEL SALES – Alley reported activity and fuel sales at the airport have continued to increase this spring, ahead of the past two years. The airport she says has continued to meet the operating budget without having to use any of the additional $100,000 appropriated by the town.
REPAIRS – Repairs of the HVAC unit in the main building and installation of new lights in the brown hangar are complete
RUNWAY CLOSURE – The runway will be closed, weather permitting, for seal coat touch up June 23-24. Alley says she is hopeful the closure will not take the entire two days. All other airport activities will continue as normal during the runway closure.
AFTER HOURS GATE ACCESS REQUEST – The board took no official action but did take a request under advisement for further discussion after comments from ultra light pilot and instructor Shane Sublett. In past years, Sublett had had access to the airport after hours in order to fly his ultra light. That gate code he was using no longer works. Board members voiced liability concerns with him being on airport property after hours.
NISWONGER VOICES CONCERNS – Prior to addressing the board on other items , Scott Niswonger suggested Sublett might consider some type of a liability insurance which would relieve the airport of any issues that might occur.
Mr. Niswonger reported his recently purchased Gulfstream 550, the largest to ever reside at the airport, is now making World Wide Charters from Greeneville over a 7,200 mile range. He did ask the board about possible removal of some trees within the fenced in area of the airport and on the taxiway. He reported three bird strikes with the past 18 months.
