15 - Airport Management Contract and Flight Based Operator (FBO) Agreement

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Item No. 15 TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: John Godwin, City Manager SUBJECT: AIRPORT MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS DATE: February 25, 2019 BACKGROUND: Although Cox Field is a city -owned and operated airport, we manage it primarily through private vendor(s). The oldest agreement is a contract for a Fixed (or Flight) Based Operator, or FBO. The FBO is responsible for operating the terminal building and providing fuel sales, among many other tasks and responsibilities. In addition to the FBO contract, several years ago the city entered into an agreement for airport maintenance in lieu of doing it in-house. This agreement covers a wide range of airport and related facility maintenance, from fixing lights and cleaning the terminal, to mowing grass and ensuring runway safety. City staff provides some support for this latter contract, and we also have mowing and agricultural leases. The FBO and management agreements are both currently with J.R. Aviation, our FBO for over thirty-one years, and both agreements have expired or are expiring; therefore, city staff and the airport board have been addressing these agreements over the last few months. STATUS OF ISSUE: I have generally favored renewing the contracts with J. R. Aviation, since I believe they have provided an overall satisfactory service at reasonable costs, and also because there is very little competition likely to come our way. With that in mind, I negotiated new versions of each contract, specifying maintenance requirements in much more detail, expanding clarification as to which party is responsible for what, increasing the maintenance contract by $100 per month, and doubling the price the city is paid for fuel from five to ten cents per gallon. The airport board considered various options, including combining the two agreements into one contract, and having the city issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for one or both agreements. At its February 21 meeting, however, the board unanimously agreed to renew the two re -negotiated agreements for a period of five years instead of ten, with both expiring on the same date. The board also expressed it expectation that the city would issue an RFP for a consolidated agreement approximately six months prior to the attached agreements' expirations in December