"Iowa airport seeks consultant to help with business plan"

Saturday, December 7, 2002

I.C. airport seeks consultant to help with business plan
By Frank Gluck
The Cedar Rapids (IA) Gazette


IOWA CITY -- Operators of the Iowa City Municipal Airport are asking for
more than $15,000 in additional funding this year to hire a consulting firm
to help develop new business strategies for the financially ailing facility.

This request comes as part of the airport's ongoing effort to get its house
in order following a year of City Council criticism and a threatened
reshuffling of the airport's supervision. The Airport Commission wants to
hire Roswell, Ga.-based Airport Business Solutions to craft the business
plan.

"They'd do research, interviews, look at the situation and put some sort of
plan together for the airport," said Airport Manager Ron O'Neil.

The request comes as no surprise to council members, who have advocated such
a plan and discussed the matter recently with Airport Commission members.

There's no legal requirement to initiate a bidding process for this
contract, said City Manager Steve Atkins. The request needs to be approved
by the council, which is already dealing with a tight budget and is in the
process of drafting next year's city budget, Atkins said.

"That's a hefty enough amount that they'll have to give that some thought,"
Atkins said.

Airport Commission member Baron Thrower told council members Nov. 19 a
consultant is needed to help improve the airport's "management style and the
capability and the regional appropriateness."

While he hasn't yet reviewed the company's proposal, council member Ross
Wilburn said he welcomed the commission's effort. "This is one of the things
we asked them to do," Wilburn said.

Meanwhile, airport officials expect to receive permission soon from the
Federal Aviation Administration to sell some of the facility's Airport
Commerce Park property.

Airport officials, who met with FAA representatives Wednesday in Kansas
City, Mo., say selling the land could help pay off the $1.6 million spent to
install the park's infrastructure.

It's not been a good couple of years for the airport.

Probably the biggest setback was the sudden departure in 2001 of the
fixed-base operator, Iowa City Flying Service. The company walked away from
its lease payments and contract, worth about $9,326 per month.

The new firm, Jet Air Inc., pays $4,376 less than that in rent, a difference
that should be narrowed to about $2,376 as rent gradually increases,
according to the commission.

Council members grew alarmed after city subsidies nearly doubled from fiscal
2001 to fiscal 2002 and ordered an internal audit. Subsidies reached about
$187,000 in the fiscal year ending June 30. In fiscal 2001, subsidies were
about $100,000. By the end of this fiscal year, the city expects to pay out
about $213,000.

In that review, a scathing indictment of airport practices released in June,
Atkins questioned the reported use of some hangars and record-keeping
practices, including the insufficient documenting of some tenants' insurance
forms.

Though the council backed away from a plan to ask voters to turn direct
oversight of the facility over to Atkins, the Airport Commission agreed to
additional supervision.

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