RENO STEAD AIRPORT ASSOCIATION Meeting Minutes
November 19, 2013
The Reno Stead Airport Association (RSAA) monthly meeting was called to order at 5:15p at Aviation Classics Conference Room November 19, 2013, (The Stead Pilot Lounge is closed for the new Terminal construction) as follows:
1. Welcome and Attendance: Tom Hall, President, Ken Wiegand, Vice-President, Dave Miller, Treasurer, Dan Ross, Secretary, and Tracy Rhodes, IT Manager. Board Members: Lin Manning, Lew Gage, Mike Walsh, Alby Redick, Terry Matter, RARA Representative, Steve Katzmann, RSAA liaison and member RTAA Board of Trustees, and Mike Dikun, Reno-Stead Airport Manager. Board Member(s) absent: Don Osborne. Guests/Members: Karl H. Scribner, AT Manager, Reno ATCT.
2. Minutes of Last Meeting: Approval of the Minutes of October 8, 2013 meetings was unanimous.
3. Financial Report: Cash on hand: $3529.84. Dave asked that all members be reminded that we are now four months into the new membership year dues are past due. The new membership year began July 1, 2013 and ends June 30, 2014, dues are $20 per year. Dues can be paid: Check or cash by mail at:
Reno Stead Airport Association
5499 Alpha Avenue
Reno, NV 89506
or PayPal from the Website (www.steadusers.org), or cash/check to Dave Miller at the Miller Speed Sports hangar.
4. Membership Report: Currently there are 74 members.
5. RTS Manager’s Report: The Terminal in on schedule to be finished December 12th. There will be a Terminal Grand Opening at 10:00a December 16th. Everyone is invited to take a tour of the new building, (Ed: maybe there will be cookies). The UAV project is moving along as expected. Nevada officials have “great confidence” that the state will make the final six list. Whatever state is selected, the economic impact of $83B is anticipated. A grant from the FAA enabled the purchase of a front loader-mounted snow thrower. Additionally, the airport secured an Oshkosh snow plow from the RTIA.
Mike says a noise counter is located mid-field on Rwy 08-26 that detects the number of takeoffs, based on engine decibels. He then adds 10% for Rwy 14-32 operations and then multiplies by 2 to get an approximate total takeoffs and landings per month.
Attention is now focused on snow removal and snow removal equipment maintenance. Mike estimates that Stead is no more than 8-10 hours from full operation after a normal snowfall of 6-10 inches. Again, just as a reminder, current snow removal priorities are as follows: Fire lanes, runway 8/26, taxiway Alpha, taxiways between hangars, runway 14/32, taxiway Bravo, in that order. If individual circumstances dictate priority attention, Mike asks that you contact him as far in advance as possible.
6. RTAA Trustee Liaison Report: Mr. Katzmann said that the Authority was had received 7 bids from law firms hoping to become the RTIA Attorney of Record, runway construction is scheduled for runways at RTIA, and 5000 homes around the airport had been sound insulated to date.(For a complete list of current Trustees and their bios, go to www.renoairport.com/airport-authority/board-trustees).
7. RARA Trustee Liaison Report: Terry stated that sales were up over last year as were attendance figures for Saturday and Sunday. He said there were only 16 unlimited aircraft racing this year, normal is 24. There are getting to be fewer and fewer unlimited qualified aircraft available due to accidents, age, and costs.
8. Guest Speaker: Mr. Scribner gave an overview of local air traffic procedures in the RNO and RTS airspace. He said if you are departing Stead for the International there is no requirement to go to NorCal first. You can contact the RTIA Tower directly from RTS CTAF. The Rwy 32 instrument approaches into Stead are controlled by NorCal on the two local Reno App/Dep frequencies, 119.2 (South) and 126.3 (North) simultaneously. Monitoring either one will give you a “heads up” on any inbound instrument traffic. Mr. Scribner also emphasized it is “OK to say UNABLE” to an ATC clearance or direction. Do not accept a clearance or direction that you consider unsafe or unable to accomplish. He stressed, “you are the pilot”, the controller may not be aware of existing limitations of either or both pilot and aircraft. When asked if a tower was coming to Stead, he replied that he did not see one on the horizon due to traffic count. He said the current FAA budget trend is consolidating low traffic count facilities.
9. Webmaster Report: Tracy reported that he: Published 9 articles, deleted 30 SPAM registrations and 7 SPAM comments on the Forum, updated website software 10 times. The website had 242 unique visitors, averaging 3:53 each, and viewing 2.3 pages per visit. The busiest day was November 14, 21 visits. 80 (24%) visits by mobile devices. Most visited pages, 803, were in order: Home page, For Sale, Aviation Medical Examiners, Hangar Availability, Airport Businesses, Where is Stead, Calendar of Events, Contact, and Newsletter.
10. WiFi Proposal and Action: Robert Andrews, owner of Avant Wireless, will install two WiFi transmitters for the Stead Ramp; the first will be mounted on Dave Miller’s hangar shortly and the second on the Aviation Classics MIG Hangar thereafter. Robert expects that the Miller transmitter will cover the 08 Hammerhead and quite possibly extend WiFi coverage to the Rwy 14 Hammerhead also. The Aviation Classics transmitter will cover the Rwy 27, 32, and 14 hammerheads. This has been a year-long Safety of Flight initiative of your RSAA. The intent is to provide WiFi ramp coverage to members and transient pilots using portable tablets, handheld GPSs and aircraft EFIS systems at the Reno-Stead Airport to update weather, check NOTAMs, TFRs, and file flight plans. Mr. Andrews, a pilot himself, is providing the equipment at his cost and is installing that equipment free of charge. Alby Redick, a pilot and owner of Aviation Classics is graciously funding the purchase of the two WiFi transmitters. The RSAA will partially offset the costs of the internet subscriptions. Both transmitters will be password protected with the Aviation Classics password expected to be available on AWOS and at the gas pump. The Miller transmitter’s password will be made available to RSAA members. These transmitters are intended to be Ramp Access WiFi Only and coverage is not expected to extend to hangars located south of the parking apron. For those desiring their own personal high speed internet connection, please contact Robert Andrews at: robert@avantwireless.com/. The Board approved reimbursing Dave Miller $25 per month for the Wi Fi expenses, and set a policy of reimbursing him 50% of any future costs or increases
11. Newsletter Report: The Winter Newsletter will focus on aviation economic development and advancing the Northern Nevada
aviation business sector.
12. General Discussion: Tom reiterated that all Airport Authority Board Trustees and their Staff are always welcome and encouraged to attend the monthly RSAA meetings as are all association members and tenants-at-large. The next General Membership and Safety meeting is scheduled for TBD, location TBD.
13. Next Meeting: Dec 17, 2013, 5:15p location: Aviation Classics Conference Room.
14. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 6:37p.
________________________
Herman D. Ross, Secretary
RENO STEAD AIRPORT ASSOCIATION(RSAA)MISSION STATEMENT
To represent the interests of all Tenants on the Reno-Stead Airport including Aircraft Owners, Fixed Base Operators, Aircraft Repair Facilities, United States Government Agencies and all parties of interest;
To ensure that all Tenants have the opportunity to speak with a united voice to the Reno Tahoe Airport Authority (owner of the airfield facility), the Federal Aviation Administration and the Local Governments relative to safe and affordable flying in Northern Nevada;
To enrich and promote the reputation of General Aviation within our community; and
To promote a “Good Neighbor” policy with the Nevada National Guard, support facility improvements that enhance the Tenant experience and encourage affordable services, fuel prices and hangar rentals from all service providers operating at the Reno Stead Facility.