CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Committee Meeting Minutes - Final

Aviation Advisory Committee

10:00 AM

Thursday, January 9, 2025

181 John Glenn Drive, Suite 100, Concord

https://cccounty-us.zoom.us/j/82582758074

Calling in: (214) 765-0478 or Toll Free (888) 278-0254

Access Code: 232255

The public may attend this meeting in person at above location. The public may also attend this

meeting remotely via Zoom or call-in.

Persons who wish to address the Aviation Advisory Committee during public comment or with respect

to an item on the agenda may comment in person or may call in during the meeting by dialing (214)

765-0478 followed by the access code 232255#. Those participating via Zoom should indicate they wish

to speak on an agenda item by using the “raise your hand” feature in the Zoom app. Those calling in

should indicate they wish to speak by pushing “#2” on their phone.

Public comments generally will be limited to two minutes per speaker. In the interest of facilitating the

business of the committee, the total amount of time that a member of the public may use in addressing

the committee on all agenda items is 10 minutes. Your patience is appreciated.

For assistance in advance of the meeting with remote access contact Airports staff at (925) 608-8000 or

email airport.team@airport.cccounty.us.

Roll Call and Introductions

Chair Stappen welcomed attendees and acknowledged the devastating fires in Southern California that

unfortunately are very common. He reminded everyone to watch out for each other within their communities and

thanked the AAC members for the work they do.

In attendance were: Steve Kowalewski, Greg Baer, Judith Evans, Kelly Kalfsbeek, Will Nelson, Salvador

Morales, and Steven Griswold.

Gareth Ashley, Emily Barnett, Richard Celestre, Elizabeth Leddy,

Keith McMahon, Eric Meinbress, Vincent Salimi, and Shawn

Stappen

Present

Christopher Baker, Peter Baker, Michael Bruno, and Dean

Hickman-Smith

Absent

2024 Aviation Advisory Committee Roster

1a.

25-17

Attachments:

Public comment on any item under the jurisdiction of the Committee and not on this

agenda (speakers may be limited to two minutes).

Committee member Elizabeth Leddy mentioned that some tenants advised her that they did not receive the fuel

survey. Director Baer said he will follow up with Airport Staff about the distribution list and clarified that the

survey was put out by a different entity and Airports Staff just facilitated the distribution.

Approval of the Aviation Advisory Committee's November 14, 2024,

Meeting Minutes

25-18

11-14-24 Meeting Minutes - Final

Attachments:

Motion:

McMahon

Barnett

Second:

Aye:

Ashley, Barnett, Celestre, Leddy, McMahon, and Salimi

Baker, Baker, Bruno, and Hickman-Smith

Stappen

Absent:

Abstain:

Late:

Meinbress

Passed

Result:

Consider Consent Items

Accept relevant Staff Reports for October and December 2024.

4a.

25-19

October 2024 Staff Reports

December 2024 Staff Reports

McMahon

Attachments:

Motion:

Second:

Barnett

Aye:

Ashley, Barnett, Celestre, Leddy, McMahon, Salimi, and

Stappen

Absent:

Baker, Baker, Bruno, and Hickman-Smith

Late:

Meinbress

Passed

Result:

Accept the Airport Noise and Statistics Report for October and November

2024.

4b.

25-20

Noise Abatement Charts October 2024

Noise Abatement Stats October 2024

Operations October 2024

Attachments:

Noise Abatement Charts November 2024

Noise Abatement Statistics November 2024

Operations November 2024

Committee member Leddy mentioned that the fuel flowage numbers on the Operations Report for

October 2024 are down. Director Baer explained that those numbers reflect gallons delivered to the

airports, not gallons pumped into aircraft, thus there is a data lag related to daily operations. In

terms of the overall budget, those numbers do not have a huge impact in our budget with fuel flow

fees ranging from $0.11/gallon to $0.165/gallon.

Motion:

Second:

Celestre

Barnett

Aye:

Ashley, Barnett, Celestre, Leddy, McMahon, Meinbress,

Salimi, and Stappen

Absent:

Result:

Baker, Baker, Bruno, and Hickman-Smith

Passed

Discussion/Action Items

Unleaded Fuel Update

5a.

25-21

Unleaded Fuel Update

Attachments:

Director Baer said that this item was requested at the last meeting. He remarked that this report

included the current status on unleaded fuel at national and local levels, and it was attached to the

Aviation Advisory Committee packet for this meeting and placed on the Contra Costa County

Airports website homepage.

Director Baer said that he has been working with vendors and Fixed-Base Operators towards

bringing an unleaded fuel option to Buchanan Field 2025. He informed that Airports staff will

update its website and issue a press release as soon as the logistics are worked out and a delivery

date is available.

During public comment for this item, Paul Millner mentioned that several pilots had contacted him

about this article. He made comments about various items within the Staff report and will provide

written comments at a later date.

5b.

Concord Fly-In update

Vincent Salimi said that there are no updates, more to follow.

Follow up on process for Business Association Seat

5c.

5d.

25-22

Director Baer commented that staff have been working with the County Administrator’s Office

(CAO) to come up with the best approach to handle this topic. The next step is to meet with

County Counsel to go over the different aspects and hopefully have a recommendation for the next

meeting.

Status of Contra Costa County hangar waiting lists, hangar occupancy, and

Airport considerations.

25-23

Hangar Waitlists and Airport Considerations

Attachments:

Director Baer presented this item at the request of a committee member at the last meeting. The

report focuses on hangar waiting lists for both airports, aircraft, storage, usage, and occupancy.

Ø Current Buchanan Field and Byron Airport Hangar Waiting Lists

Ø Typical Wait Times:

C83 - 2-3 years

CCR Shade - 12-18 months

CCR South Facing - 2-3 years

CCR North-Facing - 3-5 years (preferred by pilots due to less sun

exposure)

Director Baer noted that the existence of waitlists typically elicits questions about building more

hangars.

Ø Points to consider prior to constructing new hangars:

· Price point: Cost of the new construction will result in higher rents and

will the local market support higher rents

· Utilization of existing real estate

For the purposes of this presentation, hangar occupancy is defined as:

Registered and insured (ideally airworthy) aircraft stored in hangar

Homebuilding and restoration are allowed, but per FAA, there should not

be indefinite projects

Director Baer continued that if there is 90% or more occupancy of aircraft stored in hangars and

they are registered and insured, typically they are using the airport which means they are feeding

into the economic engine of an airport through, 1) fuel sales, purchase of consumables,

maintenance services, County taxes (Possessory Interest and Aircraft Property Tax), and 2) FAA

Based Aircraft, only the registered aircraft counts to the evaluation of where an airport stands with

the FAA for funding.

Director Baer also explained the concept of right-sizing hangars. Airports are not managing their

real estate properly if a large hangar is storing a small aircraft (e.g., Cessna 150), but then there is a

large aircraft on a waitlist because it cannot fit in a regular t-hangar.

Committee Member Meinbress commented that many years ago there was an interest in building

new hangars, and they found that the environmental impact report alone was five million dollars. It

was emphasized that general aviation is not a growing industry and that should be taken into

account.

Director Baer conveyed that the 2024 Buchanan Field Hangar Inspections are still in progress,

however initial indications show that occupancy is significantly less than 90%.

Debrief of Santa's Jolly Landing

5e.

25-24

Chair Stappen said Santa arrived in an Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) truck. This event

had Scouts helping to direct traffic. He thanked the committee members that volunteered for this

event as $700 was raised for the food bank. Emily Barnett added that it was a great venue with

quality representation, lots of information, activities, donations for raffles, candy, and photos. The

photos were a great gift to the community as not everyone gets the opportunity to take a photo with

Santa.

Pacific States Aviation offered to volunteer or be more involved in this year’s event.

Future Agenda Items

1) Can the East Ramp be connected to the West Ramp?

2) Identification of next Capital Improvement project

Adjourn

The next meeting is currently scheduled for March 13, 2025, at 10:00 am, at 181 John Glenn Drive,

Suite 100, Concord.

Adjourn

The Committee will provide reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities planning to attend

the Committee meetings. Contact the staff person listed below at least 72 hours before the meeting. Any

disclosable public records related to an open session item on a regular meeting agenda and distributed by

the County to a majority of members of the Committee less than 96 hours prior to that meeting are

available for public inspection at 181 John Glenn Drive, Suite 100, Concord, during normal business

hours. Staff reports related to items on the agenda are also accessible online at www.contracosta.ca.gov.

If the Zoom connection malfunctions for any reason, the meeting may be paused while a fix is

attempted. If the connection is not reestablished, the committee will continue the meeting in person

without remote access. Public comment may be submitted via electronic mail on agenda items at least

one full work day prior to the published meeting time.

For Additional Information Contact: Buchanan Field Airport at (925) 608-8000 or email

airport.team@airport.cccounty.us