Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
IRONWOOD — The Gogebic-Iron County Airport Board held its monthly meeting on Monday, with board members discussing their annual reorganization, the purchase of a vehicle and ongoing plans for future projects.
Patrick Harrison was unanimously re-elected chairman, Dan Siirila elected vice-chair, and Brandon Snyder was chosen as recording secretary.
The board also voted to change the meeting time of its monthly meeting to the second Monday of the month at 3 p.m. to better fit into the schedule of multiple board members.
The board held a lengthy discussion regarding the purchase of a skid steer and box blades for the airport.
Airport Interim Manager Todd Richter presented the board with two possible units for clearing brush.
“The attachments that are specked for these units are for grinding stumps, and clearing brush down,” said Richter.
After some discussion, the board motioned to purchase the ASV skid steer, not to exceed $140,000, including a bucket attachment and other attachments, with the warranty being left to the manager’s discretion.
“If an extra $2,000 gets us an additional three years (of maintenance) on the vehicles, that’s money in the pocket,” said Siirila.
Richter reported the heating in the heated terminal has been having issues with its boiler, resulting in multiple repair visits in the past few months. At the time of the meeting, he was waiting for a call back from the repair company to see if there was anything more they could do to get the heating unit working appropriately.
“We have had trouble in the past, and have had parts replaced every year for the last three or four years,” said Richter. In the event of a new unit needing to be installed, the board proposed that they get some ballpark figures from local companies, to get an idea for the cost of the replacement.
The board also:
—Heard that additional postings for the manager position had been published.
—Discussed the ongoing progress of the purchase of an airport-adjacent property along Lake Road. The board discussed potential plans for the property, and voted to continue the discussion at the next meeting, as by then, the purchase should be complete. Executive secretary Kristi Freeman proposed that the board take a tour of the property following the March meeting.
—Heard an update from the Denver Air employee that attends board meetings regarding plans for local involvement. He informed the board that he would be reaching out to one of the members of Denver Air corporate to see if they would be available to sit in on a meeting next month to present the board with a comprehensive update.