Minutes for the Montana Airport Management Association
Fall Meeting
Helena, Montana
October 24, 2023

CALL TO ORDER – 4:00 p.m.
MAMA President Ian McKay called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

INTRODUCTIONS -4:00 p.m.
• Ian McKay, President
• Shane Ketterling, Vice President
• Ross Marty, Secretary/Treasurer
• Lucas Locke, GA Officer
• Heather Mosser, Corporate Officer
• Tim Damrow - Small Hub Officer

REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES -4:01 p.m.
Brian Sprenger moved to approve the minutes; Jeff Wadekamper seconded. The minutes were approved as presented.

CORRESPONDENCE – 4:02 p.m.
No incoming correspondence. Two outgoing letters of correspondence: first was to Senators Daines and Tester as well as Representatives Rosendale and Zinke on the Aviation Worker Screening National Amendment post publication request for assistance. The second letter of correspondence was to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in support of Skywest Airlines recent application to the FAA to operate aircraft with less seats under the FAA part 135 operational regulations or part 380 public charter framework.

FINANCIAL UPDATE – 4:03 p.m.
Ross Marty presented YTD2023 financials to the membership.
FY2023 is off to a great start with revenues coming in higher than budgeted with the infusion of the MDT Aeronautics AOM (Aviation Organization of Montana) State Aviation Conference revenue disbursement, higher than anticipated ADO Conference Revenue. Expenses are currently behind budget with year-end anticipated to be slightly above due to 2022 Fall Conference expenses shown on current year.

FY2024 proposed budget was presented with small revenue increases on the ADO Conference due to new sponsorship opportunities as well as the reinstatement of the AOM distribution revenue line item. The only update on the expense side for FY2024 is the absence of the Legislative Lobbyist line item as there is no Legislature convening in 2024. With that a FY 2024 proposed budgeted positive cash flow of $12,760.

Current Account Balances
Checking: $19,242.93
Savings: $0.00
Money Market: $32,292.38
Total Assets: $51,535.31

Shane Ketterling moved to approve the budget; Brian Sprenger seconded. The budget was approved as presented.

2023 LEGISLATIVE DISCUSSION – 4:08 p.m.
Tom Ebzery, lobbyist for the MAMA group, was absent from the meeting but did provide President Ian McKay the following update:
• Two bills that MAMA was working on, SB263 & SB264 both passed with one bill MAMA opposed, HB319 tabled in committee.
• SB263 was a bill moving Airport Authority’s ability to lease commercial land from 40 to 50 years.
• SB264 was a bill to allow Airport Authorities the right to lease their all-beverage liquor license to three entities instead of the current one. Also allows Airports with 5,000 enplanements to qualify for an all beverage license, reduced from 20,000 as current law states. An amendment to this bill was included to transfer liability for misuse of liquor licenses from the Airports to the leasing/operating entity.
• HB319 was a bill to allow Airport Authorities the option to permit their ARFF responders into the FURS (Firefighters Unified Retirement System.) Bill was tabled in Committee.
• 4,600 total bills were requested while 1,700 were introduced producing 788 bills passed

TSA EMPLOYEE SCREENING DISCUSSION – 4:10 p.m.
Ian McKay updated the membership and provided historical background for TSA’s recently published Aviation Worker Screening National Amendment. MAMA is opposed to the current framework and has reached out to both Senators as well as both State Representatives as noted above in correspondence. Shane Ketterling updated that BIL, as the only publicly owned and operated Airport in Montana, reached out to the Attorney General Austin Knudsen for a legal review in pertinence to potential Montana Constitutional conflicts but have not received a response yet.

MAMA MISSION AND BYLAWS DISCUSSION – 4:19 p.m.
Ian McKay presented updates to the MAMA Bylaws as was agreed by the membership that he undertake at the 2023 Annual Meeting in Billings. The first update was additional language in the Mission Statement to show that MAMA, “Represent and lobby the interests of its member on regulatory and other matters at the national and state levels,” with the multitude of new regulatory programs and in respect to MAMA Board of Directors ability to respond in a timely manner. The second change was to clarify what is considered to be regular business, that the Board has the authority to conduct business and make decisions on behalf of the members and what actions should be brought to the attention of the entire membership body. The last update was to allow the ability to Vote by Proxy; guidance for the proxy voting framework was provided in the updated bylaws.
No MAMA action was taken on this update as the material was recently presented to the membership. President Ian McKay asked that the membership review the changes for a future discussion as this item is not time critical.

ROUND-TABLE DISCUSSION – 4:27 p.m.
- GPI
o Introduction of Daniel Reimer, the new Director of Development at GPI.
o Currently roughly half-way through their Terminal Expansion project. GPI is tripling the square footage of the terminal with 100,000 square feet of space coming online in the next 60 days.
o Work will continue on this project tentatively through the summer of 2026.
o Expansion of their commercial apron and de-ice facility with taxiway connectors.
o Culmination of an off-site sanitary system.
- Glasgow – have an electrical project put on hold due to parts availability.
- HLN
o Master Plan Update
o Internal service road pavement rehabilitation
o Terminal service road rehabilitation
o Taxilane paving in Southeast hangar area (phase 1 of 2)
o Busy Fire Training Center year
- MSO
o Parking lot expansion projects (400 parking spaces opening soon)
o De-ice pad expansion
o Working through Master Plan Update
- BIL
o Master Plan Update
o Update on successful 2023 Air Show – 35,000 attendees
o New internal service road installation
o Terminal project update – B concourse is slated to open in March/April of next year
o Will add another Cargo Ramp next year for UPS/FedEx operation
- BZN
o Introduced their new Supervisor of Operations and ARFF; Manager of Operations and ARFF and Director of Maintenance.
o Work continues on baggage delivery system project – 80% completed
o GA taxiway projects continue
o Terminal Expansion project ongoing – design close to complete with $200 million project breaking ground next year and be 4-5 years estimated completion
o Working with FAA on Navaid projects
 Installation of MALSR on other end of main runway
 RVR and VOR relocation
 Fiber Optic Loop system for future expansion plans
 Update on north-side airport development
- Townsend
o Land Acquisition Project
o Canyon Ferry Airport maintenance update
- Aeronautics
o WYS Terminal project on track with projected completion at the end of 2024 with tentative opening in May 2025
o Lincoln looking to procure snow removal equipment and starting SRE building in 2024
o Whitefish is expanding rapidly – recently signed a lease with a new FBO/Hangar operator that will provide some maintenance and storage of aircraft
o State interested in selling Dell, Montana Airport.

- OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS – 4:42 p.m.
None

ADJOURNED – 4:43 p.m.
MAMA President Ian McKay adjourned the meeting at 4:43 p.m.