Alana White, chair, opened the meeting and turned the floor to airport staff for updates. Phil, airport staff, told the advisory council that the airport has secured grant funding to preserve and rebuild Taxiway Alpha and to complete several airfield maintenance projects.

Phil (airport staff) said the Taxiway Alpha project "got started earlier this month with a grant from the FAA about $750,000 in entitlements" and that the Michigan Department of Transportation awarded a $7,000,000 state apportionment grant for the bulk of the work. Phil said the city will combine those funds with about $1,000,000 from infrastructure grants the airport has reserved and local funds, bringing the committed total to about $8,700,000; he said the project will require additional local funds because the full cost will exceed that amount.

Why it matters: Phil explained Taxiway Alpha is the main connector to the airport's 10,000-foot primary runway and said keeping the taxiway at 75 feet along its roughly 2,200-foot length preserves the runway's operational capability for larger aircraft. "So it's a huge win for the airport," Phil said, adding that maintaining the wider taxiway supports larger aircraft operations such as cargo or special events.

Project scope and schedule: Phil described the current design status and timeline. He said the design phase is about 30% complete, with a 60% benchmark expected next month and 90% completion (final draft submission to the FAA) by December. Phil said the project should be bid by the end of the first quarter of next year and construction would start immediately after next year's airshow.

Technical details: Phil said typical general aviation taxiways range from 35 to 50 feet wide, and that Taxiway Alpha currently measures "anywhere from 100 all the way down to about 75 feet." He said discussions with the FAA and MDOT led to retaining a 75-foot width for the full length to preserve future operational capability.

Air traffic control and maintenance updates: Phil reported the airport received a March 2024 competitive contract-tower grant of $350,000 to replace communications equipment and window shades and to address environmental items; that work was completed last month. He also said the airport has won about $1.2 million in competitive grants for the tower over the past two years and that one more round of contract-tower grants will be announced soon.

Phil listed other near-term maintenance work: repainting airfield markings (estimated at about $250,000 this cycle; last year's paint and crack sealing cost about $100,000), planned removal of an on-field VOR (a VORTech navigation facility) next month to free land for development, and repairs to airfield access roads scheduled for late this month or next month.

Parallel runway (ALP) status: In response to a council member question, Phil said the airport layout plan (ALP) for a proposed parallel runway is under state review and that the FAA's initial assessment indicated the project does not qualify for federal funding based on current operations data. He said no new ALP updates were available.

Votes at a glance: At the start of the meeting the advisory council approved the agenda and approved minutes for March 11, 2025 and June 12, 2025. The advisory council recorded a quorum of six and approved those procedural items by voice vote. A motion to adjourn was later approved.

Ending: Council members offered brief thanks for the updates. Phil said staff will return with further updates when additional grant rounds or design milestones are reached.