Airport staff post updated minimum standards for public comment; GA development RFP due Aug. 12

Boise Airport staff said the airport has drafted an updated minimum-standards document for commercial aeronautical activities and will post the clean draft with a 30-day public comment period before sending the update to Boise City Council.

Martie Mendenhall (property), Dave Gawn (terminal tenants) and Brady DeYoung (airfield) were introduced as the property team members working on tenant and airfield agreements. Rebecca Hough said the updated minimum standards were developed with legal review and input from environmental and operations staff.

Key changes summarized by staff include: - Modernized document structure and expanded definitions of commercial activities. - Increased insurance minimums; the previous, older reference to an "Idaho Tort $500,000" minimum was replaced with updated insurance language. - Mandatory compliance language for environmental regulations, security protocols and safety management systems. - A clarified waiver process for applications under specific conditions. - Clarified towing and emergency aircraft recovery requirements for fixed-base operators (FBOs). - Removal of a prescriptive count for apron tie-downs in favor of a requirement to provide adequate apron tie-down space to match operations.

Staff said the primary driver for the update was the active GA development RFP on the street and that the minimum standards had been shared with known FBOs as part of an RFP addendum. Hough said the RFP proposals are due Aug. 12 and that staff delayed the proposal opening to collect additional technical details, including taxiway weight and wingspan capacity.

Public process and next steps: Staff said the airport will post the updated minimum standards this week, accept comments for at least 30 days, notify existing operators and then forward a recommended update to council. Staff emphasized they did not intend to exclude existing operators and would consider comments received during the public comment period.

Ending: Commissioners asked about anticipated concerns; staff said they expected few surprises because the changes are largely industry-standard updates, but they will accept and review submitted comments.