By Mary Alice Murphy

At the Grant County Commission work session on Aug. 6, 2024, commissioners heard two presentations. The first was from Boutique Air, a former essential air service provider to the Grant County Airport, and the second from Advanced Air, the present EAS provider.

Eitan Spiegal and Nadim El Khoury presented for Boutique. The company began in 2009. It is a "reliable daily air service with 100 employees across the country." They cited safety, reliability, customer service and technology as their focus. They fly Pilatus PC-12s, which are 8-passenger planes, with two passengers that can be put in the back. The cabins are pressurized and climate controlled. They cruise at 300 miles per hour. They have in-cabin storage space and a large TSA secure cargo compartment. and an enclosed lavatory. They had two proposals, the first with 24 roundtrips to Albuquerque and the second proposal with 18 weekly round trips to Albuquerque and eight weekly round trips to Phoenix, which could be expanded to 12 weekly. Their reliability for the past two years has been 99.66 percent and no fatalities. Their objective is to provide consistent air service year round. The goal would be to have 70 percent load factor by their second year in Silver City. The airline has a voucher program for purchasing multiple tickets at a lower price and uses robust marketing for their flights..Their flights are available on all major global distribution systems and travel agencies. It also has a interline agreement with American Airlines with baggage transfer.

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce said his question addressed customer service. "If you were chosen, we would expect someone to be able to help the passengers if a flight is late or cancelled. Will you have someone on staff here?"

El Khoury replied that Boutique has 24/7 customer service as well as live chat on its website. He said he is available 24/7. Stiegal said if a flight is canceled, "our staff is trained for explaining and helping the passengers."

Barbara Hunt, Advanced Air vice-president of operations, said they were in town about a month ago and had presented to the commissioners and at a townhall, but they wanted to be present at this meeting to let the commissioners know that "we are committed to Silver City. We have a 99 percent reliability rating, with 95 percent on time arrivals and departures." She noted that when they were at the meeting last month, they had just put out a survey and got more than 1408 responses to it, with a 4.8 rating. "Out of the more than 1400, we had only 30 that had something unhappy to report. We responded to each on individually. "

She noted that for her to get to Silver City, because all their flights were booked from Phoenix and Albuquerque, "we did not get to fly on our flights, but had to fly commercial to El Paso and drive to Grant County. We're committed to you and ready to serve you for the next four years. I'll take any questions."

District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne thanked her for being there, and no one had questions.

Next came the director reports. Emergency Manager Scot Fuller presented the first one. He noted he had completed theFiscal year 2023 Emergency Management Performance Grant documents and submitted them to FEMA. He continues to work on the hazard mitigation plan revision. The department had received an award from the Community Wildfire Defense Program for $185,000 to update the Grant County Wildfire Protection Plan, but it awaiting the contract from New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department to receive the funds. He also received $20,000 for community outreach and education on wildfire risk reduction. He said he was waiting on a reply from FEMA on generators for the Conference Center. "They are not the quickest to reply, sometimes."

He also noted that County Fire Chief Roger Groves was out on a fire at Silverback Towing "junk yard.It was an abandoned trailer on premise. Hopefully they got it all knocked down."

The next report came from Rebekah Wenger, Grant County Airport manager. She noted the FAA had completed its annual certification inspection. Takeaways included that taxiway markings that had been redone were accepted and cleared. "We had one record keeping violation, with training for one individual that was due in January but wasn't completed until February. We will need to perform some crack filling maintenance on Taxiway A, as reconstruction is not scheduled until 2028. Taxiway reflectors need to be replaced, "but we are in the design stage of adding lighted taxiway lights, but construction is not until next spring. Replacement reflectors are no longer available and the FAA will not allow reflectors that are not identical to the rest of the airfield. I have suggested a short-term fix for the sunbaked side of these reflectors and will await the FAA's decision."

She noted that airport staff were commended for their knowledge of the ARFF program and the emergency response actions for a fuel farm spill.

District 3 Commissioner Alicia Edwards commended Wenger for the great ARFF performance. "You do a great job out there."

Corey White, fleet maintenance, reported on the number of oil changes and inspections, how many diagnose and repair, the number of units with repaired or replaced tires, Road Department blades that had cutting edges replaced, replaced windshields and the completion of an insurance survey. For August, the project included new blade operator pickups almost ready to put into service; addressing the off-road diesel fuel tank alarm upgrade and certification which are due; looking at quotes for two service trucks and a drive-on lift; and continuing a cost analysis of agreements with Wagner for heavy equipment.

Public Works Director Jason Locket gave the maintenance report and said that the crew is working on the manager's office break room remodel; the courthouse first and second floor hallway patch and paint; the Fairgrounds exterior light upgrade; the lines and curb touchup and repaint at parking lots at the courthouse, the conference center and the administration building; and an extensive water line addition for swamp coolers at the Road Department fleet shop. Two future projects were to replace all sanitary fixtures in the administration building and a holding cell design/install at the courthouse.

Lockett also presented the Road Department report, which included that the Noonday local government road fund project was 85 percent complete, and the department is doing routine blading of roads, concentrating on school bus routes. He noted that in District 1, they had had several washouts with Bear Creek and had hauled 150 tons of material to repair them. In District 2, Norris Road has been a problem area with 13 crossings. District 3 has had the most moisture and the most washouts. District 4 has had minimal issues, with all roads bladed. District 5 had had no issues with just routine maintenance, and District 6, with Separ Road requiring multiple blading due to power line traffic.

Edwards thanked him for educating her on Fleming Tank. "I got positive responses from area residents."

Joseph Holguin, new planning director, thanked everyone for the warm welcome.

Next came the review of the regular meeting, which will be covered in the next article.