Good evening.
Brady, could you please give the invocation?
Thank you, Mayor.
First, we recognize that you, Lord, are ultimately in control.
So we lift up this council and all its members tonight and ask that your spirit of wisdom and justice Be upon them.
And may the members of this council vote in a manner that glorifies and honors your name according to your will.
We also pray for the candidates of this position that they may come to the knowledge of Christ and Him crucified through the Holy Spirit, that they may receive forgiveness, peace with God and new life, and that they would have wisdom and integrity to perform this job.
Let this council know in their hearts the one you, Lord, have chosen.
For there is no authority except from you, Lord, and the authorities that exist are appointed by the Most High.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen.
Now, we'll call this special meeting to order.
Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll?
Yes.
Mayor Miller?
Here.
Auditor Woman Sellers?
Here.
Auditor Person Sanders?
Here.
Shadle?
Here.
Shadle?
Here.
Stacy?
Here.
Parker?
Here.
Simmons?
Here.
Johnson?
Here.
Klemm?
Here.
If you could please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Alderman Sellers.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Item number one is the approval of the agenda.
Is there such a motion?
So moved.
Second.
Motion made by Alderman Shadle, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
All those in favor signify by saying aye.
Aye.
Opposed?
That motion passes.
Opposed.
Pardon me?
Yes.
It's been opposed.
Okay, so we had we had one seven to one.
Two.
Yeah.
Next is public comments.
Attorney Cox, could you speak to that, please?
Sure, Mayor.
We have a number of people signed up for public comment tonight.
The Council rules at Section 23 talks about address by non-members.
There is room for six folks to come up and speak and six via written.
No more than that.
We've actually received more than that.
Yes, sir.
And having the opportunity to speak, we're going to refer back to the Council.
So, I believe it's very important for someone who is older who can't hear very well to turn the volume up a little bit.
All right.
Is that?
Curt, do you have the ability to turn that up?
Qin you hear me all right now?
Is that better?
So, just to restate that, there's a limit on the number of comments.
And it's six spoken and six written.
We've received more comments and more requests to speak than that.
So, referring to the council rules, the rules are a little bit fuzzy there, where they say, if there's more than six, then an equal number from each side gets to speak.
Well, we have two in favor signed up to speak of the proposed, in favor of the proposed bid.
We've got multiple signed up to speak against, and the decision is the two that are signed up for will be allowed and McBain will be allowed to speak and then the first four of the opposed will be allowed to speak just in terms of time signed up.
And then with the written correspondence, again, we're going to accept the first six and Jibriah is going to read those in.
Was there a question?
I make a motion that everyone that's here tonight that have something to say be allowed to speak.
Is there a second?
I second it.
Any discussion?
Yes.
Alderman Sellers?
But I'm saying if that's what the rules are.
That's why we have motions.
That's why we can make motions.
So that would be a motion to suspend the rules.
To suspend the rules and allow them to speak.
Okay.
So suspension of the rules must pass by two-thirds majority.
So Madam Clerk, please take the role on allowing the suspension of our ordinance to allow all Settler.
All of the persons that want to speak to speak, all of them in Sellers?
How many total is there to speak?
Do we know?
There's eight written and I think eight signed up, so it would be an extra two on each.
The ordinance itself, I'd like to make a motion.
We already have a motion on the approval agenda.
No, no, we've already passed that.
So we've got a motion on the floor to suspend the rules to allow everyone to speak.
Item number three.
I'd like to have that removed indefinitely.
Alderman Sanders, we have a motion on the floor right now.
That's what we're sticking to right now.
So unless there's any discussion on allowing all to speak outside of the normal council rules, Madam Clerk, could you please take the roll?
I thought she did that already.
This is on the motion that I made that you second.
Okay.
So if you want everyone to speak it's a yes vote.
If you want to stick with the rules it's a no vote.
Sellers?
No.
Sanders?
Yes.
Shadle?
No.
Stacy?
Yes.
Parker?
No.
Simmons?
Aye.
Johnson?
Aye.
Klemm?
No.
It's like a tie.
I think it's a tie.
So that that's a four-four vote that would that would fail because it needs a two-thirds vote.
Yeah.
Okay, then we will proceed with the six that first came in as far as written correspondence.
Madam Clerk, if you could please read those.
Rose.
I did make a motion tonight to have item number three to be removed indefinitely.
Well, we've already approved the agenda.
That was the very first thing we did.
Oh, okay.
He said no.
Yeah, and I did say no.
But it passed.
The approval of the agenda passed six to two.
Oh, it did?
Six to two.
Okay.
Madam Clerk, could you please read?
Dr. Glenn Smith, I would like to address the current vote on the airport manager contract.
I have lived in Northwest Illinois for the past 25 years.
During that time frame, I have been a continuous hanger tenant, consumer of goods from the airport, and consumer of services from the airport.
During that time, I have been through multiple administrations all trying to save money and putting their mark on the management of the airport.
As tenants, we all want to have a professionally run facility that we can use all year round.
Not all the past changes have worked well for that goal.
I will remind you of a past administration that caused over one third of the hanger tenants to leave.
With that preamble, I have some concerns.
The airport needs a resident manager that is available to handle emergencies in a real time fashion.
Those type of things can't be delegated to minimum wage persons answering the phones and fueling planes.
Lowest bid does not always mean acceptable service.
I don't understand why the city council is not privy to the details of the actual bids to access what they are being asked to ratify.
We have had a very professionally run airport from the Janssen family for the last 30 years.
The latest being in the person of Angie Janssen.
It will be difficult to replace the depth of knowledge that she possesses.
Our concerns also include the projects that are currently in the works.
I would appreciate a much more transparent process for the whole affair so we all know what we are getting.
The second one I have is from Rodney E. Marshall.
To the Freeport City Council, this letter is to recommend Angie Jansen be retained as the airport manager.
I have known Angie and her family for over 35 years.
Throughout those years, I have personally observed Angie's excellent people skills in handling airport customers, her exceptional knowledge when dealing with the FAA, and her behind Davis.
And her behind the scenes skill at acquiring state and federal grant monies.
Angie was instrumental in acquiring grants for the instrument landing system that is critical for safe, all weather approaches for business and commercial aircraft.
Grant funding for the runway extension overlay and airport road improvements are all examples of Angie's work.
Her death of knowledge, long established business relationships and high respect in the industry are only earned through competence and with extensive time invested.
Additionally, more direct results of Angie's management skills are easy to observe.
The airport grounds have never looked better.
Rental hangars are all full.
There are two independent aircraft maintenance companies renting space and airport staff are competent, friendly and always helpful.
Airports are a safety critical community asset that functions as a front door for the local business community.
Managing an operation like Alberta's Airport requires full-time attention and full-time availability during off hours.
Angie has proven her skills over decades of dedicated full-time effort.
I strongly recommend the city of Freeport will be very well rewarded having her at the airport helm.
Angie is unquestionably one of the best of the very best.
The third comment from Kirk Appel.
This recommendation letter is for, okay.
I write this letter of recommendation for Ms. Angie Jansen, Freeport Airport Manager with the highest regard for her friendship and her stewardship for aviation within Freeport and the surrounding area.
I have over 40 years in aviation, general corporate and airline, 27 years as a pilot with Delta Airlines.
I started right here at Freeport Albertus Airport.
I couldn't be more proud of where my career started and of all those who helped me and guided me.
I understand what this airport means to the local community and to those who either pass through its airspace or for those who operate within it.
The airport has come a long way since I first started working there.
I was one of the original employees of Freeport Air Service in 1984.
I've known Angie since my very first day.
I was hired by airport manager and owner of Freeport Air Service, Darrell Janssen.
My capacity was as aircraft mechanic and all other jobs required to help operate the airport and Freeport Air Service.
I watched firsthand what was involved, required, and needed to operate this airport.
Darrell gave 100% of his time and effort to improve Freeport Airport to what it is today.
The same can be said for Angie.
For the past 28 years, Angie has worked tirelessly alongside her father to operate, improve, and expand Freeport Albertus Airport.
Whether it be new hangars, one-way extension, ILS approach system, two thriving maintenance facilities, successful air shows, daily upkeep and maintenance, and many more.
These and the many other improvements do not come easily or quickly.
Closing constant contact with the FAA, along with federal, state, and local governments is what allows this airport like all others to become what they are today and will be for tomorrow.
Angie is not new to this environment or to the extent required to garner the required approval from all agency levels to maintain the safe operation of, but also to improve and enhance the airport for future use.
She is as thorough and tenacious as her father was so that Freeport Airport is the very best it can be.
Her years working as office manager in these past four years as airport manager continues to bring respect, not only from local and transient pilots, but also from all the government agencies that are integral to helping make this airport continue to be safe for those who operate within its boundaries and its airspace.
To the city itself, who can be proud of the airport and for all the opportunities it provides He's been in front leading the whole time, continuing to go above and beyond of what is required to be the airport manager for Freeport and the airport.
Freeport Airport is an- Madam Clerk, do you have much left because your time expired quite a while ago?
Oh, Lord.
No, that was the end.
Good evening, members of the council.
My name is Matt Van Bergen, and I am a tenant at Albertus Airport where I rent a hangar.
I want to thank you for allowing me a moment to share my perspective as someone who depends Huffines.
Thank you.
I would like to express my appreciation for the way the airport has been managed under with the current airport manager.
As a tenant, the things that matter to me are very practical.
Airport maintenance issues are addressed promptly.
The grass runways are well maintained, and the general day-to-day upkeep of the airport is handled with care.
We also benefit from competitive fuel prices and unique boutique services I have not experienced at other airports, such as snow being shoveled right up to the hangar door.
All of these things are provided consistently, and they make a real difference to those of us who use the airport on a regular basis.
I also know that our current airport manager, Angie Jansen of Second Gen Aviation has grown up with this airport.
It has truly been her life and her family's life that deep connection is evident in the pride and care she brings to her work every day.
Beyond managing the airport, she also plans, organizes and leads Young Eagles events where volunteer pilots introduce level youth to aviation.
These events not only serve our community, but may also inspire the next generation of pilots.
I participated in one this past weekend and it was nothing short of top-notch from an organization and enthusiasm perspective.
I understand that the city has a process to follow when it comes to management contracts and I fully respect that.
My only request is that you recognize the strong track record of service and dedication that we've experienced under the current airport manager as part of your consideration.
This decision impacts the tenants more than anyone else.
Thank you for your time and for your commitment to supporting our community airport.
The fifth one.
Dear Freeport City Council, my name is Lynn Pease.
I am a hangar tenant at the Freeport Albertus Airport and have some concerns about your proposed management transition at the airport.
I have been very happy with the current manager, Angie Jansen, who has helped me among many things with a tricky registration issue when I purchased my personal airplane in Canada.
That required dealing with the FAA to convert it to U. S. Registration, and Angie's help was appreciated.
The knowledge required for this FAA interface is not easily learned and comes with years of airport management experience, which Angie learned under the tutelage of her father Darryl, the previous manager.
I say this as a retired airline pilot and current university professor while I help train future airport managers.
Normally the first step for our graduates will be as an assistant manager in any airport system and then be promoted as experience allows.
The lowest in fact any bid needs to be very carefully examined to see if the bidder has any aviation management experience.
Aviation cannot be done on the cheap.
I will urge you to extend Ms. Jan Singh's contract.
Sincerely, Lynn Pease, Associate Professor of Aviation University of Dubuque.
This is from Graham Bradbury.
In my capacity as a hangar tenant at the Albertus Airport, I wish to lodge my comments regarding the subject resolution.
I have enjoyed being a member of the Freeport Airport aviation community since 2000, training for my pilot license and member of the local Experimental Aircraft Association, chapter and since 2010, a hangar tenant.
During these 25 years, I've seen many positive changes at the airport.
These have included the resurfacing of the main runway, construction of a new access road and installation of modern security fencing.
Whether you've know was the reconstruction of the old maintenance hanger after its destruction in the storm, such as to support the future construction of a modern terminal facility.
It takes many players to make all these things happen, but in my opinion, all required the passion, tenacity, in-depth knowledge of airport operations and leadership of the airport manager to make them a reality.
Since the untimely passing of Darryl Jansen, the previous airport manager of many years, we have been very fortunate to have been served by Angie Janssen of Second Gen Aviation for the last four years.
Mrs. Janssen.
Ms. Janssen has continued to work tirelessly and successfully on behalf of all the airport stakeholders to maintain the airport infrastructure, improve facilities and facilitate smooth airport operations.
This success is in no small part due to Ms. Janssen's many years of experience specific to the city of Freeport and its airport.
I trust that the council will thoroughly deliberate all the factors pertaining to this resolution and fully consider the interests of all the airport stakeholders as you cast your vote tonight.
Thank you for this opportunity to share my comments.
That was the first six.
Okay, that concludes the written correspondence.
So next we have Stan Tefer.
You have three minutes, Stan.
Greetings, everyone.
My name's Stan Tefer.
I've rented the Hangar K6 at Alberta's airport for my plane for the past 10 years.
I'm not only a pilot, I have my FAA AMP certificate, and I was previously adjunct instructor at Rock Valley College in the aviation maintenance technology program.
I am an experimental aircraft association member EAA and aircraft and owners pilots association member AOPA.
I like to go on record in support of Angie Jansen, her manager at Alberta's airport.
Her father Darryl was is very successful and did a great job as a manager while he was with us.
However, Angie has improved the quality of a burst with improved facilities and activities and maintains a facility and runways in a top notch condition.
She has a vast knowledge of state and federal regulations and is always in compliance with those regulations.
My research shows that the insurance and other deductions including hired help come out of the airport budget, Managment Budget.
As right now the manager's salary, personal insurance included liability insurance, hired employees and the need for additional part-time members to include in that budget.
And there is a need for hiring the additional members.
So that budget has to be split up as a result of that.
Angie has a great rapport with pilots at the airport.
I have no other person or group that can manage the airport as well as she does.
The airport office is always well maintained and Angie as the airport manager.
Thank you.
Next is Jeff Modica.
Hello everyone.
I would just like to introduce myself.
I am Jeff Modica, I've been an aviation professional for over 30 years.
I'm also a lifelong Freeport resident.
I was born here, raised here and lived here most of my adult life.
My association with Freeport Airport dates back to the fall of 1989 when I began training and obtained a private pilot certificate.
I left for a time and finished a college degree and obtained the more advanced flight ratings at a flight school down in Jacksonville, Florida.
After that, I returned to the Freeport Airport and worked there full-time for a number of years in the early to mid-1990s.
While there, I pretty much did everything, flight-instructed, fueled airplanes, plowed Ways, Mowed Grass, Assisted in the Maintenance Shop, General Airport Maintenance, Equipment Maintenance, etc.
After leaving Freeport Airport for career advancement, I have worked at multiple FBOs at various airports, charter companies, large corporate flight departments, and finally a major global airline.
During these years, I've had the opportunity to fly into and out of literally hundreds of airports across all 50 states.
I have a very knowledgeable or a very thorough knowledge of the good things, bad things, what works well, what doesn't, and have seen it all from the very top-notch, well-run municipal airports to the more neglected and deficient airports.
I believe this breadth of knowledge and experience would serve me well in a position such as this.
At the last meeting, I heard a couple of concerns about my employment at an airline.
I can see where that might be a concern on the surface, but if you dig a little deeper, you would find that it's not as much of a problem as one might think.
Most airline pilots fly a full schedule 12 months a year.
I routinely choose a different schedule option, which affords me the opportunity to be home most days of the month.
This schedule option is that of an on-call reserve pilot.
I only go to work when I get called in due to a pilot absence for whatever reason.
I'm generally on call three or four days and then off the rest of the week.
On average, I would say it's usually once or twice a month I get the call, sometimes not at all.
When I do, the trip has me gone for approximately a 48 hour period.
So in reality, in over a 30 or 31 day month, I may be gone for a few 48 hour periods.
The rest of the time, I live right on the airport boundary near the South Airport entrance road.
I can be on the property in literally about three minutes from leaving my garage to respond to anything that may need attention out there.
During the few short periods I may be away, trained employees would be able to respond to anything until I return.
In this world of connectivity, I think the issue is minor.
In summary, what I would strive to bring to this position is professionalism and the knowledge gained in 35 years of experience in general aviation environment, both as an operator and instructor.
I'm currently providing most of the flight instruction at the airport for pilots seeking.
Good evening and thank you for this opportunity.
My name is Joe Green.
I'm a pilot.
I've had two planes, both of which I hangered out at Alberta's airport, currently in between planes, hopefully another tenant.
I'm a member of EAA and AOPA and very active at the airport.
A little bit about me, just so that you know where I'm coming from.
I'm a former employee of Honeywell, Tentaco, International Harvester Company, Case IH.
I'm a private business owner.
I retired eight years ago.
Since then, I've started two new businesses.
As far as civic duties, I was chairman of the board of the local credit union here, president of the church council, president of Lena Community Park District, former city Council in a town in Iowa and also currently a township trustee.
I tell you this so that you understand that I've been on both sides of this, the business side and where you're all sitting.
When I was sitting in your chairs, I wanted as much information as I possibly could find to make the tough decisions and this may not appear to be a tough decision to you but it's a tough decision to us and that's why we're here tonight.
When you go out to the airport, one of the things you may see is a nice airport, planes coming in and out, nice serene setting.
What you don't see is what's going on underneath.
It's just like a duck in a pond.
The duck looks nice and mellow, but underneath there's a lot of peddling going on, and ANG's been doing all that peddling.
To do this off the side of your desk is simply, to me, not possible.
You can't deal with the FAA off the side of your desk.
You can't deal with the NTSB off the side of your desk.
You can't deal with Homeland Security off the side of your desk.
You better believe that one.
FAA training, Angie can post their own notums.
Many of the airports around here have to go through the FAA to post their notums.
That's notice to airmen.
Angie is authorized to do it for Freeport Airport.
She has to deal with federal officials for security.
She has to deal with municipal, local, regional, and national engineers to get the projects done that are out there.
All of this is coordinated.
This is the duck feet under the water, just going like hell.
Also interfacing with the city council, you know, the finance clerk, city manager, street department, all of those areas she has to interface with.
Not only that, that's the grounds, but she also has to deal with the customers.
Corporate, we have a lot of corporate people actually come here instead of landing at Rockford because it's much more accommodating, much more feasible, and much easier to get in and out.
Fueling systems, brand new fueling system out there, and you push for that.
There are many other things that I have not been able to do the time constraints cover, but there is a myriad of things that happen out there and I urge you to to ask what those are.
Thank you.
Next is Larry Lyons.
Thank you, Consul, for listening to me.
My name is Larry Lyons.
I am a hangar tenant out there.
And a question I had is, what is the need or where is the drive for this change?
What has gone wrong that seems that you have to change it when we have an airport that's running very, very well and the tenants almost to.
Bell, and the tenants, almost to a man, are very happy with what we have.
I have not heard any complaints from anybody.
I wonder if you have.
As you can see by looking at the number of people seated, the potential to lose what we currently have has raised many concerns.
Second Gen is the only proposal received that includes someone with experience in airport management.
The RFQ asked the manager to be a pilot.
Why?
Even though Angie is a pilot, that fact has absolutely nothing to do with the skills needed, as you've heard iterated earlier.
You need someone who has experience dealing with the state and federal government, the FAA, grant applications, grant writers, EMS, etc.
The airport current looks better than it has in years.
Angie has addressed every concern brought to her attention with except the things she has no control over, such as your antiquated weather system out there, that everybody has has access to, but half the time doesn't work, it's not fully operational right now because state of Illinois simply won't spend any money on it.
Another area that Angie has been exempt from rain is maintaining the contacts needed for grant writing to acquire the money needed to keep this airport in an operating condition that is conducive to supporting the corporate aviation that is the lifeblood of this community.
Think Titan Tire here, your local grocery stores, Pearl Valley Egg, and many more corporate and many other entities that utilize your airport routinely.
That takes money, federal money.
Not too long ago, 2nd Gen Aviation had a grant money available to upgrade to the new terminal building, which is the first thing outside companies see when they arrive in Freeport.
All that was needed was signatures from this administration.
Due to those signatures not happening in a timely fashion, you lost that money and are still utilizing a terminal building and Mr. Parker.
It's time to look forward and start moving Freeport in the 21st century and maybe slow the loss of businesses that Freeport is experiencing for several years now.
Thank you.
Next is Timothy Mickle.
My name is Timothy Mickle.
And Mr. Parker and Mr. Klemm have seen me before when things didn't go well at the airport.
I'm here to support Second Gen Aviation and Angie Jansen.
She's done a good job.
You've heard it.
I don't know if we have to repeat it all.
I'm going to briefly remind you.
It's a complicated job.
There's a lot of technicalities to it.
You've heard it.
There's a lot of equipment.
The equipment has to work for safety.
What's one dead person going to cost you?
That's the instrument landing system, the runway lights, the rotating beacon that is currently having some problems, the snowplows, the mowers, the hanger doors, the fuel pumps, and there has to be toilet paper in the bathroom.
It's kind of funny, isn't it?
Somebody's got to do that.
You've heard talk about federal and state grants.
It's true, you got to know what you're doing.
You got to fill the paperwork out.
It's got to be correct and it's got to be on time.
So I asked the question also, what's the problem?
What are we trying to fix?
What are we trying to solve?
I haven't heard any complaints tonight.
Or maybe you folks have.
I will guarantee you this, ladies and gentlemen, if you get it wrong, you're gonna get complaints and worse.
The last time we went through this rodeo, the city lost one third of its tenants, that's money, that's revenue to the city, and it took a long time to build that back up and improve the reputation of our airport.
The aviation community is a tight-knit community.
Word gets around.
Finally, I'm disappointed in all of you.
There's a lot of people that came here tonight to inform you.
You should have suspended the rules and listened to everyone.
That's democracy.
This isn't silly.
McEvoy.
This is important.
You need to hear from us, and you need to hear from me, Timothy Mickle, 815-990-7527.
Thank you.
And then last is Louise Iles.
For the record, I do not know Angie or Jeff.
I'm talking about your procurement procedure and so on.
So that's your standard.
And if you do not approve this bid, you're going to be a violation of those standards.
Because I know Darren talked about that at the 421 meeting when you had a disagreement.
The only reason why you could not accept a low bid or would not be approved to come to council would be for litigation with the city or bad track record.
The low bid does not have those.
And some of the things that Stacy talked about I believe are irrelevant because she talked about the airport being, okay, if you read the agreement, the airport can hire their own employees.
If you look at the rules and regulation of the airport, this was 1-12, January 12, 2012.
It states, I'm not going to read it all, the manager has the right for a designee or an alternate he can assign if he is not present.
And if you look at the minutes from your council meeting, May 1st of 2024, she stated we've We've never had a designee or an alternate for the airport.
Darren stated the fixed base operator, Angie Jensen, has a staff of three employees.
So she has a designee or employee.
So that's yours.
And Mr. Saunders, you had no relevant.
I had the right to talk about us.
Yes, she does.
She's not swearing.
You put it on the minute.
Mr. Saunders, you had no valid reason to vote no for this contract.
I mean, trying to micromanage the manager, that was irrelevant.
So you are leading this council open for a lawsuit if you do not follow your own procurement standards.
You gotta get it right, you gotta get it right.
Better know what you're talking about.
That concludes public comment.
You need to stop talking, Mr. Sanders.
That's inappropriate.
Item number three is the adoption of resolution 2025-117.
Madam Clerk, could you please read this?
Resolution approving an airport management agreement with Freeport Aviation, LLC for Albertus Airport.
Thank you.
Manager Boyer?
Thank you, your honor.
On October 11, 2025, the city issued an RFQ for a fixed-based operator airport manager at Albertus Airport.
Four prospective applicants attended the initial meetings.
Three submitted on-time applications by September 2, 2025.
Submissions were opened and reviewed on September 4, 2025 by the Airport Operator Review Committee that consisted of the mayor, Alderperson Joy Sellers, Darren Stiegel, Fehr Graham, and also city manager and the attorney and city clerk were also in attendance.
The lowest responsible quote was submitted by Mr. Jeff Modica of Freeport, Illinois at $157,500 per year.
At the regular meeting on Monday, September 15th, 2025, council voted down the committee's recommendation to award it to Mr. Modica.
The current operator's contract expires October 1st, 2025.
Without council action, Albers Airport be without an operator on October 1st, creating a material risk of operational suspension or closure, disruption to tenants, and interruption of aeronautical services.
An extension of the current agreement is not advisable because the city has already completed the competitive RFQ process and received three qualified quotes, simply ignoring the other bids undermines the integrity of our competitive procurement process.
So awarding the lowest responsible respondent Mr. Modica aligns with the committee's recommendation ensures continuity of operations and minimizes cost to the city.
To avoid lapses in management and To avoid lapses in management, ensure a safe, compliant transition before October 1st.
City Council should approve an award.
Mr. Monica, the authorized execution of the operator agreement in the form attached to the RFQ.
The annual cost is $157,500 per the lowest responsible quote as budgeted in the airport operations budget.
Staff recommends approval of the committee's recommendation to the award of the Alberta Airport Operator Management Contract to Mr. Jeff Modica and authorized city manager to execute the agreement and substantially the form included in the RFQ effective October 1st.
And as a strategic plan alliance, this ensures the Freeport's transportation systems are prepared for future challenges by maintaining continuous airport operations that that support local business and regional connectivity.
Is there a motion to adopt?
So moved.
Second.
The motion made by Alderman Klemm, seconded by Alderman Sellers.
Discussion on the resolution.
Yes.
Alderman Stacy.
I wanna know how was all this information leaked that pertained to who all bidded on this position, and how much their bid was.
When did this go out to all the council members?
And how did some get it and some did not?
And why was it used in a whole ward and discriminated and put even at the neighborhood watch who was giving what, who was doing what?
Why was all this information given out?
Are you telling me it was public information for everyone to see?
At the regular meeting, September 15, 2025, council was appraised and was made aware of all of the submittals and who won after the committee had a chance to review it.
They were made aware of every price that everybody had quoted?
No.
What their bid was?
No, they were not.
So how was that information exposed then?
How was that information given out?
You were working off of the recommendation of the committee.
Also, certain council members have full access to the information if they're interested.
Why do certain council members have full access?
Why don't all council members?
All council members have access.
No.
Yes, they do.
No, sir.
OK, let's stop the back and forth.
If you have a question.
And again that's a simple make a phone call ask your questions come in to and meet ask your questions mayor it's true I don't want to hear that I don't want to hear come in and meet I can come in and meet if I sit down with you and Rob together for me and another council person to come and meet with Rob you all block that from happening and I used to meet shame the devil and tell the Tell the truth, I used to meet Alderman Simmons and I have came in many a times and in the beginning Alderman Sellers and I came in and we met with you Rob Boyer and then that was taken away.
I have to sit down with you and the mayor if I want to have a meeting so I don't have meetings.
Huffines.
Alderman Sellers.
Tell the truth.
I think that Alderman, I think that Alderman, Alderwoman Johnson went in after the, the proposed agenda was on the 15th.
That's when she had her meeting after, after that.
Why are you guessing?
Let her, let her speak.
Alderman.
Why are you guessing for her?
Because that's what I want to do.
Johnson.
She went in after the meeting.
She went in and she had a meeting to get things done.
Common sense.
She went in and she had a meeting.
Go ahead, Linda.
Alderman Johnson, would you like to speak?
Anytime there's anything on the agenda, I ask tons of questions to everyone.
And I said, I want to read all the applications, what they say.
So I came in and I sat down at a desk and read all the applications of all three people to see what they said.
So that's where the information came from, came from all three applicants because I asked questions about it.
I wanted to know what they were running, how much they were wanting, what they were going to do, and that sort of thing.
So that's where the information came from.
Anybody could have done that, you could have done that, any of us, any of you could have done that.
If you wanted to go and read them, all you had to do was ask, say I want to see them, I want to know what everyone is thinking.
So that's where it came from.
Alderman Sanders.
I'm glad you spoke on that.
Council is the legislative body within the city of Freeport.
We designate and call meetings.
This is not an executive meeting.
This is just a regular council meeting, which we are discussing something that took place in someone's office, private office, council, well wherever it took place, the information came down, was trickled down, and council was not notified that this operation or this committee was even formed, was even brought into existence.
Yeah, it was nothing of a notification or report of any of this that we're entertaining right now is totally invalid.
Just to even call for a committee to make a judgment call or to make a determination which direction that the Albertus Airport is going.
If we wanted to amend, extension, forbid any applicants from even participating, we have the right as council, let's get it right now, council has the right to entertain all bids and so forth.
It's all reports, notifications and whatever that's going on.
And so my thing is this total meeting that we actually have in right now is totally invalid.
We're not supposed to even be here talking about this particular item without having all of the ducks in the row.
Huffines.
We have to do our own research and investigation to determine whether they are vetted and qualified to operate and manage some facility of an airport.
The current person that is there could have had an amendment extension applied to that until council was able to weigh in on the whole magnitude, find out what was the reason for the applicants being pursued or whatever, the biddings or whatever.
But we did not offer anything to the current resident out there at the airport.
We could have amended it, extended it and took council come into the understanding why are we making a change?
What caused this effect to happen?
We have not been privy to that information yet.
We still don't know what's the complaints are.
I just heard comments that we have not understood the complaints.
What are we doing here?
The incompetency is just spreading like wildfire and we're still sitting here like dummies on a log pretending like we know what's really going on out there at that place and we're ready to fire somebody or terminate somebody's position without any just cause.
We've got to find just cause and competency and integrity with inside of this council.
I can't believe that we are entertaining this notion to terminate this position.
I can't believe we're sitting here doing this and without thinking about it.
We have to, we have not come together.
What we're doing right now as a council, this is what I was egging for, for months in the and a couple of years I've been here.
That council needs to get together and have these one discussions.
And I don't like the fact we're gonna change that too.
We need to change how the mayor is asserting herself in council's business.
Your time has expired.
That's another thing.
Is there anyone else?
I have a question.
The leases for the hangers and the rental on the land that's out there, has that typically been assigned to the airport manager over the last few weeks?
We have a question about the airport manager over the last four years.
Are they the ones that were really supposed to keep track of those records and make sure that the fees were paid and all of that sort of thing?
That's one question.
My second question is in an airport, are they typically supposed to keep track of the planes that come in and land there?
Is there any law, rule or whatever that says that we should keep track of the number of Boyer.
Any other questions that are coming in every day or those are two questions I have.
Manager Boyer?
Yes.
Just to answer that as a general rule, so I've been overseeing this for two years in the last two years.
I think we've had one airport report on the number of flights coming and going, but I think there were some privacy concerns with that and I'll have to work that out with whoever is the future operator moving forward.
As far as the leases, I would have to go back and look at the old contract.
I can't for sure say whose responsibility, however, I believe it is the airport operator.
However, I will need to verify that.
Any other discussion?
Manager Boyer?
It will be in the next contract.
Alderman Sanders?
Yeah, I'd like to extend an apology to the public for the acknowledgement of the lack of duty and responsibility and the accountability of council as a whole.
We're not all privy to certain information that exposes or report or review of matters that came to us.
We have not had an opportunity to sit and weigh in on this.
So my recommendation is for an amendment for an extension.
We should be able to do that with council.
It only takes us to agree upon that.
I think we should move on that as a whole to re-evaluate how we came to this position because that is not what we're doing here and I think we should all admonish ourselves, hit our own self upside the head and ask to say, what am I thinking?
So my thing is we should go back and review how we got here and who made these resolutions to not who made the resolution to terminate that position without consulting with council, and not only that given the current management opportunity to seek for an extension.
I don't know why we're entertaining this whole business.
I'm listening to the comments from the constituents out there.
They're saying what a magnificent job that is taking place out there.
But yet, there's some of us still sitting here salivating about voting one way or the other.
The thing about it is we should be talking about things that enhances the airport with the current management to see if there's any complaints or any falters or any problems out there that raise this thing to this particular level.
And I don't like the fact that council was overlooked from chiming in or getting in part.
I see people's names that are part of a committee that is formed that I don't even know how it got there.
So my question is, how did it get there?
That's the thing that I like to know.
Who's running this operation?
Are we playing games up here?
What are we doing?
Are we trying to solve problems, have resolution to solve a problem?
Are we trying to create a way to make sure that certain people are not affected by all of this?
Well, we got a whole assembly in here is affected by what's going on out at the airport.
And we're sitting here numbing, I don't hear us arguing about anything or talking to one another as council.
Council should be able to huddle together in this chamber and talk about the matters that is taking place on any ordinance or resolution or any adoptions.
So I yield my opinion.
Alderman Sellers.
I think the whole thing about this was nobody is terminating anyone, the contract was up and it was opened up for people to put in, I'm not- You didn't hear me.
Don't interrupt, please.
I'm not trying to hear you.
Yeah, I know.
Right, that is your problem.
But anyway, let's get back to business.
Nobody was terminating, the contract was up and people put in their applications.
I was asked to be a part of looking at the applications and I came and I looked over the applications.
I don't have anything against anyone that's out there running the airport.
I looked at the information that was brought in front of me.
I looked at it, I read it, I got my answers that I needed Miller.
And from the very first time when we first started talking about the airport, way back when I first got voted in, you guys didn't even want the airport to keep being existed.
You wanted us to shut it down, but we couldn't.
So now that we never heard any of these great things that all these people said, and I believe everything you said, but we never heard any of these things.
We never got any of this.
I never got.
You didn't either.
Anyway, you just said it.
We didn't get any of this information.
We didn't, even in her application, none of this stuff came.
I am not gonna sit here and down anybody on the floor on what I know.
So that's what I'm not gonna do.
I'm not gonna down anybody, because that's not my character.
But I just want you to know that what I vote for is because what I've got the information or what I know.
So that's how I'm voting.
Any other discussion?
Alderman Stacey.
Yes.
Alderman Sellers asked the question that was not answered.
So I hope it can be answered as far as how was this even chosen, this team chosen.
And many of the people that spoke asked, where did she go wrong?
What did she do wrong?
What happened?
You just stated that you, Rob Boyer, just stated that you've been the overseer of this airport for the last two years.
And to tell you the truth, that's when the bull Stegall.
You have done any and everything in your power to put that lady down.
Not only you, you didn't operate alone.
She didn't only get emails from you, did she Darren Stegall?
You all railroaded her.
She graduated high school, she gave her life to that airport, and it represents just that.
And I want to say that shame on you.
Shame on you.
How was the committee put together?
And how was this information allowed to be written down and leaked out?
And why didn't all of the council get it?
Why didn't we all have?
I'm not talking about going in meeting with you.
I'm talking about something that was sent to me that was passed out around the neighborhood that was passed out at the neighborhood watch.
But we as a council wasn't even having access to that.
So just because someone went in and had a meeting, what right did that give?
Okay, I could just go take notes and share whatever I wanna share.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, now I know.
I would like answers to the questions.
Darren Segal would you like to?
Yeah.
I was asking Rob.
I'm gonna respond to your allegations because that's what they are.
You have no idea what the communications with myself and Miss Jansen were.
Public Works does the repairs on the equipment and the buildings out there and my communications have been limited to that so don't throw out accusations that you don't know about.
That's insulting and it's disrespectful to all the work that I do for the city.
I know what I read.
Okay, let him finish speaking.
He was done.
Well, you don't have the floor.
Well, if he's coming at me, I'm going to respond.
You don't have the floor.
The constant regard for professionalism here is ridiculous.
Yes, it is.
It is.
We were asked on a committee to evaluate and we evaluated and we thought that it was a level playing field.
And the committee chose the lowest bid.
That is what the decision was, which is what we are responded to do as far as procurement rules are.
This is what you wanted and this is what you planned.
This is what you want and this is what you plan to do.
Please stop.
Alderman Johnson, you've already spoken twice.
The council would have to allow you.
Well, if there's no further discussion.
Madam Clerk, please take the roll.
Sellers?
Aye.
Sanders?
No.
Shadle?
Aye.
Stacy?
No.
Parker?
And Mr. Miller.
This is tough.
I'm going to say yes.
Oh, my God.
Simmons?
Johnson?
Where's the integrity?
Klemm?
Aye. 5-3.
It passes.
The resolution passes.
We will move on to item number 4, public comment.
Yeah, this has got to change.
We are some unlawful people right now.
I can talk all I want, Mayor.
No, you can't say anything to me.
You can't say nothing to me.
We have someone at the podium for public comment.
Yes, sir.
Right.
I had written up something previously that I wasn't allowed to speak because of some and John.
I'm sorry.
There's some rule that you have here.
But I think most of what I heard from the constituents was very positive for Angie.
What I don't understand, Rob, Boyer, is where this committee or whatever it is, where did this come from to facilitate what you're doing here tonight?
And it's obvious that anyone that's out at that airport except for the United pilot over here that wants to be the manager now all of a sudden is happy with the way things are.
Not only happy, they're elated and so I don't know Mr. Boyer where you got this, where did How did you start this?
Where did it come from that all of a sudden you were managing the airport for two years or something?
Could you answer that?
Where did that start?
Why were you out there?
Why do you need to be out there?
You're a city manager, are you not?
What do you know about airport operations?
Miller.
No.
Would you answer that?
No.
There's no dialogue.
It's just public comment.
Okay.
Think about it.
Next.
Hi.
A little comic relief for you, Sue Cook, Winchester Drive.
You just broke my heart, guys.
They don't care.
You just broke my heart.
These are your constituents, except for a couple that did want the change.
These are the people that are out there with hangers.
What you don't want to do is make somebody that has a hanger try to break their lease and go somewhere else.
They're very, very, very, very happy with the management.
I understand when contracts come to an end, they come to an end.
But you also could, as Alderman Sanders suggested, do the extension and see if the people that that are out there, take a consensus.
Are the people out there happy?
If they're happy, yay, go forward.
Stay with Angie.
If there's comments and there's complaints and there's anger and there's upset, then you kind of deal with that too.
And that's when you make your, okay, well, we're gonna have to do this.
But these people vote and they're your constituents.
And they also, I don't have a plan.
I have no pony in this race whatsoever, but I'm listening to them say, we like what we have.
What if they take their planes and go elsewhere?
What if we lose business?
What if companies refuse to fly in because they get angry?
This is the age of boycott, God forbid.
Freeport couldn't handle that.
So, you kind of broke my heart.
I'm getting used to that.
Which kind of broke my heart.
That's about it.
Is there any other public comments?
Yes, sir.
Thank you.
This to me is extremely disappointing.
What you've done has put the airport in my eyes in a death spiral.
It's either growing or it's dying.
And it's been growing.
It's been growing quite handsomely for the past years.
And that's thanks to the current management that's out there.
Anderson.
I want to tell you, personality conflicts should not enter into this type of decision.
And I fear that you have been led down a path that is going to be the demise to a successful airport for $25,000, $30,000.
You know how many hangers that is?
That's 10 hangers.
And let me tell you, there are hangers out there available besides here at Freeport.
There's a reason those hangers are full.
It's because of the service, the quality of service, and the quality of the program that's out there.
It's very disturbing that this decision was made with the minimal amount of information that you had.
For those of you who did investigate, I applaud you.
However, to say that you never heard anything good come out of the airport, We never asked.
You had information channel one.
That is extremely poor decision making.
It's not good.
I'm sorry for your decision.
Anything else?
I do not have a vested interest in who is the manager at the airport.
My concern is your procedure.
Bidding, you have to follow your bidding otherwise you're in violation of bids and that will affect the credibility of the council and it leaves you open.
Any other public comments?
My name is Dwight Dendy.
I happen to be a retired United Airlines pilot.
Why Jeff wants this job?
I can't imagine.
He's got the best job in the world.
Scott.
He has a choice in that.
However, conflicts of interest are a really bad thing.
I can tell you as a Czech Airman for United Airlines, in five minutes flying with a crew member who had outside interest from being a good airline pilot.
I mean, it didn't take much because when they left, there's a worry about those other conflicts that you sometimes have to make a choice.
Which one do I go to?
United Airlines, in their contract with them, typically and I flew for them for 37 years so I know I'm pretty well.
They own you.
They want you to have no other thing in your life but working for them.
It shows in your checks when you go for checks in Denver and all kinds of things Williams, the people who do other things besides the job that they trained and loved for a long time to get there.
It shows up because when you have more than one interest, it takes like a computer.
It can only hold so much on the hard drive.
It starts to deteriorate other areas.
Now, why this man wants the job?
I have not a clue.
I'm sure he's a good pilot.
Makes a whole lot of money, probably more than anybody's spending here.
I can't figure that out.
But that's up to him.
But it will show it.
But it will show at some point or the other because managing an airport is more work that I have seen in my experiences with Daryl and Angie in managing airports because I worked an internship to get an A&P license with Daryl but nothing.
I came out and worked under his supervision to work on an ANP license.
Thank you, sir.
Your time has expired.
Is there any other public comments?
Are you going to the podium?
Turn the clock off?
Clock's on.
I can imagine it is.
I just want to say to Council, the way we're doing business, the way we conducted this particular meeting, it's totally out of order and I just want to express that you can say well that's your opinion what you need to check your you need to check how console is operating I don't know how we got here but it has not been explained to the general public and the fact that we have a committee that council did not approve of a committee that went out to the airport wherever this committee was is former, was not approved of by council, and council runs the legislative amendments, ordinances, and things of that nature, committees and all.
Oversights, if we had one we need to put an oversight in the midst of our council, we need that in every department area, we need an oversight.
Oh, this wouldn't have never happened.
This call would have never and others.
We are sitting here as if we have the knowledge, the understanding and why we are doing something with no complaint.
How do you vote on something that is not broken?
I don't get it.
How do we do that?
This is exactly what just happened tonight.
We're voting on things that have not been vetted, that have not had a resolution, had not had a discussion, had not had an amendment extension to resolve this issue, and it had not weighed of the recommendation that came to council that we're having tonight or the last meeting.
Why are we here visiting this thing that we had already voted on already?
This is absurd.
Serd.
There's a pattern.
There's a pattern that goes on here.
And if there's a quick quote, I can smell it from a mile.
And if that is what's going on, we need to reevaluate and take reviews.
Council has the discretion.
No one else has the discretion to make recommendations.
We need to get that thing in order.
And before we set out to do any more changes and consulting with any other administrator or terminating jobs and contracts and bidding on projects, it is illegal if you have an invalid meeting, an invalid bidding.
All the biddings that took place is invalid because why?
Council did not approve of it.
And we need to get our acts together because the integrity of this council is demonstrating itself right before public.
Your time has expired.
Thank you.
Is there any other public comments?
Yeah, I'm going to speak for her.
No, you're done.
Michelle Swalve, I would just like to say that you guys all knew that this meeting was happening.
Linda Johnson, Joy, some of you, others of you, I'm sure, did your research.
One of the ones standing up here complaining is going to start doing their research and start doing their jobs.
And John.
You talk about people that are doing their jobs, Darren, and you sit there and you criticize and you make things up and you make accusations, but you're not doing the work.
You're too prideful to have meetings with Rob and Jodi.
That's your job.
It's your job.
So start doing it because we're tired of it.
Your constituents are tired of it.
And Stacey.
We need to get a life.
Alderman Sanders, please keep your comments to yourself.
Well, I'm looking for that rule as well.
Order, please.
It's called order.
Cecelia, Stacy, you know, I don't care about you coming up here saying all that you just said, looking at me, eyeballing me, because I do my work, and I made the comments that I made and I stand by my comments that I made, because I know what I saw and what I read.
And questions were asked, how was the committee formed, and it was never answered.
I asked the question, what did she do wrong, and you never answered the question.
And Mayor Jodi, you quickly gave the mic to Darren when I asked a question that didn't get answered.
Now, that was fair, that was right, that was wisdom, that was just.
He just stood up here and prayed and asked that it be wisdom and just tonight.
Will we had anything but that?
Thank you.
If there's no other comments, we will entertain a motion for adjournment.
So moved.
Second.
Motion made by Sellers, seconded by Shadle.
All those in favor?
Aye.