February Port GM Meeting
2019 achievements and airport health noted
The JFK Stakeholders
Monthly Meeting was held
February 12 at Building 14,
JFK Airport following the
Kaamco monthly meeting.
Following are highlights
of the meeting :
Supervisor Safety Management
Sajida Fhamy spoke
about safety in identifying
and preventing corona virus.
This virus is a respiratory
infection and the way it is
transmitted in through touch
or close to a sneezing person.
She stated that the most important
preventative things
to avoid catching this type of
infection is staying away from
a sneezing person, washing
hands regularly after touching
things in public, and not
touching eyes, mouth or nose
after contact with someone.
Aeronautical Services
Manager John Arancio
briefed the attendees of a full
scale airport safety and emergency
exercise on April 18.
This triennial exercise is necessary
to exercise to comply
with part 139 compliance.
He informed the group
that there has been a postal
clean up effort for months.
He has held meetings with
business partners to discuss
issues for cleaning up
the postal pen area As a result,
the Port has reached an
agreement for companies to
claim equipment and to seek
assistance if information was
passed on through a General
Manager bulletin out lining
28 AIRPORT VOICE, MARCH 2020
the requirements. ULD’s, pallets
and dollies are the most
often left behind equipment
and take up space and can result
in accidents.
The EOC and AOC are currently
not housed together but
will headquartered in Building
111 after renovations are
complete in the 2nd or 3rd qtr.
of 2020. In the meanwhile the
EOC is housed in the bldg. 14
cafeteria area. Permanent in
Building 111. Arancio stated
that there have been enhancements
in traffic monitoring
and surveillance units so as
to assist in the airport redevelopment
and other security
matters.
Physical Plant Manager
Manny Ciminiello shred information
of the ongoing progress
of line striping, garage
leak repairs, and improved
visibility from the reflective
lettering on airport signs. He
said 2020 taxi area pavement
plans in are in place.
AirTrain General Manager
Sanchita Banerjee-
Jiminez reported on the accomplishments
of 2019 which
included door improvements
to meet code, and increased
track safety implementations,
She was happy to report a
slight increase of passenger
son the AirTrain over the past
year reaching almost 21 million.
She mentioned the unchanged
discounted AirTrain
fares, more reliability, better
customer experience station
identifers to help passengers
wayfind, and the popularity of
the We Soar Higher program.
She said there are plans to
do-security upgrades in preparation
for negotiation for new
cars that are planned for the
redevelopment and as working
on decommission of the T2
Airtrain station.
In terms of sustainability
the system is upgrading for
remote monitoring and rail
heating control to reduce energy
use.
Security Manager Kim
Dickie reported milestones
for 2019 which included improvements
to the credential
office which is now relocated
back to bldg. 14 in a newly designed,
comfortable and efficient
space. There are more
badging counters, paperless
applications, easier authorized
signatory procedures,
a new appointment reservations
system, and consolidated
use of classrooms for training.
She also thanked Bill Huisman
for his continued Handed
out Community Watch Program
that he administers to
mitigate non-complaint behavior
and infractions by
badge holders.
PAPD Lt. Lomonico, mentioned
a labor protest scheduled
for Terminal 8Friday .
The department expected 400
demonstrators and staged arrests
but the demonstration is
expected to be peaceful and no
impact on operations.
FAA Air Traffic Control
JFK GM Charles Everett with CEO JFKIAT Roel Huinink at Port GM after T4
expansion announcement.
Tower Claude Vieira was
pleased to report winter has
been mild with little impact
on the airport flight operations.
He praised the steering
committee for the good Working
groups and express optimism
on the success of the
JFK redevelopment based on
the hard work and hard conversations
taking place.
Customs Border Protection
officer reported that the
corona screens have been going
gong well. CDC and CBP
are meeting all flights from
mainland China and screening
the best they can. Passengers
are screened by CDC
before they come down for customs
processing. and isolated
passengers per protocol.
He said that Global Entry
is closed for NYS residents for
new or renewing applications
due to the Executive order.
The are cancelling appointments
about 72 hours in advance.
He said that flyers are
encouraged to enroll in the
Mobile Passport Control app
which is another fast exit program
for U.S. citizens.
JFKIAT’s Roel Huinink
announced that the port Authority’s
approval of T4 expansion
will enhance the customer
experience and is the
final of the JFK terminal redevelopment.
Deputy GM Terry Rizzuto
reminded everyone of the
weekly stakeholders committee
meetings..
Cuomo signs design-build bill
More minority contracts will follow
New York Gov. Andrew
Cuomo signed into law Dec.
31 the New York City Public
Works Investment Act,
which authorizes some New
York City agencies to use the
design-build delivery method
for certain capital projects.
The New York State Assembly
passed the regulation in
June 2019 and delivered it to
the governor for his signature
Dec. 20.
The bill allows government
agencies to combine design
and construction project
bids into one contract to
save dollars and time. The
law will provide project labor
agreements to use union
labor and language for hiring
of minority contractors.
“It’s a great way to end
the year,” state Sen. Leroy
Comrie (D-Questions) said
of Cuomo signing the legislation
he sponsored along with
Senators, John Liu, Jessica
Ramos, Jen Metzger and Robert
Jackson. The law authorizes
entities, which include
the city’s DOT and Department
of Design and Construction,
to award design-build
contracts for projects: operating
under a project labor
agreement; that cost $10 million
or more; and for the Department
of Parks and Recreation
that cost $1.2 million or
more. Other projects, such as
for improved sidewalk access
for those with disabilities,
renovations to cultural institutions
and libraries and
security improvements of at
least $1.2 million may also be
delivered via design-build.
The law takes effect immediately,
and, starting on
June 30, each agency that has
issued a design-build contract
must submit an annual
report that includes a description
of the contract, information
about the bidding
process, the total cost, how
much money the agency/department
saved by using design
build and how much of
the contract went to minority
and women-owned businesses.
Other New York City entities
allowed to use designbuild
are the Department of
Environmental Protection,
the Health and Hospitals
Corp., the School Construction
Authority and the Housing
Authority.
Potential design-build
contracts must demonstrate
their capabilities in several
areas including: Quality of
performance, timeliness
and customer satisfaction
on previous projects, an ability
to limit cost overruns and
change orders, technical ability
of the design-build team
and personnel, risk management,
a record of compliance
with wage and labor laws.
One reason design-build
has had such a tough time
winning approval in New
York City and within the
state as well is that some
maintain that such a contractual
relationship violates
state Department of Education
laws, which prevent the
unlicensed practice of design
services. The state Ed Department
licenses architects.
The new regulation, however,
addresses that and requires
that all design-related
documents be vetted and approved
by licensed professionals.
New York City officials
have been asking state lawmakers
for the ability to use
the design-build method for
some time now, claiming
that it can shave a significant
amount of time and money
from their project budgets.
The city’s DOT said that allowing
the delivery method
to be used on just one project
— the rehabilitation of the
Brooklyn Queens Expressway
— could save