By Kalin Krohe
Panhandle Post

At the regular Alliance City Council meeting on Tuesday night, council members approved Denver Air Connection as the city’s air service provider. Denver Air Connection will provide flights under a two year contract. Boutique Air is the current provider.

Alliance Airport Manager Lynn Placek said, “We received two bids from two different airlines (Boutique Air and Denver Air Connection). Each airline was evaluated based on interviews and questions we asked them. The top two priorities for Alliance are reliability and price. It is accurate that Boutique has a high completion rate and so does Denver Air Connection. I looked at stats from 2018 with only three canceled flights from Denver Air Connection where Boutique had 56.

“The next most important thing is people want to be able to get to their connections to Denver on time. We looked at stats for the year for Denver Air Connection, they operated a 94.95% on time rate. They had 58 delays in 2018. Boutique has a 70.58% on time rate from Alliance to Denver and 55.96% from Denver to Alliance. They had 444 delays. There’s been many times sitting at the terminal where people are waiting. I have witnessed people having to call and change their flights”, Placek said.

Councilwoman Annora Bentley asked Placek to talk about the difference between aircraft used on Boutique Air and Denver Air Connection. Placek said, Boutique is flying in an eight seat plane with a single engine. Denver Air’s craft has 19 seats, but will take out 10 seats to help with more leg room. They will have two engines. Both companies operate under the same certification.

Alliance City Manger Rick Kuckkahn was on the committee in helping recommend an air service provider for Alliance. “As a committee member, what struck me and impressed me was the fact that Denver Air is a chosen carrier for the NCAA college teams,” Kuckkahn said.

Alliance Mayor Mike Dafney mentioned that Alliance’s morning flights with Boutique were not stand alone flights, and that they came out of Chadron. “If we go this other way with Denver Air Connection we will stand alone. Chadron’s airport isn’t anywhere close to ours especially when it comes to snow removal and de-icing. If Chadron gets up in the morning and needs to come down here and needs de-iced, they can’t do it. Our people are standing in the terminal waiting. This will take care of this,” said Dafney. Alliance’s airport does have de-icing capabilities on the runways. Both Alliance and Chadron have de-icing for their aircrafts.

In other business, the Point of Rock Chapter was in attendance for a proclamation for National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Week – Feb. 18 through 24.

Finance Director Randy Waggener presented the first quarter financial statement. Mayor Mike Dafney asked how the city’s finances are looking overall. Waggener said, “Stable, very good.  The City sales tax I think is amazing, we’ve probably reached the highest we’ve ever had. It’s over 2.5% higher than the previous calendar year. It’s at $1,971,602.”

A resolution was approved to have electrical lines placed in conduit and relocated at the Alliance Landfill for storm water improvement. That cost will total $167,605.

The Alliance Housing Authority requested a waiver of their payment in lieu of taxes requirement in the amount of $8,259.10.

Council members approved the City of Alliance to enter into an updated independent iontractor agreement for a golf course professional. The golf pro will continue to be Jackie Stevens.

There was a resolution that will authorize a grant application to the Civic and Community Center Finance Fund (CCCFF) for the renovation of the Alliance sunken gardens project. The grant is administered by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and would be for the preliminary planning.

The Alliance Police Department will be getting a Computer Aided System (CAD) and Record Management System (RMS). This will include installation, maintenance, and services. The purchase amount is $197,722. The APD will also be purchasing six bulletproof vests for officers using grant funds. The total amount for that is $4,200.

You can hear the full city council audio below.