 Welcome to Sheboygan County government working for you. My name is Adam Payne, County Administrator and co-host of this program with Chairman Tom Wagner. And as you know, every month we strive to focus on a different department, some different roles and responsibilities of county government. And today we have a new face in front of us, Matt Grenoble, our new airport superintendent, airport manager. He goes by a number of good titles. Matt, welcome. Thank you. I think Matt started, has it been two, three months? How long has it been? Five months. Five months, how time flies. And I know Matt is really in the thick of things out at the airport. We were just meeting with Greg Schnell, our transportation director before this program. And Greg was sharing how busy Matt is. And again, a lot of good things happening, including preparations for the Ryder Cup and looking to improve upon the airport. So Matt, let's start with just sharing a little bit about yourself. Give our viewers a little flavor for who Matt Grenoble is. Yeah, so I was born and raised in Virginia, a little bit far from home, but I've kind of been bouncing around all over the country. My initial career path was to be a commercial pilot. I worked my way up through the rankings, got all my licenses and ratings to pursue that career. Got an undergraduate degree at Raffer University in Virginia. And after college, got a job working for a company in Florida. I was flying, worked my way up to be a co-pilot in the Learjet. I started doing that for a little bit and realized that while I still love aviation, I did not enjoy the career aspect of being a pilot. It is a fantastic career, but it just wasn't for me. So I decided to go back to school, get a master's degree in aviation safety and aviation management and started down the path of airport management with the ultimate goal of being an airport manager. So that led me out west to an internship in Utah and working in a Washington state at a couple of different airports. And then met my wife, got married out there and she's from Chicago. We wanted to move back closer to family before settling down and having kids. So we've got jobs out here in the area, the Milwaukee area. She works at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. And I was working at Waukesha County Airport for the last six years until October of last year. So Virginia, Chicago, we're bringing good people to Sheboygan County. Definitely. And I know I first heard of you in your track record because of Waukesha County and the excellent job they do running the airport there. And so we were so tickled to see you join us here in Sheboygan County. I can't believe it's been five months already. It's been a whirlwind. What's been your first impression of the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport and how would you describe it to folks? First impression is, I've known about the airport, I've visited the airport before, I got the job. So I always saw it as a great little airport but would potentially love to manage one day. And so it has a lot going on already and it has a tremendous, a lot of potential for future growth and I have a fantastic team, fantastic leadership with the county. So it's been really a great fit for me. And I get a kick out how you describe that. A great little airport that's in the grand scheme of things across the country. It is a rather small airport, but we know it's pretty busy, pretty active. Just what is the size and scope of the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport? Yeah, in actual, we are considered a large general aviation airport. So that means we do not have any commercial services. It's all private aircraft that come and go. It has a public use airport, it's open 24-7. As far as size-wise, we have about 760 acres. We have two runways, one being 6,800 feet long. And the secondary runaway is 5,000 feet long. Have about 80 tenants on the field. And we do about 40,000 operations a year as a take-offs and landings. Years ago, it used to be a standalone department and just like many areas throughout Sheboygan County, we consolidated it as part of the transportation department. Obviously, you're a division of the transportation department and a very important one. Yet, as you said, strong staff, good staff, but a small division. Give our viewers a flavor for the scope. How many staff do you have? What's your annual operating budget? So we have three full-time staff, including myself, and we have one part-time member. Our budget is about $460,000 a year and we're taking about $200,000 in tax levy. And you may have reviewed a report more recently than I, but if memory serves, hasn't the state periodically done assessments or cost-benefit reviews? And it's like for every dollar we put in, we get about 25 or 27 back to the local economy or something along those lines. It sounds about right. The number that I saw was $26 million economic impact or output to the community. So it's really significant. We support over 80 jobs just at the airport alone. So we have tax levy from our taxes that are generated by our tenants. So we have a tremendous impact on the local community. And of that $407,000 budget, I think about $250 property tax levy. So it's just a tremendous value for our community. I mean, the economic impact obviously is huge and it's supporting some really successful companies. Correct. So obviously you and your staff don't do everything out there. We have a fixed-based operator. Describe the role of a fixed-based operator. So a fixed-based operator, you think of them like a full-service gas station for private aircraft. They provide everything from aircraft fuel. That's their big thing that they sell and provide. But they also provide services such as rental cars, catering, they can coordinate catering service for aircraft that come and go. They can provide overnight storage for aircraft either tie-downs or in their heated hangers. So they really handle, they're kind of the face of the airport when someone comes and goes if they're not based at the airport. They typically go straight to the fixed-based operator for services. So they are a key partner with the airport and providing those services. So they're providing direct services to folks who are flying in and out and the tenants there. And what would you say are the predominant responsibilities of you and your staff? Our responsibilities are to ensure that the airport is safe, modern, and efficient for our air travelers and our customers and our tenants. So safety is key, obviously, in ensuring that the airport is safe with our runways and taxways are always safe and well-maintained. Yeah, ranges from snow removal to repairing fences to wildlife abatement. Exactly, you name it. We have to wear a lot of different hats, all of us at the airport, especially with such a small staff. It's not unlikely to see me out there in my ready clothes helping the guys out or something if I need be. So we definitely have our hands full. It's a good team and a 24-7 operation. Just how busy is the airport? About how many flights are coming and going on a daily or weekly basis? The average daily is around 200 takeoffs and landings a day. In the wintertime, that's obviously less. In the summertime, it's more. So, but the average is about 200 per day and it comes out to around 40,000, between 40 and 50,000 takeoffs and landings a year. And that's quite a number, right? I've often thought that our airport, some people I don't think have ever been out there and certainly a lot of people I think don't fully appreciate just how busy that little airport is, right? I mean, a lot going on out there. Wonderful. What are you finding with wildlife abatement right now with deer or turkeys, geese? I know from time to time, you have to take care of some problems out there. Yeah, exactly. We have a fence that surrounds the whole airport that really helps keep the deer out. But sometimes they do make their way in one way or another if it's a gate that's left open or something. But the birds, obviously it's hard to control, stop them from coming. We have employee, a various number of tactics, habitat modification to try to eliminate the water sources for the waterfowl, especially the geese and the ducks. But also a few years ago, the airport acquired a system of remote bird cannons is what they call them. It's propane-powered, you know, gun that sounds, all it does is it make a sound. It sounds like a gun going off. And it's a really fancy system. It works really well. There's a flock of geese on the runway. Even the FBO has the ability to press the button and fire off these bird cannons and it scares the birds away. It's been a fantastic tool. But then also the staff members have pyrotechnics they can shoot at the wildlife to scare them off. Obviously our first goal is to scare them off peacefully, essentially. Right, right. Yeah, well you and your team do an excellent job, I think over the last 20 years it's been far and few between, but I know every now and then a deer needs to be taken out or you have to do something to make sure we protect the airplanes and most importantly the people in them. So final question before I turn it over to Chairman Wagner, give our viewers a flavor for the type of tenants that we have out there, you know? Who's utilizing the airport and what's the breadth of that utilization? Yeah, so the heart and soul of the airport is really our small general aviation community. You know, we have about 40 private hangers that house smaller, you know, piston propeller driven aircraft. And, you know, there's a lot of flight training at the airport as well. We have a great flying club, a plug and flying club that provides flight training for new pilots. But we also have several industry or commercial, or corporation, corporate tenants at the airport as well. And then we have two commercial operators the FBO, a fixed based operator, and as well as a aircraft maintenance shop or the aviation. Yeah. And if you're not familiar with where the Sheboygan County Airport is, it's right off of TT, right? Highway 23 in TT and it's worth taking a look. It doesn't take long to drive through, but I think if you've never been out there, you're gonna be impressed. Yeah, thank you, Matt. Nice overview. Tom. Thank you, Adam. Welcome, Matt. Thank you. Besides being responsible for the upkeep and maintenance, you're also involved in some capital improvements out there. Where are you at with that? So some of the capital improvements we've been having the last few years, we had the previous last capital projects included a rehabilitation of our taxiways, or one of the taxiways, taxiway Bravo, as well as a rehabilitation of our main terminal ramp, which was completed last year. Some of the pavement was reaching the end of its useful life. And so that was rehabilitated. Obviously we wanted to get that done before the Ryder Cup, so we expect a heavy load of traffic. So those are the last two projects we have this year. We have starting a plan for connecting one of our taxiways. Again, Taxway Bravo that currently partially parallels one of our runways. And right now the plan is to actually connect those two. So it's a full parallel taxiway. So we're gonna start planning that project this year and then start construction next year on that. We're also gonna be acquiring a new piece of snow removal equipment this year. We have a current tractor that's reached the end of its useful life. And so we're looking to get another multi-use tractor that can be used during the winter time for snow or blowing the snow. And also Brooming has a big Broom on the front that I'll be able to utilize, but also using it in the summertime for mowing. Because you can't use salt or other type of snow or move out there, right? Because when I fly commercially and I'm out in Mitchell or someplace like that, you never see anything like that. They're always just having the snowblower or whatever. I assume that would be, go ahead. Yeah, and I'm sorry, we cannot use salt, unfortunately, it is inexpensive and effective, however it is very corrosive. There are chemicals that are out there to use. And that's what we do use a liquid de-ice chemical. We'll use it sparingly because of the expense on it. But if we need to use it, if it's really icy, it is very effective. So we do utilize that, but typically we use to plow the snow broom and the snowblowers to clear the runways and all the surfaces. Yeah, okay, thank you. You talked about some of the recent improvements in that and who has some of the oversight over? Who do you report to, you report to Adam, obviously, but who else do you engage with as far as that? Yeah, so we have an airport advisory committee that's made up primarily of airport tenants, but also local community leaders. And what we meet and discuss, we'll talk about any future projects or current projects or any issues going on and update the committee on that. And then it gives them a great opportunity to give us the feedback on any of the issues or concerns they may have. When it comes to planning any projects, we really rely heavily on the committee and our community as a whole to give us the feedback for it to help us with planning this. And since we're all in this together, we wanna make sure that we see address everyone's needs. So that committee is really highly valuable for us. And then we also report to the transportation committee and they're responsible for setting the airport policy. They also approve our leases, provide recommendations on their airport leases, approve the budget every year. Any ordinances that we may have to put forward. Right. Yeah, this will be your first year in the budget then. Already starting, we kinda do budget year-round now, I think almost, you know, everybody's thinking ahead. So you talked about some of the more recent improvements completed at the airport. What do you think in the next five years that you're gonna be looking at if you could share some of that? Yeah, and one of the big, large improvements that didn't touch base yet on is the big ones, the customs project that's going on right now. But then also after the taxiway connection of Taxway Bravo and the equipment acquisition, you know, I've been told that we don't have any major projects in the work. So that's gonna be a big part of my job now is to start planning that next five to 10 years out. You already have some projects in mind that, you know, we have some drainage issues on the airfield that very well could turn into a large capital project and to, again, modify that habitat to avoid, to mitigate the wildlife coming in. So I'm walking in a little bit with a blank slate, you know, in a sense, once we get these next couple projects out of the way, which is really exciting for me. Sure. Could you talk a little bit about the customs in the Welcome Center? Yeah. Because that's a big project for Sherbrooke County. Yeah, so the customs and general aviation terminal facility, it's gonna be joint facilities. So one half of the building will be for U.S. Customs to aircraft flying in from overseas can fly directly into the airport and clear customs there, here. And then the other half of the building will be for airport administration, and then there'll be a part that's a general, you know, basically used for general aviation traffic that may need just to come in. If they don't require any services from an FBO, they don't need any fuel, they can come into that facility, use the restroom, do some flight planning, and go on that way. It began construction in December. I was looking to open, be wrapping up in June and hoping to open by August 1st, and then obviously be in full operations by the Ryder Cup. Right. And the Kohler Company is, of course, supporting the county, and especially in the customs area with some financial support over the years, which makes a difference. And correct me if I'm wrong, because I've talked to some people on this. There isn't gonna be customs out there. There aren't gonna be staff 24-7 out there waiting for the planes to come in, right? Correct. It'll be, they'll have set hours. We haven't fully set those hours yet, but there will be basically 40 hours a week, Monday through Friday. But they will be available to come out on the weekends if somebody calls ahead of time and sets it on. Yeah, kinda on call, right? Correct. Yeah, good. So you talked a little bit about the economic benefits of the airport, 26, 27 million dollars. Can you, do you have any specific relative to that? Obviously it generates a lot of money, the income, the taxes that the people work there all generate, anything else you wanna share with that? Yeah, I mean, the fuel sales generate revenue from our base tenants, but also that the aircraft, the transit aircraft that come in, they come in and usually fuel up, generate and revenue. The, we have the leases, the ground, the anyone that builds a hangar at our airport, they lease the land from us, and they build the hangar with their own funding. So we get that lease revenue on an annual basis. But also the, we're a great spot for training the next generation of pilots. We have a terrible pilot shortage in the industry, and so having a place for light train is really important. And also medical flights, we get medical flights and medical emergency flights, timely flies in, law enforcement flights. So the airport can, has a huge benefit to the community. Yeah, thank you. I think one of the things you said that I think will stand out to people who aren't that familiar with the airport is 200 landings and take offs a day. I think that's a shocking number to a lot of people that is that busy, right? I mean, that tells you something. So thanks, Matt. Thank you, Tom. As our viewers get a flavor for all the things that happen at the airport, you know what I found remarkable over the years is just all the growth, all the infrastructure, all the investment. And it's been one of the better collaborative opportunities we've had because generally speaking, for every $10 we put in, we get 90 or thereabouts from the state. I mean, it's really been a good relationship to touch on that a little bit. How does that work? Yeah, some projects are eligible for federal funding, depending on the size, scope, location of the project. The FAA for these larger capital projects will chip in 90% of the project, and then the state will chip in an extra 5%, leaving only 5% for the county to pick up, which is an amazing deal. Amazing. So if it's not funded by the, if it's not a federally eligible project, it could be eligible through the state as well. You know, we could get a 50-50 split with the state or an 80%, 20% split, or some projects are even funded 100% by the state. They've been fantastic partners, so we've been really lucky to have a great state Bureau of Aeronautics as well as the federal aviation administration's offices nearby, so. And the Bureau of Aeronautics is part of the state Department of Transportation, who not only is helping us make good things happen at the airport, but is now expanding Highway 23, and the county board invested the 1.5% sales tax into our transportation system so we can more fiscally, responsibly maintain our transportation system, sustainable revenue source. I mean, when we talk about the area of transportation in Sheboygan County of our 19 departments, right now I would have to say this is one of our strongest areas of sustainability because of the good relationships we have with the state, as well as the fact that the board's really made an investment to make sure we're taking care of our transportation system. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. I think you're gonna bring tremendous vision and new energy to our airport, continue to improve upon it, and back to the customs facility. I mean, there again is another example. Tom and I both heard some people in the community say, well, how much is the county spending on that? And here the state is picking up half the cost. Coal or company is picking up the operational costs of the U.S. Custom Facility with user fees and time to cover that. And staff like you are getting finally a really nice area to report to because of course your office and where your staff are currently in, that's a pretty tired space. Yeah, it is. Yeah, so nice work with that. Thank you. We just came from a meeting talking about the rider and little do people know in this community all the behind the scenes planning that goes into the rider cup coming up here in September. You talked about the customs facility needing to be up and running by the rider cup. You seem to hear that a lot. Share with our viewers some of the initiatives, some of the planning that you're part of to prepare for the rider cup. Yeah, there's a lot of moving pieces. We've been working with a lot of different entities as are everyone else as part of this whole event. We've been working very closely with the Bureau of Aeronautics as well as the FAA. Obviously we're gonna have a very large increase in traffic that week. And normally we're not a controlled airport. We do not have a controlled tower. However, that week we expect to have so much traffic we are getting a temporary control tower into the airport. And it's the same thing happened through the previous PGA events. And so it's nice we have a good template already for how that operates and parking plans and such. So it's just working with those two entities as well as our local partners or the FBO. It's really important that we work closely with them on parking plans. And so now we have this new piece of the puzzle that the customs facility. So it's a lot going on, but that everyone has been ready and willing to jump in and help out where needed. It's been a really good planning process so far. You're gonna have helicopters coming and going, aren't you? Yes, yeah, that's the plan. You'll see quite a bit of helicopter traffic. It'll be people can fly into the airport to Sheboygan and then take a helicopter directly from the airport to the golf course. So we're working out the logistics with them shortly. And to your point earlier, we do get some revenue from fuel sales. Obviously that helps immensely the main provider, the FBO, but we get some revenue as well. And the more revenue we get from fuel sales or for tenants leases, the less pressure we put on the property taxpayer, which is a good thing. Exactly, yeah. I know I can speak if you don't mind for the county board. What we like is especially those 90% federal support, 10% or 95 counting the state in their 5% level. Those are a wonderful relationship. We just love to expand it to other areas, but we understand that's what works. Yeah, exactly. It is definitely a really great thing we have with them. You also touched on earlier the security at the airport. And of course that's an area over the last decade that has gotten so much attention, whether it's the airport, whether it's the security enhancements we recently put in our courthouse. Please touch on what are some of the security, what kind of security is at the airport now and where do you see that being further enhanced in the future? We have a perimeter fence, like I said earlier on that surrounds the whole airport. And most of that perimeter fence has barbed wire at the top as well. And we have vehicle gates, all of our access gates are locked, most of them are locked with padlock. But then we have quite a few that are also automated gates that you would need a key fob or a card to gain access through. We maintain that system. So if anyone tenants or employees, anyone needs access, they come to us to get that key fob and we enter them to a system and get that to them. We also have cameras that are stationed at the gates and other various parts of the airport. And part of the customs project is to upgrade that camera system. Some of those cameras are aging and in need of replacement. So that's another big part of the project is upgrading that system. And finally, in the last few minutes we have, and this may be the one event that people do recognize when it comes to our Memorial Airport, that's the Wings and Wheels event. And I know Matt, this is a little unfair for you because you haven't been here for that yet, but certainly you'll be a part of that planning coming this summer. What can you share about Wings and Wheels and that upcoming activity and what is it all about? Yeah, Wings and Wheels is a fantastic event held every year. It's put on by the local chapter of the EAA. It is a free event. It's on Father's Day every single year. It features at least 70, I think over 70 vintage cars as well as over 30 vintage aircraft. There's a pancake breakfast in the morning and from what I understand, they also have model trains and also helicopter rides. So it's an absolutely fantastic family event. I definitely plan to bring my whole family out to attend and really looking forward to it and I look forward to working with the EAA chapter on planning and so. I've been to some events out there and it was amazing how many people from the community come out for that event. It's really well done. The Aviation Heritage Center, I think also supports that. Correct. They have a nice building there. What have you learned about the Aviation Heritage Center and how does that further add to the value of our airport? Yeah, they're a great organization. We've been working very closely with them, obviously with the customs building going up right next to them. We have some good impacts to them but we've been working hand in hand with them on the project as well as any other events going on at the airport. So they've been great partners. We get people that fly in just to come to the Heritage Center. So it is an absolutely great resource at the airport. And not every airport has something like this. It's really a gem. I like the history component that it shares, the background there, as well as I think they rent out their facility for special events. Yes, they do, yeah. So if you're looking for a venue or a public meeting or even a family reunion or a wedding. Yeah, they have certain limitations on how many people they can hold out there but it's a nice venue. Exactly, yeah. Well, Matt, thank you so much for your time. You covered a lot of ground in 30 minutes. If you have any questions for Matt or anything on our transportation system, certainly don't hesitate to stop out at the airport. Don't hesitate to contact your county board supervisor or Chairman Tom Wagner or myself. I was glad to talk about transportation issues or areas where we can improve. Matt, we're glad to have you aboard. Thank you, I'm glad to be aboard. Yeah, it's just a pleasure to get to know you better and I can't believe how the time's flying. So thanks again. Next month, we're gonna turn the chairs a little bit here and the gentleman to my left, your right, is going to be in the hot seat. Chairman Tom Wagner is gonna be completing his fourth year as our county board chair and by county board rule ordinance, you can only serve two consecutive terms. So Tom's gonna be moving on as county board chair. We're glad he's gonna continue with the county board as a whole but we're gonna talk a little bit about the last four years and the really good initiatives, improvements that happened during Chairman Wagner's term. So I hope you'll join us. Until then, stay warm, stay set safe and we'll see you in a month.