Roy-el Catering to be new concessionaire at MidAmerica Airport

By September a food vendor may be serving food to passengers waiting to flyout of MidAmerica Airport.

The St. Clair County Public Building Commission on Thursday selected Roy-el Catering based in Belleville to provide concessions at MidAmerica Airport.

The small cafe to be called Roy-el on the Fly is expected to serve freshly made items such as sandwiches and salads, snacks, as well as beer and wine, said Commissioner Daniel Polites.

The business plans to be post security only serving ticketed passengers at first, with the possibility of growing into having a kiosk in front of the security checkpoint, Polites said.

“They’ve got a good game plan,” Polites said. “It’s not going to be a huge profit maker for the airport, but I think it’s going to be really nice. I think the community will welcome them.”

Airport officials are now set to negotiate a three-year agreement with Roy-el Catering, said Airport Director Tim Cantwell.

Marty Nungesser, one of the co-owners of Roy-el, said he hopes to have the cafe up and running by September.

Having the location at MidAmerica might help add name recognition for the company as most of the people who fly out of the airport are from the area, Nungesser said.

He added there is a lot of potential at the airport and having a food vendor will help make passengers’ waits more pleasurable.

“It’s a beautiful facility,” Nungesser said. “Hopefully our coming to the airport will help attract other potential flights and other business out at the airport.”

Other business

▪  Airport firefighting services: Commissioners approved a two-year extension with Pro-Tec Fire Services to provide aircraft rescue/firefighting, air operations services, airfield inspections, among other things, Cantwell said.

“It’s a great workforce,” Cantwell said. “They’ve been a great service provider for this.”

The estimated budget for this year for Pro-Tec is about $469,000. Increases of about $10,000 per year are planned each of the two years of the extension.

“They take care of their own payroll, their own health care and own benefit program,” Cantwell said.

▪  Increased airport fuel purchases: Commissioners approved buying more aircraft fuel for this year than originally planned. Airport officials initially budgeted $1 million worth of Jet-A fuel purchases, which the airport resells at retail prices. The airport expects to exceed the planned amount by the end of August.

Under the plan approved Thursday, MidAmerica Airport will purchase an additional $500,000 worth of Jet-A Fuel to resell to aircraft operators.

“Since aircraft operations at MidAmerica have increased over 2014 levels, there is a need to increase fuel purchase, to enable more fuel sales, for 2015,” according to a memo to PBC commissioners.

▪  Emergency generator planning: Commissioners approved a contract with BRiC Partnership Consulting Engineers for $33,000 to assist with planning for construction of a new generator at the courthouse in Belleville. When the new generator is constructed, it is estimated to cost $435,000.

Director of Buildings Jim Brede said it could be about four months before physical work on the project begins at the courthouse. Installation would take about a month to complete.

▪  Janitorial services: Commissioners approved a contract extension with Foley Chemical and Machine, Co. to handle janitorial services at county buildings.

The extension includes a 2 percent increase for the Caseyville-based company.

“It seems to be in line with other contracts people are asking for,” Brede said.

▪  Airport labor agreement: Commissioners did not vote on a union contract for MidAmerica Airport employees. The item was pulled from the agenda as the contract was not ready in a final form, said Interim Director of Administration Debra Moore.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 7:21 AM with the headline "Roy-el Catering to be new concessionaire at MidAmerica Airport."