Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 10/08/2020APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL RD COMMISSION MEMBERS: Chair: Bob Barker Vice Chair: Daniel Dorson Commissioners: Keith Tschohl Andy Kleinfehn Dave Rosa Kurt Schendel (Business Representative) Blaine Peterson (Airport Manager) STUDENT MEMBERS: Evelyn Hemler, Abshir Noor, Pranav Kartha, Yash Salunke, Jake Dorson COMMISSION STAFF: Scott Gerber, EP Fire Chief Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary MAC STAFF: Robert Dockery Jennifer Lewis I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Barker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Absent were commission member Kleinfehn, Rosa, Schendel, and student representatives Noor and Salunke. Additional individuals present were Brad Juffer, Manager of Community Relations for MAC, Michelle Ross, Assistant Manager, MAC Community Relations, and Joe Harris for MAC. Mr. Harris was sitting in for Blaine Peterson tonight due to overlapping meetings. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Dorson moved, seconded by Tschohl to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. WELCOME TO NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS Barker asked the student representatives to introduce themselves. The commission members introduced themselves. IV. PUBLIC COMMENTS None FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 8, 2020 Page 2 V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Tschohl moved, seconded by Dorson to approve the minutes of the July 9, 2020 meeting amended to change numbers to percentages in Item VII A on page one, a reattribution of a statement in Item VII A page three, the correct identification of the ATP school in Item VII D page five, and the correct attribution of the presentation to Tschohl in Item VIII B. Motion carried 4-0. VII. STANDING DISCUSSION ITEMS A. NOISE REPORT - MAC Ross presented the quarterly report. There were 9,492 complaints at Flying Cloud from 70 households, 58 of which were in Eden Prairie. That represented 82 percent more complaints than the same time last year. 1,351 complaints came in during the nighttime hours, as opposed to 388 this time last year. There were complaints from 38 nighttime households versus 30 households at this time in 2019. The top three households submitted 81 percent of the complaints, and the top five, 95 percent. There were 23,049 operations this quarter, 650 fewer than the same quarter last year. There were 781 nighttime operations, versus 1,015 operations during the same quarter in 2019. The weather showed a very typical weather pattern. There were also more households filing complaints than usual. Related to flight training, the outreach by Peterson and Lewis to flight schools was successful in bringing awareness to this issue. They also held a joint lunch- and-learn with the FAA Flight standards district office. Tschohl asked for and received confirmation this included input from community members and other interested parties. Barker asked for and received clarification there had been fewer operations yet more complaints and more households filing complaints. Tschohl noted there was always a certain percentage of complaints per type of operations—a resident could see an airplane and file a complaint, whether or not that actual plane was involved. Ross agreed and added it could be difficult to know why someone was filing a complaint. There was a breakdown of the number of complaints by aircraft type this year as last year, but this year “unknown” types were added to this year’s breakdown. She definitely did see a relationship between the type of aircraft and the number of complaints. Gerber stated this report was similar to the one given the last time the commission met: similar groups making complaints but not a large number. Barker asked if there were new households making complaints, and Ross replied there were. There were 47 household complaints last year, but 70 this year. Ross FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 8, 2020 Page 3 displayed the complaint map and explained most came from households close to Flying Cloud airport. B. ORDINANCE 97 MONITORING – MAC Ross stated the monitoring of aircraft began at the beginning of July and ran through the middle of August. There were nine operations that potentially exceeded the 60,000-pound weight limit. Barker explained to the student representatives this was another metric to use to monitor airport traffic. This was an agreed-upon limit. C. AIRPORT INCIDENTS AND OPERATIONAL UPDATES – MAC Harris stated he was not aware of any incidents since July. It had been a very busy time at the airport, and physical takeoffs and landings were up and with higher tower counts. July set a 10-year record at over 14,000 operations, and operations were up 18.8 percent in July. As a whole, operations were up at Flying Cloud, probably due to an increase in leisure, recreation, training, and corporate jet traffic. In August there was construction, but even then, operations were up 3 percent compared to last year and there were over 12,000 operations. With construction having ended at the beginning of September, there was another spike in operations, up 23 percent over 2019. Juffer asked him to expand on the delta between the sound study and the tower counts. There are two separate systems for counting flight data. Harris replied a large tower count did not necessarily translate into more flights and landings; MSP would not show a lot of flights but would show higher tower counts due to circuits, et cetera, whereas a reliever airport like Flying Cloud would have a great many training flights, practice flights, et cetera. The MAC did a good job in capturing the extent of flights, but not takeoffs and landings. There were logarithms used to reconcile tower data with the MAC data to get a final count. Barker added the quarterly study was based on MAC’s data. Juffer stated the goal was to get as accurate a count as possible. Harris stated Flying Cloud ended the quarter up 14 percent compared to last year. The reliever system as a whole was up 4.2 percent and on its way to exceed total 2019 operations. Time would tell with good weather. There were between 752 and 784 operations at Flying Cloud the previous Friday. Barker asked if the staffing in Flying Cloud tower had been reduced and more ground staff was involved. Harris replied he was not aware of that at Flying Cloud. Crystal Airport in St. Paul had reduced both manpower and hours. Harris stated the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce had reached out to conduct a webinar with MAC. It was scheduled for Tuesday, October 13. Rick King, FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 8, 2020 Page 4 MAC Chairman, would give opening remarks, and Brian Ryks, CEO, would talk about Covid impacts, Peterson would give news on Flying Cloud. He offered to email the webinar information out to the Commission members. MAC would also be holding virtual lunches for MAC staff and other staff. He expected 50-60 people online. One would be held at Flying Cloud. This was a chance for businesses users to share their stories. There was a lot of investment at Flying Cloud. Five or six new hangars were going up. The south side of the field only had so much space available and was restricted until the tower was relocated. The new tenants were connected to Eden Prairie. A redevelopment investment at Flying Cloud was in the Airlift building. At the Foxtrot Hotel, the office with a hangar at back was being gutted and renovated. There were also exterior improvements and landscaping being done to raise the visibility of that building as people drive by Flying Cloud. This was being done by a philanthropist who was interested in inviting teachers at Eden Prairie High School, having students explore the airport and get credit. There were also a few businesses opening up at the airport. Another nationally- recognized flight school had been added with two or three airplanes. It had more students than it could accommodate, both recreation-focused and career-minded. There was a lot of growth in businesses at Flying Cloud and major hangar renovations to raise the profile with its market audience. Upgraded facilities were a must to attract clients and students. Harris added aesthetics ordinances such as Ordinance 112 started with this commission. Dorson asked how to raise the bar further, such as with electrical wiring underground along Pioneer Trail, more trees, perhaps a stand of trees between Gates G and H. Harris replied burying the wires was high on the list of priorities. He was not as familiar with the trees in that location. Barker replied Peterson was familiar with those projects. Dorson replied Wings moving in was an amenity that allowed the airport to keep the trees; development had not taken them. Gerber stated regarding the coordination and relationship MAC, airport staff, and tower staff, along with Police and Fire, there had been a couple in flight emergencies that all turned out fine. Eden Prairie was fortunate in these relationships and he wished this to continue in the future. Harris added there was a new tower manager and would have him (Tony) come and greet the commissioners. He commended the competence of City staff. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 8, 2020 Page 5 D. PRIMARY RELIEVER AIRPORTS VISIONARY STUDY - MAC Harris stated this report was on indefinite pause due to staffing, not due to funding. He advised keeping this item on the agenda. Tschohl asked what that meant for MAC for the Flying Cloud Comprehensive (Master) Plan Update. Harris replied that was also on pause. It was important to understand how MAC’s three reliever airports complemented each other. The question was how to staff and move forward with the visioning study. Anoka County staff were asking the same question. Tschohl asked what construction was happening. Harris replied there were minor paving issues and the relocating of a taxi lane. This was a 30-day project, and no problems were anticipated. There were no major projects at Flying Cloud next year. VIII. OLD BUSINESS A. AIRPORT TOUR Barker asked when the tower might be available. Harris could not give a date—it would be reopened when the pandemic was over. Even he could not visit it. Discussion followed on the possibility of a tour in vehicles. Harris replied there was U.S. Congressperson who was given such a tour and it was not fruitful. The group had to divvy up between vehicles. The Congressperson enjoyed it but the conversation piece was missing. Barker decided to keep this item on the agenda and revisit it in April, 2021. IX. NEW BUSINESS I. MAC FLIGHT TRACKER TUTORIAL This item was tabled. Dorson encouraged the commission and student members to visit the website. II. OVERVIEW OF COMMUNITY NOISE MEASUREMENT AND MODELING METHODS Gerber asked for and received confirmation the technical information was public information and could be attached to the minutes. Ross gave an overview of the document. The study was conducted between July 29 and August 4. There were 4,164 operations reported at the tower, 77 percent higher than the 2020 weekly average for Flying Cloud. Tower counts reflected every time aircraft used the runway. There were 2,008 arrivals FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 8, 2020 Page 6 and departures during the study week. The weather for this study week was desirable and activity was busy. She repeated the household complaints data. The actual sound study identified three capture areas. There were 1,919 aircraft sound events and 255 community sound events measured at the monitoring sites during the study week. These were broken out into single- event aircraft sounds, single-event aircraft sounds above 65 decibels (dBA) per hour, single-event aircraft sounds by level, aircraft and community single events per hour (SEL), aircraft and community DNL accumulations, and hourly average background sound levels. Harris explained the data modeling versus the sound monitoring concepts. Dorson stated is was interesting to look at the modeling in terms of the noise complaints. Barker thanked the guests for their presentation. III. FLYING CLOUD FIELDS LEASE WITH MAC Gerber stated City and MAC staff were working on a lease update for Flying Cloud fields. Barker added the ball and soccer fields were actually MAC property the City had historically leased from MAC. Gerber replied all of the fields were maintained by the City, but the use is with various sports associations. Staff has been involved in the discussion and City Council has been involved. Barker stated he welcomed Gerber’s final presentation at a later meeting. IX. UPCOMING EVENTS AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE FCAAC MEETINGS XI. ADJOURNMENT The next FCAAC meeting will be held on Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. in the Heritage Rooms. MOTION: Tschohl moved, seconded by Dorson to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 p.m.