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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 01/13/2022APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION TUESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2022 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL RD COMMISSION MEMBERS: Chair: Dan Dorson Vice Chair: Andy Kleinfehn Commissioners: Keith Tschohl Bob Barker Chilkunda Narendranath Michael Lawrence (Business Representative) Blaine Peterson (Airport Manager) STUDENT MEMBERS: Alec Aldrich, Max Johnson, Paawan Kathuria, Suchita Sah, Yash Salunke, Zuheb Ibrahim COMMISSION STAFF: Scott Gerber, EP Fire Chief Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary MAC STAFF: Jennifer Lewis, Robert Dockry I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Dorson called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Absent were commission members Narendranath, Tschohl, and Kleinfehn. Resident Kurt Laughton joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Lawrence moved, seconded by Barker to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. I. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Barker moved, seconded by Lawrence to approve the minutes of the October 14, 2021 meeting amended to correct Dorson’s name instead of Barker’s in Item III. Motion carried 4-0. II. PUBLIC COMMENTS Kurt Laughton, who had attended the July meeting, stated he came to see if progress had been made on the issue of airport noise. Dorson asked him where he lived in relation to Flying Cloud, and Laughton replied he lived to the west of the airport. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION January 13, 2022 Page 2 III. FOCUS TOPIC FOR THE MEETING a. Vocational opportunities in aviation, offerings at Flying Cloud Airport and beyond. Two presenters were invited to the meeting for information sharing. Salunke, Kathuria and Sah presented on the position of line service technician. Aldrich and Johnson presented on the position of aircraft maintenance technician for private aircraft. Ibrahim presented on the position of aircraft fueler. i. Josh Swanson, Eden Prairie School Superintendent Swanson displayed a PowerPoint and stated the school wished to turn student suggestions into Capstone courses that fulfilled the curriculum’s goals to inspire each student and provide interest pathways. One resource to leverage was the Flying Cloud Airport, which had such a large and positive effect on the economy of Eden Prairie. He found many intersections between aviation and the career fields and clusters. For example, middle school students designed and programmed their own drones, learned the qualifications and regulations, and explored possible careers. He stressed that authentic learning, student choice, application and prior and current learning, and collaboration with professionals in the field were essential elements of a Capstone activity. He added the school was seeking community partners to collaborate with the students as project partners, guest instructors and/or off-campus field experience hosts. Victor Johnson Rob Virgin were also willing to speak with professionals interested in providing these services. “EP Online” was also a possibility. This was an online learning environment available for anyone in Minnesota to register for if they met the eligibility requirements. Swanson stated there was no full-fledged aviation coursework at present, but he saw an opportunity to create one. He urged the students to ask for the education they wished to have in aviation. Salunke asked if Capstone projects were sponsored by companies or taught in schools, and Swanson replied they were not sponsored but given in partnership with companies. Salunke urged that there be a senior internship program to give real world experience. Swanson replied the curriculum’s pathways were for each student to have access to such opportunities. Dorson stated the commission would want to see Flying Cloud Airport benefiting the community and the schools. Barker asked if the curriculum developed by AOPA would also be available to the students. Swanson FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION January 13, 2022 Page 3 replied this aviation related curriculum was being evaluated , as well as the Red Bird curriculum pieces, as possible future student courseware. ii. FlyWise Aviation Nate Bruss and Christine Wetherell of the FlyWise Aviation Team introduced themselves: Christine Wetherell was the Director of Administration and Nate Bruss the Director of Business Development. FlyWise was an aircraft maintenance facility and learning center targeted to students and those seeking a mid-career change. It combined the required AMP certificate and year of training to better prepare for a career in aviation. They anticipated a pilot shortage as well as a lesser- publicized maintenance shortage, in particular Boeing 737 technicians. FlyWise offered four factors in their training: facility and equipment, team, process and procedure, and community partnerships. Steve Bruss, the President of Wings Insurance was the CEO of FlyWise. Anna Chadwick was the Director of Maintenance/Education. FlyWise would establish an FAA 145 Repair Station and offer a STEM based curriculum in line with the Eden Prairie school district. This would be a scenario-based training for critical thinking. It had created over 30 courses, along with job shadowing and modules. This was a two-year program with internship opportunities, although some of the coursework would be online so the actual program could be shorter. The timeline was to have the facility completed in the second quarter of 2022, with it open for maintenance in the third quarter and courses available in the fourth quarter. The commission was welcome to tour the facility once it was complete. VI. AIRPORT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR a. MAC presentation of Flying Cloud Airport Operator of 2021 Peterson announced Laura Hermann was the Flying Cloud Airport Operator of 2021. Laura was not able to attend. More presentation will occur at a future time. VII. STANDING DISCUSSION ITEMS A. NOISE REPORT – MAC Lewis presented the noise report. She had both year-end statistics and fourth quarter detail: FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION January 13, 2022 Page 4 There were 17,290 complaints in 2021, 28 percent fewer complaints than 2020. 2,309 were nighttime complaints, 37 percent fewer nighttime complaints than 2020. There were 118 households that complained, 18 percent more households than 2020, and 52 new households in 2021, which made up 4 percent of complains in 2021, when there were 50 new households in Eden Prairie. In the fourth quarter of 2021 there were 1,896 complaints from 51 locations, 302 of which were nighttime complaints from 35 households. In 2020 there were 6,215 complaints from 35 locations, and 1,015 nighttime complaints from 22 households. Lewis displayed a map of the households filing noise complaints 2020 and before (blue) and new households in 2021 (green). She displayed the FCM aircraft operations and complaints hourly summary. Barker reminded the commission of the switch from MACNOMS count data to more closely match tower count data in July of 2021. Lewis agreed it was a comparison of “apples and oranges” in the blue areas. This would be reflected in the following annual counts: 29,565 total operations and 755 nighttime operations in 2021, whereas there had been 17,527 total operations and 467 nighttime operations in 2020. There was no way to have a direct comparison of operations levels prior to July of 2021 and previous years. Now, every touch-and-go was its own track. The Aircraft Operations Trends showed a three-year monthly count of FAA and MACNOMS aircraft operations. The new data was more timely and more accurate, particularly at Flying Cloud. Barker noted this more accurate data reflected the impact on the community. Nighttime operations accounted for four percent of total operations. Again, turboprops and pistons accounted for the most noise complaints generated. There is a voluntary restriction on night flying starting at 10pm with flight schools needing nighttime training operations as early after dusk as possible. Pilots were requested to stop flight training in the pattern by midnight. Lewis stated the website had been updated. Reports were available at https://metroairports.org/ Menu item: Community Connection, then menu item: Noise Management then Interactive Reports She offered to take calls from residents with questions. Laughton stated from his perspective, just looking solely at complaints did not encompass the extent of the problem. He counted 40 flights in his neighborhood in one month and added that complaining was not easy—one was awakened and had to note time and document the incident. He urged the commission to look FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION January 13, 2022 Page 5 more at how many flights occur in a given time period. Barker stated the number of households was an important metric but acknowledged that figuring out the process for the first time was a higher threshold. Lewis agreed and added MAC was always looking at where households are located, in clusters or solitary. There were open lines of communication and she offered to speak with Laughton personally. Peterson stressed the importance of education for pilots. Dorson agreed with Laughton that some pilots were not complying with the honor system, and some operators don’t even know there is a voluntary nighttime restriction. Dorson noted, it would be represented as a success, if the commission finds more takeoffs occurring right at 7am, as this is the earliest takeoff just after the voluntary restrictions lifts daily. B. ORDINANCE 97 MONITORING – MAC Peterson reported that there were five violators in the fourth quarter of 2021, none of which were repeats. There were two bird strikes, thankfully with no damage. There were 13 bird strikes total for 2021. There were 20 deviations in 2021, 19 of which were pilot deviations and one which was a vehicle/pedestrian deviation. A Cessna 170 taxied off the runway 10R and struck a light, but no damage was done to the plane. There were two deviations in the final quarter of 2021. A pilot entered the airspace without clearance, left, and was later cleared to land upon request. This was followed up with a conversation with that pilot. C. AIRPORT INCIDENTS AND OPERATIONAL UPDATES – MAC Peterson reported 12,011 operations in October 2021 (down one percent), 9,429 in November (down one percent), and 8,064 December (down 13 percent). The unofficial total of operations in 2021 was 131,821. In 2020 it had been 124,382 total operations. There was no construction for 2022. This would be a planning year with some repairs and upgrades. The Air Expo would be held July 23 and 24, 2022. The Girls in Aviation Day would be held September 24, 2022. D. LONG TERM COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE - MAC Peterson stated there had been a kickoff meeting with HNTB and the contracted was signed in November. He would provide updates in the next quarter. The visionary study had been tabled. VIII. OLD BUSINESS FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION January 13, 2022 Page 6 a. City Council Workshop Presentation on Commission Work Plan for 2022 – January 18th Dorson said January 18, 2022 was the next City Council Workshop presentation with commissions. He and Kleinfehn would present. Barker asked if this was open to the public, and Gerber replied all workshops were open to the public and all commission members and student representatives were invited to attend. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. UPCOMING EVENTS AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE FCAAC MEETINGS Dorson urged the commission members to focus on appearance on Flying Cloud Airport and bring suggestions, photographs, et cetera, to the meeting in April. XI. ADJOURNMENT The next FCAAC meeting will be held on Thursday, April 14, 2022 at 7:00 p.m. in Heritage Room I. MOTION: Lawrence moved, Second by Barker to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m.