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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 07/11/2024APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY, JULY 11, 2024 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER 8080 MITCHELL RD COMMISSION MEMBERS: Chair: Dan Dorson Vice Chair: Marc Morhack Commissioners: Vinod Pillai Nick Rogers Warren Loken Laura Herrmann (Business Representative) Robert Dockry (Airport Manager) COMMISSION STAFF: Scott Gerber, Eden Prairie Fire Chief Kristin Harley, Recording Secretary MAC STAFF: Jennifer Lewis Carey Metcalfe Michele Ross I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTION OF NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS Chair Dorson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission member Loken arrived at 7:01 p.m. Eden Prairie resident Steve Clifton and journalist Justin Vossen joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Rogers moved, seconded by Morhack to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Rogers moved, seconded by Loken to approve the minutes of the April 11, 2024 minutes. Motion carried 7-0. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT V. FOCUS TOPICS FOR THE MEETING a) Consolidated list of Airport Appearance Improvements discussed at the previous meeting FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 2 Gerber displayed the list and Dorson explained the top 10 list derived two years ago from commission findings and the suggestions from student representatives: The public viewing area: Dockry explained the electrician was examining a way to bring power, additional benches, and landscaping to the public viewing area. The crew had been busy with the flood wall in Saint Paul until now. Dockry would update the commission in October. The FAA communication towers: Dorson stated these were not as attractive as other towers, and Dockry explained they were RCR towers, which facilitated communication between the control tower and the aircraft. He had submitted the maintenance request to the FAA to have them raised to improve line-of-sight and improved. He could not say where the request was in the process and would update the commission later. The FlyWise building: Dorson explained this now showed significant improvement. The view of Flying Cloud Airport along Pioneer Trail: Dockry explained the broken electrical box was unsightly and Xcel Energy was responsible for that. Dockry had brought it to their attention and they were improving the power line area. He would give an update in October. Inflight Aviation: Dorson stated this showed significant improvement. The blue airport sign at the corner of Pioneer and Flying Cloud Drive: Dockry stated there was an inventory of signs being taken at all six reliever airports and all signs would be updated at all airports as part of a capital improvement project. A monument sign could also be added. Executive Aviation: Dorson stated this showed improvement. Hangar 5: Dorson noted the refuse had been cleared out. Dockry replied this was a private hangar, and making improvements difficult to enforce. AV8 Modern Aviation: Dorson stated the sign was broken. Dockry replied he was sure the sign had been replaced, and would confirm this. He noted that signage was part of Flying Cloud Ordinances too. He tried to communicate this with the commercial operators. There were hangar owners who might want to demolish and rebuild in the next year, but this was a difficult area of the airport to change due to sightlines and the taxiway, but many owners wished to make improvements. The view from Spring Road: Dorson stated he had received positive comments regarding the significant improvements made which resulted in a more pleasant drive. Dockry replied staff had dealt with unhoused people in the area. J-barriers FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 3 with a chain had been installed, more the idea of installing a permanent gate and fence with access for fire and police, and making the area more attractive. Herrmann stated the street signs around her hangar looked attractive and professional. This would not be obvious to the public but was appreciated by the pilots and increased their safety. Dockry stated he utilized cloud designation (Aurora for the north service road, Verizon for the south services road, and Cumulus for the road around the control tower, etc.) for names, but he was limited by the use of cloud names in the City of Eden Prairie as well. He commended Chief Rivers’ team for the installation. Dorson summarized the improvements and asked for more comments. Dockry replied that staff winter vacations, rain and flood wall work delayed some improvements. VI. STANDING DISCUSSION ITEMS a. NOISE REPORT – MAC Lewis presented the noise report. She explained for the guests in attendance the second quarter report she had distributed and the flight tracking system reports available at MetroAirports.org. In the second quarter of 2012, Flying Cloud Airport had 14.3 percent of complaints in the MAC reliever airport system and 35.3 percent of this system’s operations during this quarter. There had been 1,385 complaints from 44 households, with 274 nighttime complaints from 28 households in the second quarter of 2024. In 2023, there had been 1,097 complaints from 56 locations and 215 nighttime complaints from 35 households. That yielded more complaints from fewer households in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the second quarter of 2023. There was generally a lull in complaints in the winter months, then an increase in April, with May, June and July reflecting more operations and more residents spending time outside, or inside with windows open, contributing to higher levels of complaints. Compared to last year, 2024 was an improvement. January through June saw a 20 to 50 percent increase in complaints annually over the years 2020-2023, but in 2024 there was only a 5 percent increase in complaints January through June. There was, however, also a decrease in operations in 2024 by 23 percent and a 30 percent decrease in nighttime operations. Comparing month-by-month over the past three years, complaints in May and June in 2024 were higher compared to last year, but was lower in operations compared to last year. However, February, as well as January, showed a high level of complaints, which was unusual, but probably due to the warm weather. There was also an increase in operations in February 2024 compared to last year. However, overall the FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 4 complaints she was hearing were directly related to flight training, especially at the Halo (?) runway. There were complaints to the northwest, northeast and southeast of the airport and one complaint in Savage. Generally complaints were about operations between the 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. hour. Herrmann asked if these household complaints were from new or longtime residents, and Lewis replied two households were fairly new, having moved to Eden Prairie in the past year. She did not know the answer for all households who complained. Morhack asked if the 44 households were each generating 30 complaints to create the over 13,000 complaints. Lewis replied for this quarter three households generated 70 percent of the complaints, both daytime and nighttime. Most daytime complaints were early mornings or evenings, 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., on Saturday mornings, et cetera. She offered to do a more in-depth analysis. Dorson noted operations were down this quarter probably due to rain, since generally training required fair weather. Lewis agreed. She stated she and Dockry were coordinating visits with the flight schools to remind them of best practices and aid understanding. There was a new tool called the Fly Neighborly Guide and Fly Neighborly Zone and she would meet with the flights schools to find out if they were using this information and if not, what would be helpful. She had met with Aviate Flight School, with whom she had a cooperative relationship, and she talked with flight instructors. She regular spoke with them. There was nothing scheduled yet with the other flight schools but this would be scheduled soon and Dorson was invited to attend. Loken also requested to go along. Dockry stated he would be sending out quarterly emails to operators regarding noise abatement resources and would schedule a tour. Rogers asked is the complaints could be isolated against errant behavior. Lewis replied they were correlated with specific operations as much as possible, and she looked at the flight track, and also the FAA had an air traffic control tower that she might contact. Rogers stated he would like to see the data that could isolate certain behaviors. He suggested flying students could be told to consider early morning flights more sensitively. Dorson replied the students could not be requested not to fly in the morning, but multiple touch-and-goes could be avoided. Herrmann suggested that, with the rapid turnover of instructors, there be a short video provided from the flight deck series that was made a part of each new flight instructors orientation. Lewis and Dorson agreed this would be a good idea. Dockry commended the idea and stated he would make the request that this be required. Steve Clifton asked for and received confirmation that the household in Savage that complained could know from the flight tracker the operation was a part of Flying Cloud Airport. Lewis stated people sometimes used the flight tracker to lodge a complaint and this particular flight generating the complaint was a jet arrival. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 5 Morhack asked for and received confirmation a “new household” meant a household that had never before made a complaint. b. ORDINANCE 97 MONITORING – MAC Dockry stated there was a slight uptick in violations in the second quarter. There were no runway issues, however there 16 violations of the 60,000-pound-ordinance weight limit from eight different operators. Letters would be sent out soon. He would continue to call the operators as well, and to remind the FBOs. Loken asked why the penalty could not be more severe. Dockry replied er the final agreement there was the ability to cite them with a misdemeanor, but who to cite was the question: the pilot, the operator, the CEO on the plane, et cetera? He added he usually had good results with the letters. Five or six operators would not return to Flying Cloud, and the rest would. Many were corporations based in Eden Prairie. Dorson asked if it would be possible to modernize or update the fleet to something allowed at Flying Cloud. He noted, however, that some of the loudest planes were not the largest ones. Dockry replied many operators do their due diligence and call first, and when told they cannot land at Flying Cloud, do not land there. Dorson asked for and received confirmation there were more jet operations overall. Loken asked why. Dockry replied the flight plans went to the FAA, and federal law could not prohibit such landings. The FBO should enforce the Ordinance, yet pilots are allowed to land per federal law, whereas this Ordinance was a local restriction. Morhack asked if repeat offenders reported to the same FBO. Dockry could not say so but assumed they were. Morhack suggested putting pressure on FBOs not to service violators. Dockry replied he was not sure the airport could deny fuel in light of fuel rights. Rogers asked if the offender could be cited in a subsequent letter. Dockry replied the misdemeanor was spelled out in the letter. He offered to share the letter with the commission and added word often got out in the flight community that certain operators received multiple letters. Dorson stressed balanced, creative solutions. The Flying Cloud Airport’s Final Agreement was upheld by the commission. Dockry added this was a delicate area requiring a balance as to how far to push citations, as it could raise issues that go to the federal level. With an airport of the size of Flying Cloud, 16 violations was not much in comparison. Rogers requested data tracking showing the total number of repeat offenders and letters. Dockry agreed to share this. Herrmann asked how Flying Cloud Airport compared with other airports, and Dockry and Dorson explained this Ordinance 97 FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 6 Final Agreement was unique to Flying Cloud Airport. Aircraft over 60,000 pounds were directed to the other reliever airports. c. AIRPORT INCIDENTS AND OPERATIONAL UPDATES – MAC Dockry stated there had been four runway incursions, two being the same instance: a plane taxiing burst through from the north side and was instructed to wait. Another was a vehicle got into the airport piggybacking through the gate on an employee, apparently trying to get to Premier Jet Center for a flight, which the violator missed. Tuesday night, police reserve officers had been at the airport for training to improve the patrol effort. He had hired a new employee for the weekend shift at Flying Cloud, formerly line manager at Premier Jet Center, Kaden Roundnee (?) Girls Aviation Day was set for September 21. There would be a C-130 for display along with a Delta CRJ. This was a free event, and all children 8 years and up were welcome. The City’s police and fire personnel would be there, too. The Air Expo was delayed this year. His crew had put up the deployable flood wall in St. Paul to contain flooding. He offered to bring the drone video to the commission. The flood wall was taken down this week. Construction: The hangar door was demolished at the Executive and the MAC maintenance hangar and a new overhead door was installed. Pavement would be installed July 22 at the Executive and MAC maintenance building. Romeo Lane connector would be connected to Fullback (?) Lane to maintain access. The cracked ceiling would be repaired sometime in August, and the airport shut down/ Runways would be painted also. Herrmann asked if the commission members received the newsletter. Dockry asked for email addresses to send out the newsletter. d. LONG TERM COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE – MAC Dockry stated this was on hold at present. The proposal had been submitted for the extension to connect the north and south parallels, preventing the need to cross the runway twice. Michele Lee stated everyone would receive advance notice for public and stakeholders reviews. OLD BUSINESS Dorson gave a recap of the May 23 tour of the Flying Cloud Airport. Gerber displayed the slide with photographs and Dorson described the tour of the facilities. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION July 11, 2024 Page 7 Morhack suggested a comparison tour of MSP tower. Dockry stated he could set up a tour. VII. NEW BUSINESS Dorson stated there would be a Flying Cloud tour in October, and possibly an MSP tour as well, for the students. Dorson stated he and Lokken would join Lewis as she met with ATP and Inflight schools. He also suggested Herrmann go along. Gerber cautioned that the commission not violate the open meeting law. Dorson stated a new goal of the commission would be to provide by winter 2024 a video of best practices of flying in the Eden Prairie residential area to the students of the flight schools. IX. UPCOMING EVENTS AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE FCAAC MEETINGS Dockry suggested adding the Operator of the Year Award to the agenda for the next meeting. X. ADJOURNMENT The next FCAAC meeting will be held on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 7:00 p.m. in Heritage Room I. MOTION: Morhack moved, seconded by Herrmann to adjourn. Motion carried 7- 0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:01 p.m.