Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 10/10/2024APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10, 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) STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Aditi Ginuga Bergen Papa Daniel Jiang Matthew Wiedman Patrick Anderson Sumaya Awale Seth Johnson Vincent Schulze 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 Chair Dorson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Commission members Loken and Pillai were absent. Eden Prairie residents Steve Clifton, George Lichty, Jarod Olson, Sumaya Awale, Brenda Briggs, Ryan Koch, and journalist Justin Vossen joined the meeting. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Morhack moved, seconded by Herrmann to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 10, 2024 Page 2 MOTION: Rogers moved, seconded by Morhack to approve the minutes of the July 11, 2024 minutes. Motion carried 4-0. IV. WELCOME NEW STUDENT COMMISSIONERS Dorson invited the student representatives to introduce themselves. Gerber stated this year there were so many candidates that all seniors were chosen this year. The commission members and explained their roles, and the student representatives introduced themselves and each gave a fact they knew about Flying Cloud Airport. Dorson explained for the student representatives the Final Agreement that formed the commission which collaborates with the Metropolitan Airport Commission (MAC). V. MAC OPERATOR OF THE YEAR PRESENTATION Dockry presented the award for MAC Operator of the Year to Avi8 Flight School for its facilities improvements and remodeling, noise abatement and outreach efforts. Three representatives spoke and thanked the commission: General manager George Lichty, accountant Brenda Briggs, and owner Ryan Koch accepted the award and thanked the commission members. Dorson stated when the Flying Cloud improvements were taking place the commission tasked the student representatives with taking before and after photographs, and he commended the improvements made by Avi8. Gerber also commended the school’s efforts at noise abatement and community impact. VI. PUBLIC COMMENT VII. STANDING DISCUSSION ITEMS a. NOISE REPORT – MAC Lewis presented the third quarter 2024 noise report. For the student representatives and guests she explained her role in noise abatement and public communication. She outlined the quarterly reports and explained they and the monthly reports were found on the website. 2,795 complaints for Flying Cloud in the third quarter 2024, compared to 1,812 complaints in the third quarter of 2023. 85 percent of the complaints received were from Eden Prairie households. There were not many new areas, but the new areas were concentrated in the north and east. Many complainants were neighbors in this quarter compared to last year. The highest concentration of complaints were in the west section under the flight paths. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 10, 2024 Page 3 Overall, she found five households have submitted 70 percent of the complaints for this quarter. Generally, the third quarter tended to be the busiest time and showed the highest complaint levels from year to year, though there was only a 3 percent increase in operations in this quarter compared to 2023. September was truly the only month that saw an increase in operations. The 2,795 complaints this quarter came from 63 locations, compared to 45 in the third quarter of 2023. There were 533 nighttime complaints from 36 households, compared to 395 nighttime complaints in the third quarter of 2023 from 23 households. Morhack asked if the nighttime complaints set out medical versus nonmedical flights. Lewis did not know but offered to find out. Lewis stated the busiest hours: overall, 9:00 a.m.; in January, 3:00 p.m.; in February, 3:00 p.m. and 10:00 a.m.; in March, 10:00 a.m.; April, May, June and July, 11:00 a.m.; August and September, 9:00 a.m. The 6:00 a.m. hour in terms of complaints was one of the top three hours for complaints in 2024; 8:00, 9:00, and 11:00 a.m. had the most complaints in 2023; and 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 a.m. had the most complaints in 2020 and 2021. Lewis stated many of the complaints were related to flight training during daytime hours. This was in fact the largest residential concern. She had had conversations with people living in the area less than a year, and with longtime residents who perceived more disruptions. There were more people working from home and some were also retired. Some residents were also unaware that the airport was open at night and of the medical operations. Herrmann asked about the were complaints from the Bloomington households and Lewis this was due to helicopter activity. Lewis explained the outreach process for the benefit of Koch. Lewis added she did not share the individual information on flights to residents but did share the map which was color-coded according to concentration of complaints. Residents often had specific suggestions for pilots, which was shared through pilot seminars rather than having a conversation with the specific pilot. Dockry added there had been an uptick of lower-flying aircraft, and stressed the importance of maintaining altitude. Gerber added he had received more calls with concerns during this quarter. He noted Lewis and her staff did an awesome job of responding to resident complaints. Many of the complaints were related to flight training, and schools were appreciative of this information, not always being aware of the disruption. Dialogue and guidance were key in coming to a resolution. There were 43,653 operations in the third quarter of 2024, compared to 42,493 in 2023. There were 2,490 nighttime operations during this quarter of 2024, compared to 2,332 in 2023. b. ORDINANCE 97 MONITORING – MAC FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 10, 2024 Page 4 Dockry stated two waivers were given out for the C-130 and CRJ700 at the Girls in Aviation event. There were 27 violations from 12 different operators in the third quarter of 2024. Dorson explained the Ordinance for the student representatives. c. AIRPORT INCIDENTS AND OPERATIONAL UPDATES – MAC Dockry stated there had been three runway incursions, two by pilot error, and one by a Door Dash driver. Delivering food piggybacked into the gate, waited for it to open in order to exit, then driver alpha 1-8 Executive Aviation stopped the driver. Had a meeting to solve this issues. Also spoke to the police department. Aircraft accident in Shakopee, local flight school, two pilots onboard, did a very good job of finding a safe, vacant space to land both pilots hospitalized but doing well. d. LONG TERM COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATE – MAC Dockry stated this was on hold at present. A new alternative had been found to the concept held up by the FAA and he would meet with them in the next few weeks. Dockry explained the Comprehensive Plan purpose and timetable for the student representatives. Once approval was received, a stakeholder advisory panel would be held and then the MAC staff would wrap up the Plan and move to implementation. Construction: this was a late construction season, and Flying Cloud was almost finished with pavement around the executive building. The connector between Romeo and Quebec Lanes had been started and both would be paved next week. Dockry stated Girls in Aviation Day was a huge success, and a record year. Winter preparations were underway, and the new runway de-ice truck would be delivered next week, as salt was too corrosive and could be used at airports. Other chemicals (E36) and sand were used instead. OLD BUSINESS Dorson stated he had a follow up meeting with the ATP flight school Dockry stated he, Lewis and Loken met with one of the chief flight instructors and the operations manager. The meeting was a success and the flight school agreed to mitigate noise in the future and wished representatives of the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission to come to speak to their entire staff. Lewis heard the suggestions from the Flying [inaudible] program which would be incorporated into training manuals. They also discussed spreading around touch-and-goes to other airports, spread around some operations to other runways, and utilizing specific hours away from Flying Cloud. There were 12-17 hours of required training time that could be modified to mitigate FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 10, 2024 Page 5 noise from training at Flying Cloud Airport. These schools would try to aim for a maximum of 12 hours at Flying Cloud Airport. Another discussion item was the traffic pattern altitude, and the school was committed to making changes. There were 80 flight schools across the U.S., which needed to implement standards across the nation. Lewis stated there were suggestions they were unaware of, such as VFR checkpoints, and using the north-south runway if possible although this was not feasible since they required at least 3,000 feet, The meeting concluded with learning on both sides, similar to the conversation with Avi8 earlier this year. ATP’s student base is largely 26-36 years old, with pilots pursuing a second career. Herrmann asked for the rationale for the runway requirement length. Lewis replied this was company policy. Lichty added this avoided crowding too many pilots on one runway. Dorson thanked the speakers. He asked each of the student representatives to comment on their personal experiences with aircraft noise from Flying Cloud Airport. Dorson four-minutes video to incorporate into onboarding. Clicky replied this was beneficial and feasible. Lewis stated this was a goal in the queue. VI. NEW BUSINESS IX. UPCOMING EVENTS AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE FCAAC MEETINGS Dorson asked the student representatives for discussion topics. Dorson suggested an MSP tour. Dockry replied he could not promise a tower tour, but could arrange an airfield tour for sure, perhaps January 2025. He would try to see if a tower tour was possible. Snow would be a limiting factor. Morhack suggested formalizing a touchpoint process between the flight schools and the commission. Dockry commended the idea and suggested a meeting at least twice a year, preferably quarterly. Morhack suggested this be included in the annual City report. Dorson agreed, adding that aspirational goals could be included as well. X. ADJOURNMENT The next FCAAC meeting will be held on Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. in Heritage Room I. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION October 10, 2024 Page 6 MOTION: Rogers moved, seconded by Morhack to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.