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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 05/10/2007 APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2007 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER Prairie Room A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Rick King, Vice-Chair Jeff Larsen, Commissioners: Joe Harris, Greg McKewan, Mark Michelson, Kurt Schendel and Brad Stratton COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: None VISITORS: Scott Skramstad, MAC Warren McVey, FAA Representative Chad Leqve, MAC Representative Jeffrey Hamiel, Executive Director, MAC Rod Reynolds, 11608 Tanglewood Drive Lee Moran, 11628 Tanglewood Drive STAFF: Scott Kipp, Senior Planner Carol Pelzel, City Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER Chair King called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Larsen moved, seconded by Michelson, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried, 7-0. III. PUBLIC COMMENT Rod Reynolds, 11608 Tanglewood Drive, stated that he lives on the east side of the airport and is concerned that if the runways at Flying Cloud are extended they will attract more jets. With the runway expansion, airport take offs and landings will double and the only ones he sees using the extended runways are the jet airplanes. He pointed out that Flying Cloud is a 24-hour airport and most jet airplanes are owned by businessmen and he is concerned that those users will be taking off during the early morning hours. King pointed out that there has been no decision to expand Flying Cloud Airport that hasn't already been made. The expansion is under the authority of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). King explained that this Commission has not advocated the expansion of the airport and they are only adhering to City policy. This Commission has discussed the concerns expressed by Reynolds and his points are well taken and noted. Reynolds said that the local newspaper indicates that the City is pushing for the expansion. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 2 King responded that the City Manager has said that the word expansion used in the article was not germane to what he was talking about. The City Manager has sent letters to representatives in Washington stating that the City will not seek Federal funds for the expansion of the runways and hangers at Flying Cloud. The City would like to see sewer, water and security installed at the airport. Reynolds said now he hears all of the jets and with the runway expansion, the only thing that will increase will be jet usage. King pointed out that the noise profile on turbo props is actually louder than the new jets. Reynolds said that they are talking about bigger jets and some make more noise than others. Bigger engines mean more noise. King stated that even with the runway extensions, there will not be that many more jets because some are unable to land on a runway that is only 5,000 feet. King said they are not suggesting that the expansion should be done but they do look at the proposal to understand it. If there is noise during the restriction time, those flights can be reported and they will be addressed. In response to a question from Reynolds regarding the timeline for the expansion, Chad Leqve, MAC Representative, explained that this is a question that dates back to the 1990's when they started the process of the expansion. Whenever they talk about an expansion there is always concern about additional jets and increased noise. They do evaluate and analyze their noise levels. What they discovered in looking at the information is that jet aircraft and in some cases even bigger aircraft, does not necessarily mean more noise. New technology has resulted in quieter aircraft. Leqve said there is a lot of research and evaluation that goes into the environmental impact review of this expansion. He stated that the major reason for the expansion is to better serve the existing aircraft at the airport. By adding the runway length they do a better job of accommodating the aircraft that uses the airport now. They are not anticipating a huge increase of usage with the expansion. Michelson indicated that the expansion would mean that more aircraft traffic would start further away from Reynolds' house and this would result in quieter aircraft because they would be higher when they get over his property. Michelson said he believes the expansion would be to Reynolds' advantage. King indicated that Reynolds comments will be made part of the official record. IV. APPROVAL OF MARCH 8, 2007 MINUTES Larsen asked that the third paragraph on Page 4 of the minutes be clarified. There were two presentations at the meeting with the Council; a two-page synopsis of the Commission's Top 5 list of issues to discuss that Michelson and Larsen had put together and the original document that they developed the synopsis from which included detailed information. MOTION: Michelson moved, seconded by Larsen, to approve the March 8, 2007 minutes as corrected. Motion carried 4-0-3, with Harris, Schendel and Stratton abstaining because of absence from that meeting. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 3 V. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. Eden Prairie Comprehensive Guide Plan Update on Aviation—Scott Kipp Kipp presented an overview of the Comprehensive Guide Plan Update explaining that the Metropolitan Council requires that airport communities prepare an airport/aviation section to be included within the Comprehensive Plan. The specific requirements for communities have been incorporated into the current Plan and will continue to be included in the update. Kipp explained that they merged the Aviation Chapter into the Transportation Element consistent with Met Council's Plan. A change in the land use for the airport from Public/Quasi Public to a new land use called Airport is also in the Plan. This would clearly identify the accurate use of the land. Staff is also looking at land use as it relates to aircraft noise. There are 11 acres east of the airport that are guided low density residential. This area falls under the 60 DNL noise zone which is inconsistent for housing. Kipp said a different land use for the property is suggested such as office and industrial which is compatible with the airport operations and aircraft noise. The land use change would most likely take place as part of any land development. Kipp said the Plan also discusses the re-establishment of the Flying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission. Staff will also look at applying additional noise attenuation requirements for residential uses around the airport. A one-mile noise attenuation requirement around the airport for new residential construction will be addressed. Any new housing developments in that area will need to abide by the land use compatibility guidelines for noise. Kipp reported that MAC and the City have discussed ways to address the upgrading of the old hangers at the airport. The City is considering a zoning district to address construction standards for new construction so that certain elements of design are met. Staff will continue to work with MAC to see whether this should be a joint effort or an individual effort. King asked that any comments regarding the Comprehensive Guide Plan be provided to Kipp by May 25. Kipp will then forward those comments to the Planning Commission at the time they consider the Guide Plan update. B. Airport Security—Rick King King reported that the Commission would be given an update on airport security at a special meeting of this Commission on May 31. The purpose of this meeting is to understand where we are today and to discuss how the Commission wants to report back to the City Council regarding airport security. At that meeting we will also discuss whether or not they have to do anything further. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 4 King said another item to be discussed at the May 31 meeting will be the MSP runway construction project and flight track changes. The purpose of this item is to provide the Commission with information regarding this project before they actually do the runway closure. VI. EDUCATIONAL ITEMS A. Jeff Hamiel, Executive Director, Metropolitan Airports Commission King introduced Jeff Hamiel, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), and on behalf of the Commission, expressed his appreciation to Hamiel for the cooperation MAC has provided this Commission. Hamiel said it is important that MAC makes itself available to the community. He said he is extremely pleased that this Commission has been created and supported by the City Council. This is a great opportunity to exchange information and to share viewpoints. Hamiel complimented City staff and the City Council for working on noise mitigation and the creation of compatible land uses for areas surrounding the airport. It is an important message to send out to everyone and the City of Eden Prairie has done more at the end of the runways than any other community. Hamiel introduced himself presenting a brief overview of his experience and background. He explained that Flying Cloud Airport has been a part of this community for a very long time and it is an important part of the MAC system. The airport system that exists in the seven-county metro area is under legislative authority created in 1943. MAC has spent over$340 million in noise mitigation and they do care about the noise around Flying Cloud Airport and other airports. Hamiel explained the makeup of the Airports Commission and presented an overview of the organizational structure of MAC. Hamiel explained that the key initiatives of MAC primarily surround the MSP Airport. That airport is the tenth largest airport in the United States and they have 475,000 takeoffs and landings in a year with 35 million passengers. They are predicting that there will be 50 to 55 million passengers per year in the early 2020's and 650,000 to 680,000 operations in a year at that time. Even with that growth increase and jet activity, noise will continue to decline. Hamiel said he believes that Flying Cloud will also grow but not at the levels it has historically achieved. Hamiel stated that MAC has been in negotiations with Northwest Airlines (NWA) and all other carriers with regards to a cost reduction program to encourage better competition. Part of MAC's goal is to make sure that NWA stays in Minneapolis and St. Paul and that they keep their headquarters here. They want to reduce the overall cost structure to encourage NWA to not default on their obligations. Hamiel indicated that they have gone through some challenging negotiations over the last few months. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 5 Their goal is to provide MAC with a stronger financial future and stable economic environment. Hamiel discussed growth at Flying Cloud Airport with the Commission. He said he does not believe they will see a lot of growth of single-engine planes being used by recreational pilots. This is becoming cost prohibitive and they see a decline in recreational flying but an increase in corporate customers. The real growth will be in the turbo props and turbo jet market. He projects that they will see more and more jet powered airplanes. Hamiel said people might question why they are improving Flying Cloud when the numbers are declining. He said in reality, they are seeing a change in why people use airplanes. For economic reasons, business use of airplanes will increase. Newer airplanes are much more sophisticated, safer and reliable. They are flown by more professional and skilled pilots and are a lot quieter than current airplanes. Hamiel said another important development at Flying Cloud is the introduction of the very light jets (VLJ's). They are the smallest of the jets and are affordable, very light and do not require a thrust of power to get airborne. Hamiel pointed out that airport traffic is changing and moving from recreational pilot use to public use. Stratton pointed out that VLJ's are owner operated. He asked if there have been any studies or research as to the economic impact of these owners on the surrounding community. He questioned if these owners bring any kind of economic development to the area. Hamiel responded that he is not aware of any legitimate studies relating to this issue. However, it would only seem logical that there would be an economic impact when these companies use a specific airport. Stratton asked if there have been any requests for building bigger hangers at Flying Cloud to accommodate these VLJ's. Hamiel explained that part of their improvement plan for Flying Cloud Airport is to lengthen both of the runways. In addition to the runway extension, there will be the addition of storage hangers on the southwest corner of the airport. They expect to have a significant and substantial commercial operator be part of that development. Hamiel said they do anticipate construction of hangers and they may see some corporate investment with the new hangers being built. Hamiel said they do not anticipate a tremendous growth of jets at Flying Cloud Airport. The airplanes that take off at Flying Cloud now are more lightly loaded and fly to MSP to fill up with fuel. That is not efficient and they should be able to leave Flying Cloud with a full load. The extended runway will allow this to occur. From a pilot's standpoint, the 5,000 foot long runway also provides them with a safety margin. Hamiel explained that by the end of this year or the early part of next year, the FAA will have completed their EIS work and by 2008 they will have a green light to proceed with development of Flying Cloud Airport if MAC chooses to do so. Hamiel said it is highly likely that in the summer of 2008 the north parallel runway at Flying Cloud Airport will be expanded to 3,900 feet and sewer and water will be added. In 2009 and 2010 they propose switching over to the south parallel runway and extending FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 6 it from 3,900 feet to 5,000 feet. By 2011 they believe Flying Cloud Airport will be fully developed as planned and will be improved to meet the needs of the community. Hamiel pointed out that Eden Prairie has spent a lot of time and money to develop its residential community and it is one of the most impressive communities in the metropolitan area. Hamiel said MAC would continue to work to make improvements to Flying Cloud to make it a good neighbor. Larsen asked what type of new tenants would be attracted to this airport should the hangers be developed as they envision. Hamiel said he does not have a list of tenants who want to come to the airport. He has had conversations with CEO's at a half dozen corporations who are interested in locating their airplanes at Flying Cloud but they have not received any commitments or deposits to secure space. Hamiel said he does believe there will be three or four corporations that will invest in the new building area and development of the airport. Larsen asked if the proposed new hangers would be part of a business development park or if they would be separate from that. Hamiel said he has only heard discussions about investments on airport property. Corporations who locate their airplane at the airport want their headquarters near the airport. McKewan asked what the timeframe would be to replace some of the rusted hangers located at Flying Cloud Airport. Hamiel answered that MAC has no timetable for removing hangers. At a very minimum, Hamiel said he thinks MAC should work on the appearance of the hangers located on the road side. They should encourage the owners of those hangers to replace or reside them so they are not such an eyesore. Kipp questioned how they would implement this and what would be the most effective way for improving those hangers. He questioned if this is something MAC should do on their own or if it is something this Commission and MAC would work on together to come up with a plan. Hamiel responded that MAC's Board has identified the appearance of the airports as an issue. They want to do something and Hamiel said he sees the Board putting some kind of timetable in place. He feels it would be better for MAC to approach the owners rather than adopt an ordinance or regulation. Stratton asked if they could use the addition of sewer and water as some type of incentive. Hamiel said he sees this as an important amenity and it will serve as a catalyst and help with redevelopment. They will have discussions with these people and he knows that they are proud of where they store their airplanes. VII. FINAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY AND MAC A. Noise Complaints/Stage 2 Operations Report (Mar-Apr) Skramstad distributed the noise complaint map for March and April showing where each person who complained is located in relation to the airport. He also presented the noise complaint summary. This summary shows how many times an individual complained, the date and time and the nature of the call. Skramstad explained that there were a total of 135 complaints for March and April compared to 90 for January FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 7 and February. The 135 complaints came from 26 people and 104 of those complaints were verified. Letters outlining the provisions that were violated were sent to 29 owners/operators. There were a number of operations that did not receive letters because most were not FCM flights. Those flights could have come from MSP or St. Paul. Another reason for not sending a letter is because a majority of the aircraft in the early morning hours were conducting noise abatement procedures. Skramstad reported that there were a number of unidentified aircraft and two Life Source and one Life Line flights. During the March/April time period there were no Stage II aircraft operations. VIII. NOISE ABATEMENT/AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS A. Report on Life Link III/Air Methods New Operating Procedures Skramstad reported that one of the big issues discussed at the last meeting was helicopter complaints. Half of the complaints received in January were attributed to helicopter operations. Staff met with the Life Link Operator and developed some procedures that they implemented on March 25. The procedures got them more in line with noise abatement procedures which involved flying over the river. They agreed to the new procedures and they now gain an additional 500 feet of altitude before going over residential areas. Harris said they met with Air Methods and Warren McFey from the Flying Cloud tower to find out how things were going and he indicated that the air traffic controllers love the new procedures and the pilots appeared to have no problems with the procedures. Life Link indicated that they would work with the tower and MAC will also work with them. King said the action taken regarding the helicopter noise was a great effort and responsiveness by a whole lot of groups and resulted in quick action. He expressed his appreciation to Warren McFey for his work in resolving this issue. McFey said the airport is home to a helicopter company that wants to cooperate and be a good neighbor. Skramstad briefly reviewed with the Commission the results after the new procedures were implemented. Prior to the procedures being implemented, they received 14 helicopter complaints from three different residents. After the procedures were implemented, they received ten complaints from eight different residents. Skramstad said they analyzed each complaint after the procedures went into effect and found that three of the complaints correlated with the Life Link helicopter. Two were doing noise abatement and one operator took the direct route out of the airport. The other complaints were for other helicopters doing training operations and noise abatement procedures. Skramstad said it appears that the new procedure has a positive effect and they will continue to monitor this and bring that data back to this Commission. King said this information is very helpful and feels it would be valuable to continue monitoring this at least through the next training cycle. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 8 IX. NEW BUSINESS A. MAC Letters on Violations of Voluntary Nis!httime/Early Morning Operations Restrictions Michelson said in reviewing the 2002 Final Agreement and copies of letters from MAC, there appears to be a massive increase of complaints. Michelson said he was trying to think of a way to address these complaints more forcefully. He said he did not know if there were repeat offenders in the mix and indicated that he would like to know if there are and what is being done if anything about that. Michelson asked if repeating offenders is a problem. King said he agrees that this is something they should have MAC address. He realizes there is some concern about confidentiality in releasing some of this information between governmental agencies. Harris said they would have to talk to MAC's legal staff to see if this information is public. To a certain degree, they should be able to produce a generic report outlining repeat offenders since the original agreement was signed. Harris said he also feels it may be beneficial to share with this Commission some of the responses received as to why the operation was conducted during a certain time period. Again, this would be a generic report. This information would help the Commission gain a better understanding of the operations taking place. King said their request would be, to the extent possible, to have all of the data that would be permitted. If there is sensitive data that the Commission could review, they will then have to agree on how they will handle this information and they should clearly understand all of the impacts of that information. Leqve said he could not see where summary information would be a problem. There are specific guidelines or legal principals that they have to abide by. They will ask their legal staff about providing the Commission with summary information that does not include names and addresses. Michelson said he did not see a necessity for going back to old data but would like this information moving forward to find out if there is a problem with repeat offenders. Leqve asked what the Commission would do should there be repeat offenders. He stated that some of the people do not take lightly the letters they receive regarding a noise violation and they do get vocal. If there is one that has a number of violations they could send someone from MAC to talk to them. If that person is not breaking a law they have a right to operate in and out of that airport. McKewan suggested that MAC purchase portable noise monitors and when they receive complaints from a particular area they place a monitor in that area and track the noise levels. This would help them determine if the noise level is a problem. Leqve explained that MAC has a long history of doing that type of monitoring around the airport. Putting monitors throughout the community is a big investment. They are not opposed to doing that but he questioned what the end result would be. If someone has a problem with the noise, it is an objective thing. However, if McKewan's intent is to FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 9 gather information to understand noise monitoring, Leqve said they have that information available. Harris suggested that they run a report showing the flight tracks for a couple of months between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. to show the activity at Flying Cloud Airport. They could provide a summary similar to the summary they run regarding complaints. There are some repeat offenders who operate between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. but one operator is doing medical type flights. Harris said they do send letters as required and the response they receive back shows them it was an acceptable flight. Leqve informed the Commission that the flight information is available on MAC's website. Kipp said there is also a link to this information on the City's website. King asked that whatever information they could provide the Commission regarding repeat offenders would be appreciated and this information could be presented at the July 12 meeting. He said they are not pushing to get private data released but they would like a summary of repeat offenders and the excused flights. King said he realizes there is nothing they can do about these repeat offenders but they can be educated on it. McKewan asked if Life Link, a 7-day a week, 24 hour a day, 365 days a year operation, was aware that there was a voluntary noise restriction 9 hours out of the day at Flying Cloud ahead of time or did they just discover it when it was brought to their attention. And, moving forward, McKewan asked how this issue would be addressed in the future. Leqve responded that if Flying Cloud Airport makes sense business wise to an operator, they would probably not have a problem with the noise restriction. The noise restriction is a voluntary program and a high percentage of the users realize the importance of that facility and they want to be a good neighbor and if they are operating during the restriction it is because they have to. Schendel said there is an airport directory that has the noise restriction information in it. Harris explained that Flying Cloud has very little turnover with the people working directly with the flight crew. Harris said they do a good job in giving individual briefings to the airport users and as part of those briefings noise abatement is a topic of discussion. It is their responsibility to inform the operators of MAC's expectations. Harris said it is time for them to have their annual noise briefing and this is done at their annual meeting with the pilot and recreational user groups. King said he would like the Commission to be kept informed of any of those types of meetings. Harris said the meeting would probably piggyback on the town hall meeting to talk about a variety of airport issues. Harris indicated that they would keep the Commission apprised of all of the meetings at all of the airports. Larsen said he feels it is important that members of this Commission make an appearance at those meetings. X. OTHER BUSINESS (Various FYI Items) 0 Approved minutes for January 11, 2007 Commission meeting FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 10, 2007 Page 10 • Approved minutes for February 20, 2007 Council Workshop and Council meeting on Sewer and Water • March 6, 2007 City Manager Report on Citizen Advisory Commissions, including approved minutes • Approved minutes for March 20, 2007 Council Workshop and Council meeting pertaining to Flying Cloud Airport • March 20 City Council presentation on 2006 Report and 2007 Goals, including approved minutes and approved 2007 Goals • March 20 City Council presentation on Helicopter Noise Concerns Update, including approved minutes • April 16 PowerPoint presentation to MAC Commission • April 17 City Council presentation from Life Link III • Zero Expansion/Talktrans materials • Various airport related articles from EP News and Sun Current • Thank you letters to Ron Muntifering of Air Methods and Rick Bresin of Aviation Center • Wall Street Journal Articles • Next meeting is tentatively scheduled for May 31, 2007 XI. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Motion was made by Schendel, seconded by Larsen, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried, 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m.