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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 05/12/2011 APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2011 7:00 P.M. CITY CENTER Council Chambers 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Jeff Larsen; Vice-Chair Mark Michelson; Commissioners: Caryl Hansen, John Pratten, Keith Tschohl, Jeff Nawrocki and Kurt Schendel VISITORS: Dan Boivin, MAC Chair; Rick King, MAC Sector Representative; Dana Swanson and Chad Leqve—MAC Representatives STAFF: Scott Kipp, Senior Planner; Carol Pelzel, City Recorder I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Larsen called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. II. SWEARING IN OF NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS New Commission members Hansen, Pratten and Tschohl were sworn in by Kipp. Larsen asked the new Commission members to introduce themselves and explain why they were interested in serving on this Commission. Pratten explained he has a degree in airport management and has a strong interest in aviation and is excited to be involved in something that interests him. Tschohl said he is a private pilot flying out of Flying Cloud for a little over a year. His main interest in joining the Commission is to help work through some of the preconceptions regarding the airport and to bring a more objective point of view of how things work at the airport. Hansen explained she had previously worked at Flying Cloud and has taken flying lessons there. She also worked for Northwest Airlines for 12 years and has been a travel agent for 40 years. Hansen said she has been a complainer about airport noise and feels it is time for her to do something for the City. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Michelson moved, seconded by Tschohl, to approve the agenda as published. The motion carried, 7-0. IV. PUBLIC COMMENT FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 2 V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 2011 MOTION: Michelson moved, seconded by Schendel, to approve the minutes as published. With regard to Item XI. A. 2. Decision Resources City Survey Questions on Airport Noise, Hansen questioned why they would interview people who live six miles from the airport on airport noise. Schendel responded the survey encompassed a lot of different subjects and not just airport noise. Larsen explained there were a couple questions regarding airport noise in the survey and this Commission reviewed those questions to see if there is a change in the public's feelings toward airport noise. The Commission does not have any input as to what questions are asked. Hansen said the way it appears in the minutes she assumed it was an airport noise survey. Larsen said if Hansen has additional concerns about how this survey was put together they could have a discussion about the survey at a future meeting. Kipp said he would pull additional information from the Decisions Resources survey and send it to the Commission and if they have additional questions the Commission can review the survey further at a future meeting. MOTION: Michelson moved to amend his motion to change Item XLA.2. of the March 10, 2011 minutes to read "Decision Resources City-Wide Survey Concerning Questions on Airport Noise". Schendel seconded the amended motion and the motion carried 4-0-3 with Hansen, Pratten and Tschohl abstaining because of absence from that meeting. MOTION: Motion was made by Michelson, seconded by Schendel, to approve the March 10, 2011 minutes as revised. The motion carried 4-0-3 with Hansen, Pratten and Tschohl abstaining because of absence from that meeting. VI. GUEST SPEAKERS A. DAN BOIVIN, MAC CHAIR Boivin introduced himself explaining he started his aviation career on the Charter Commission of the City of Minneapolis and through that process the Mayor of Minneapolis appointed him to the Airport Commission. He was appointed to the MAC in 2002 as Minneapolis' representative and at that time he knew nothing about airport business. This year the Governor appointed him as chair of the Commission. Boivin said he does not have an aviation background and everything he knows about aviation he learned by serving on the Commission. He has some of the best staff in the world and feels fortunate to have the system they do. Boivin said they will do what they need to to keep Flying Cloud Airport healthy. It is one of the gems in the airport system and it has a thriving business community and is a model they are trying to bring to other airports in the reliever FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 3 system. He said there will be issues from time-to-time and he asked Commission members to contact him at any time if they have any concerns and/or issues they would like to discuss with him. One of his goals is to make sure Flying Cloud continues to thrive. He knows airport noise is an issue at Flying Cloud and they need to be mindful and willing to work with the community. It is important for everyone to remember the airport is an economic generator for the community. Michelson asked if other airports in the reliever airport system such as Anoka or Lakeville are going to be expanding or if there is anything new planned for those two airports. Michelson said he believes if something changes at Anoka or Lakeville it will probably also happen here. Boivin said Lakeville does have a long-term plan to expand but he does not see anything happening there or in the reliever system in the near future. They have been asked to take over the St. Cloud and South St. Paul airports. There has been a little growth at Anoka but he is not sure how much more will happen there. St. Paul may have more corporate jet aviation expansion. Larsen asked if the new Governor has much impetus on the way MAC operates. Boivin responded he previously did not know the Governor but was surprised on how well versed he is on aviation issues. He does talk to the Governor on a regular basis about airport issues and he knows that aviation is important state- wide. Schendel asked the status of the south side building area at Flying Cloud. Rick King, MAC Sector Representative, responded that he expressed an interest in working on the new model for this area. They have been working on some changes on the general financing of the reliever airports and part of that will be how they end up marketing this. These changes will help the entire system. King said he thinks they are only a few steps away from getting one or two people to move and build there. They will see a lot of the older stock going down or improved. This will improve the appearance of the airport which was one of the goals of this Commission. In response to a question from Larsen, King said he believes by Fall they should have a model for review by the reliever airports that will be agreed to as a good idea. B. RICK KING, MAC SECTOR REPRESENTATIVE Rick King said he is the new MAC Sector Representative and his district includes Eden Prairie. He is pleased to live in Eden Prairie and represent the District that has the airport. As Chair Boivin indicated, the Commissioners are readily accessible and he would be happy to participate in whatever way this Commission would like him to. He will be very involved but will not do anything unless invited to participate. VII. DISCUSSION ITEMS FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 4 A. AIRCRAFT NOISE PERSPECTIVE FROM RESIDENT Larsen said he had anticipated a resident to be present this evening to provide her perspective on aircraft noise. Unfortunately, it appears she went to the wrong room. Larsen explained the room location was changed just prior to the meeting and the resident was not notified. He asked for her contact information so he could call and apologize for the mix up. It was not intentional and he wanted to make sure she understands it was a mistake. He will ask if she is interested in coming to a future meeting. If she does not want to participate they will find someone else to appear before the Commission. VIII. EDUCATIONAL ITEMS A. STATE OF THE AIRPORT Larsen said he asked Nawrocki to give the Commission a synopsis of what is done at the airport and continues to be ongoing and also if they anticipate anything happening in the future at the airport. Nawrocki reported 18 months ago they completed the airport expansion including extending the south east/west parallel runway to 5,000 feet. They also relocated the VOR and developed east and west parameter roads to increase runway safety. Nawrocki said they have updated the security system gates to assist in keeping unauthorized vehicles off of the airfield. Today they are doing day-to-day operations and there has been a 20 percent decrease from last year's operations. They have increased and maintained business and charter operations. Nawrocki said they are proposing a north parameter road which would allow a 360 degree route around the airport. They are also looking at a possible 100 foot extension of runway 18/36. He said they have also discussed additional landscaping around the airport and will continue to work on that. They do have a list of the top ten hangars that are rusted,have dilapidated doors, etc. and they will contact the owners and work with them on a timeline to improve the hangars. It has been determined that the FAA tower is in the wrong location and they will be starting the process of relocating the tower within the next 12 months. It is usually a five to seven year process before a tower is relocated. The existing location is acceptable to FAA policies and they anticipate moving the tower closer to the runways giving them a much better viewpoint. Larsen said the plan is for the Commission to tour the airport at their next meeting and this would include touring the tower. B. AIRPORT NOISE AND CAPACITY ACT (ANCA) Chad Leqve of MAC presented the Commission with an overview regarding the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC), public use airports and Federal policy considerations, noise related efforts at Flying Cloud and the multilateration system. He stressed the importance of this group to the effectiveness of the FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 5 program they have at the airport to deal with noise issues. MAC strives to make improvements where they can and the only way that can occur is with the collaboration between this Commission and MAC. Leqve pledged his and his staff's support to this group and they are here to help. Leqve explained MAC is made up of 15 Commissioners and this group sets policies for the development and operation of MAC airports. Neither State nor local taxes are used to operate MAC. Revenue is generated for airport operations and Federal funding is received. Leqve briefly reviewed the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act. He explained the airport is very heavily dependent upon Federal funds and those funds come with strings attached. Those provisions are heavily influenced by legislation and regulations. The most influential legislation passed was the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act which relates to airport noise. It places certain requirements on carriers to modernize their fleets and focuses on the larger demographics of aircraft. Leqve further explained Congress said if they impose this financial burden on private companies they need to have some use guarantees in existence. This resulted in the FAR Part 161 study and evaluation process airports have to go through when they want to impose restrictions on the use of an airport. Flying Cloud's consideration of restricting nighttime/early morning operations is extremely difficult to implement at a public use facility. Nighttime noise is an issue at all airports. Leqve said the FAA has stated they cannot close an airport or restrict access or use of the facility. If they did this, the FAA would not have to give federal funds to the airport. They did have Ordinance#51 in place which restricted operating weight of aircraft to 20,000 pounds at Flying Cloud. The FAA felt this was arbitrary and said they had to address and deal with this issue. Leqve further explained in 2001 and 2002 MAC and the City negotiated an agreement that amended Ordinance#51 and outlined several actions on behalf of MAC that are intended to help reduce noise at Flying Cloud. In return, the City agreed not to oppose the runway extension. Leqve reported the mechanism they rely most on for reporting of operations is the Internet. They have a separate website maintained out of MAC's noise office and there are a number of interactive applications available on Flying Cloud's website. He asked that Commission members go on the website and use some of the applications and let them know if they find them helpful or if changes should be made. He encouraged the Commissioners to provide them with ideas, suggestions or direction. Leqve explained MAC's flight tracker application was developed by MAC staff and it is the only one of its kind. This application can be used at any of their system airports and is available for anyone to access. Leqve said this application resulted because of the collaboration between MAC and this Commission and the Commission's support helped move it along. Pratten said since this flight tracker application is the only one of its kind, could it FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 6 be a money generator for MAC. Leqve answered they have licensed this software as an open source and the open source model is a return on investment for MAC. More airports will use this and if the application is enhanced it will go back to the other airports. This would be a financial benefit to MAC and also gives something to the industry that is really needed. Pratten said it was mentioned 1,500 letters were sent to people who were involved in some type of noise issue. He asked what types of responses are received when the violator gets this letter. Leqve responded this is a challenging issue. When they started this campaign of sending letters out the violators were very responsive and provided them with the reason for the flight in question. MAC does not have the authority to tell them they can't fly but continue to send letters to users in violation of the voluntary nighttime restriction. Leqve said he thinks what happened over the years was some operators were responsive to the letters they were receiving but after continuing to receive the letters they became frustrated and even insulted. This issue will be a challenge for this group as they move forward. Since MAC cannot issue tickets or fine people there needs to be a very diligent approach to monitoring this situation. This restriction depends on the good will of the operators and they don't want to damage or destroy that good will. Larsen further explained last year this Commission looked at how often letters should be sent out. Some people were getting 15 to 20 letters per time period. The Commission felt this was counterintuitive and suggested taking a specific time period and keeping track of the information and putting it all in one letter for that time period. This allows the owner/operator an opportunity to review the flights to determine why they flew during nighttime. Larsen said the extension of the runway allows pilots to not have to stop for fuel so they can leave the airport later in the day. There may also be some new operators who may not be aware of the landing/takeoff procedures. A copy of a sample letter was distributed to the Commission members for their review. Tschohl said in looking at the track maps it appears the aircraft are turning south as soon as practical after takeoff. He asked if they had ever considered having one or two different tracks depending on the complaints. He also asked if there is any difference on how they approach the notification to an operator if they followed the published procedures but violated the voluntary restrictions. Michelson responded there is no difference; it is a black and white issue. If there is a complaint they get a letter and if there is no complaint there is no letter sent. Leqve said the letter is not that specific. C. MULTILATERATION PROJECT Leqve briefly reviewed the previous flight tracking and noise monitoring system architecture. He explained this system resulted in a five-day lag in receiving data and the FAA also filtered certain operations resulting in missed information. As a result of this, MAC started a project to install a system to collect flight tracking FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 7 information. Leqve reviewed the upgrade of the flight tracking system to the multilateration flight tracking system. The new system provides data integration, greater coverage, reliability and unrestricted data. There are eight sensors that are part of the system located throughout the metropolitan area. Leqve thanked this Commission for their support of this project and help in having it come to fruition. IX. FINAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY AND MAC A. NOISE COMPLAINTS/STAGE 2 OPERATIONS REPORT (MARCH- APRIL) Swanson distributed the noise complaints for March—April, 2011 and reviewed the various complaints. There were 5,188 total operations with 129 operations generating one or more complaints. There were 171 nighttime operations with 74 operations that generated one or more complaints. Schendel questioned why there was no data available for the end of March or the end of April. Swanson responded there were some issues with the flight track data coming in both in March and April. They felt they needed to withhold the rest of the data and to reprocess it. Letters were processed for the March 1-22 time period and when last month's data came available they sent another batch of letters to cover the remaining time period. X. NOISE ABATEMENT/AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS XI. NEW BUSINESS Schendel reported the group Wings of the North held a pancake breakfast at Flying Cloud Airport and there was a good turnout. He also reported on Saturday mornings Ben McQuillan of Inflight Pilot Training offers various training sessions at Flying Cloud and on that Saturday he gave a presentation about small airplane operations instead of commercial airplanes. There were approximately 120 people out at the airport. The seminars are conducted on a week-by-week basis and typically they have from 80 to 120 people attending these sessions. Tschohl said he regularly attends these sessions and last year they offered a seminar on noise abatement. Tschohl said he has spoken to McQuillan about a refresher course on noise abatement to remind people about the voluntary noise restrictions. XII. OTHER BUSINESS A. 2011 MEETING TOPICS — SEEKING ADDITIONS/IDEAS Larsen asked Commission members to think about items they would like to see addressed or of speakers they would like to have present to the Commission. He asked members to provide Kipp with any items they would like added to the 2011 FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES May 12, 2011 Page 8 meeting topics. Larsen said the July meeting will be held at the airport. Larsen also explained the open period for appointments of student members to this Commission is until May 27 and if any Commission members have a recommendation for a student member they contact that person and ask them to complete an application. Larsen asked that an item regarding Flying Cloud ball fields be added to a Commission's future agenda. Nawrocki said if any new Commission members are interested in a tour of Flying Cloud Airport before their July meeting they should contact him. Also,he reported there is a nationwide program regarding airport security for international airports and he is partaking in that program. The Airport Police Department will be coming out in June to work with the Eden Prairie Police Department in making a presentation to the business owners. The Flying Cloud Airport and Police Department was chosen for this training. The training will take place on June 7 at 2 p.m. at the Technical School at the airport. Nawrocki reported July 16 and 17 Wings of the North will be hosting the Air Expo event. They have talked about bringing in a C 130 military aircraft. This will be a static operation, one operation in and one operation out. Larsen asked for volunteers in working on the Commission's website and asked them to contact Kipp if they are interested. Michelson pointed out the Commission members contact information is included in the agenda material and new members of the Commission should not hesitate to contact any one of them if they have questions. B. VARIOUS FYI ITEMS 1. Approved FCAAC Minutes of January 13, 2011 2. May 11 Boards and Commissions Banquet & FCAAC PowerPoint 3. Article—Students on Commissions program applications ends May 27 4. Article—Changing winds at Flying Cloud Airport 5. Flying Cloud Ball Fields construction information 6. Commission Roster for 2011 7. Life in the Prairie on Rick King 8. Article—King appointed to MAC 9. Next Commission Meeting—July 14, 2011 XIII. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Motion was made by Michelson, seconded by Hansen, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried, 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:17 p.m.