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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 01/14/2016 APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY,JANUARY 14, 2016 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER HERITAGE ROOM I 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair, Keith Tschohl Vice-Chair, Caryl Hansen Bob Barker Kurt Schendel Joseph Sutila Mike Wilson COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: None STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Luke Holzworth Michael Richter STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES ABSENT: Michael Richter STAFF: Rik Berkbigler, Assistant Fire Chief Jan Curielli, City Recorder VISITORS: Jennifer Lewis, MAC Representative I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Tschohl called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Tschohl said the Commission will be discussing drone updates over the next few meetings because of the growing concerns about drone registration,jurisdiction, and sovereignty of air space. MOTION: Schendel moved, seconded by Hansen, to approve the agenda as published. Motion carried 7-0. III. PUBLIC COMMENT None. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2015 FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 2 Sutila said the word "operated" was misspelled on Page 3, Paragraph3. He noted there was also an error in the last paragraph on Page 4 and should be changed to: "...landing gear light was not working." MOTION: Schendel moved, seconded by Barker, to approve the minutes of the October 8, 2015, meeting as amended. Motion carried 7-0. V. DISCUSSION ITEMS A. NOISE REPORT/STAGE 2 OPERATIONS UPDATES—MAC Jennifer Lewis, MAC Representative, provided handouts about noise complaints received for the months of October through December, 2015. She said there was a decrease in total complaints compared to October 2014,but there was an increase in the number of helicopter complaints. The number of complaints in November 2015 was very similar to November 2014; however, there were reduced complaints about nighttime operations. There was a very large reduction in the number of complaints in December 2015 as compared to December 2014. Aircraft operations were up,probably because of the good weather, and there was not much change in nighttime operations. She also reviewed spreadsheets presenting noise complaints and household noise complaints by month for 2015 and 2014. Ms Lewis reviewed the Stage 2 Aircraft Operations Report that showed two Stage 2 operations in November, for a total of four Stage 2 and 3 operations in 2015. She said they plan to no longer track the Stage 2 operations at Flying Cloud because of the rule effective December 31, 2015, that Stage 2 aircraft 75,000 lbs. or less will be banned from operations in the U.S. unless they have a special permit. Tschohl said he did not see much of a point to continuing the Stage 2 report. Barker asked if there would be any need to revisit the language in the Final Agreement because of this change. Tschohl said the Commission could take this to the City Council as a point to consider. Price asked if the Stage 2 aircraft would be allowed to fly at all. Ms Lewis said they could be granted a waiver in a few specific circumstances; for instance, if they were coming into this country from a foreign country. Wilson noted in that case they would also have to get a waiver for customs in order to fly into Flying Cloud Airport. Tschohl said they can get a waiver to depart Flying Cloud to fly to another country or to fly somewhere where the engine could be updated to be eligible to continue to fly. Ms Lewis said the operator would have to apply 30 days in advance and must be approved to operate. She said there were about 300 Stage 2 aircraft at the time the regulation was written, and, of those, they anticipated a maximum of six to be candidates for a waiver. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 3 Ms Lewis said there was a Stage 3 aircraft operation that normally did not operate out of Flying Cloud on January 5, 2016. The aircraft was retrofitted to meet the requirements. She requested an explanation of the operation before she sent a letter to the operator. She noted they don't plan to do that for all Stage 3 aircraft operations. B. AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS AND RUNWAY INCURSIONS--MAC Wilson said operations were up by 15% this year compared to 2014. The tower count was over 83,000, and last year the count was over 75,000. He said they have seen increases all around the system in 2015. Flying Cloud Airport is now the third busiest airport in the metropolitan area, behind MSP and Anoka. Wilson reviewed the 12 runway incursions that occurred in 2015. He noted there are funding programs to help decrease runway incursions, and they will be getting a second radar scope which will help decrease those incursions. Price asked what effect the many changes made at the airport several years ago might have had on runway incursions. Wilson replied part of the changes were to reposition the runways and to add lights and other improvements to help avoid incursions. Price asked about the status of relocating the control tower. Wilson said the control tower should not have to catch the incursions,but they would be able to catch more of them if they had a better location. Sutila asked about the landing incursion. Wilson said it was a combination of a wrong runway and other factors. He noted flashing runway indicator lights flash would help to identify runways, as would different painting or surfaces on the runways. C. AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT UPDATES--MAC Price asked if C.H. Robinson is operating out of their hangar yet. Wilson said they are still under construction,but are about 95% complete. They have some work to do in the office area. He noted the private hangar in the south area is about 90% complete. The TCF hangar is completed, and they are operating out of it. Schendel asked if there are any more hangars planned. Wilson said there is one going through the process,but they have not completed a lease on it yet. It will be located next to C.H. Robinson's hangar. Tschohl asked how snow removal is going. Wilson said they have kept up so far. Tschohl asked about the entitlements for 2016. Wilson said discretionary funds are disbursed in late summer. He noted they can save entitlements for a year if they are not used. They receive $150,000 each year and usually have them roll up before moving the funds to discretionary. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 4 D. UAS REGULATORY UPDATES 1. Review of October 2015 meeting Tschohl noted representatives from MnDOT visited the October Commission meeting to review some of the issues regarding small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). At that time the FAA was trying to take as much of a hands off approach as possible with small drones. 2. UAS registration regulation 3. FAA Assertion of Federal Jurisdiction Over UAS operations, and Possible Effects on State and City Government Tschohl said, as predicted at our October meeting, there were more than 1,000,000 drones sold at Christmas time. In December the FAA decided to consider drones to be aircraft with rights and responsibilities and to require registration of small drones, which means the FAA claims sole jurisdiction regarding sUAS. He noted he included several educational items in the agenda packet, one of which was the interim rule from the Federal register that outlines concerns brought up and the FAA's response as well as the actual regulations and legal rationalization. The second item was a fact sheet from the FAA Chief Counsel regarding state and local regulation of UAS which explained that a city would not be able to prohibit overflights. Tschohl said the FAA regulations create many concerns for cities regarding control and operation,but this Commission also wants to be responsive to the needs of our businesses. Price asked if the fact that most of Eden Prairie is located within five miles of the airport would make a difference. Tschohl said they would need to contact the airport operator if a drone operates within five miles of the airport. If the drones are registered and contact the airport, the FAA requires that the airport not discriminate against aircraft. Tschohl said he also included the Advisory Circular regarding model aircraft operating standards that explained how an individual can fly a model aircraft weighing 55 lbs. or less for hobby or recreational use and be in compliance with the law. Barker asked if the airport has been contacted by the model airplane club that operates just south of Valley Fair. Wilson replied he referred them to the State when they called and wanted to do something with drones. The airport does not have any approval to give in that situation. Tschohl noted he was not sure what the City would do if a complaint were made about a drone, and asked what the airport response would be to such a request. Wilson replied the individual could make the request and FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 5 coordinate with the tower. They are in the process of working out internal policies for drones. Sutila asked if someone taking pictures would be limited to a certain height. Wilson said they had a request to take pictures of five houses for commercial use. He noted there are a lot of pictures on Zillow.com of property in Eden Prairie that have been taken by drones. Tschohl asked if there are plans to streamline the process and how difficult it would be to manage the situation if everyone followed the law to register a drone and make requests to the airport. Wilson said the Lindbergh terminal has been working on this, but he was not sure where they are at with the new rules. Tschohl said he also included information about two lawsuits in the agenda packet. Each of the two lawsuits takes a different approach and shows the contrast between two operators using the law in different ways. He said drones will be a standard item in the future, and he hoped the situation will be made more clear over the course of the year. He said the Commission should continue to monitor and help the City deal with this. Barker noted it is unique that Eden Prairie is almost all covered by controlled airspace. E. COMMISSIONER UPDATES 1. Fli!ht Sharing—Commissioner Price Price said she forwarded some information to Commission members regarding the issue of plane sharing or flight sharing and whether flight sharing websites are legal. There are concerns that this presents a safety issue. The pilots of those flights would not be commercial pilots, yet they are selling seats and people are using them as commercial flights. There is a security issue because they sell seats online to anybody. This opens up a new area to allow something that wasn't happening before, and the FAA is opposed to it. Wilson said this would really stretch the rules. He said as a private pilot he is allowed to take someone up with him and share the cost. Tschohl said the legislation discussed in the information is a case of the FAA also being security conscious. This is not the same as a charter service, and there are concerns that this could turn into a situation similar to Uber service. Tschohl asked how this sort of service would work at the airport with people unfamiliar with the rules. Wilson said they would have to address that through minimum standards,because this could not really be considered a commercial operation. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 6 Price noted she did not think commercial pilots would be happy about this. Tschohl suggested we keep this as a watch item. F. EDUCATIONAL ITEMS 1. Federal Register: Interim Final Rule for UAS Registration Process (14 CFR 48) 2. FAA: State and Local Regulation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Fact Sheet 3. Petition: Bosms v Meredith (Rmardins! an intentional downing of a UAS; a request for declaratory iudsment to resolve "a substantial question of federal law,to wit, the boundaries of the airspace surrounding real property, the reasonable expectation of privacy as viewed from the air, and the right to damage or destroy an aircraft in- flis!ht, in relation to the exclusive federal regulation and protection of air safety, air navigation, and control over the national airspace.") 4. Petition: Taylor v FAA (Challense of UAS registration rule as violation of PL 112-95, Sec. 336) 5. FAA: Advisory Circular 91-57A, "Model Aircraft Operating Standards 6. Academy of Model Aeronautics National Model Aircraft Safety Guide VI. OLD BUSINESS A. WEBSITE UPDATES Tschohl said he made some minor changes to the website to update older information. He will update the site when there is more information available on drones. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP Tschohl said the workshop with the City Council occurs next Tuesday at 5:30 PM. He will be presenting the annual update for the FCAAC to give a summary of what we have accomplished in the past year and to discuss what we hope to accomplish in 2016. He distributed a worksheet summarizing the accomplishments in 2015 and listing the Commission's General Goals and Specific Goals for 2016. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 7 Tschohl asked Ms Lewis if she has had further complaints from the Nelsons. Ms Lewis said she has not received any more complaints but will continue to monitor that situation. Tschohl said the General Goals listed are taken from the Commission's Charter so those will be the same from year to year. He reviewed the Specific Goals for 2016 which included monitoring developments in laws and regulations regarding small UAS. Lewis said her office will be taking a look at noise complaint reporting because the report format they use has become something of a model for how noise complaints are reported at other airports. In order to do that, they would like to propose some minor changes to the report and suggested that be added to the topics and projects for 2016. She would plan to come back in April with a prototype for the report and go from there. Price suggested it is important for the Commission to keep abreast of new rulings from the FAA that will affect us. Tschohl thought that would be a good addition to the General Goals. Barker said there has been some talk about an airport viewing area and asked about the status of that project. Wilson said it will be placed near the soccer fields as they would have to use their parking lot. They plan to build a new fence around the area. Tschohl asked about the timing for that. Wilson said it would probably be budgeted for 2017. Schendel asked about the viewing area at the Anoka airport. Wilson said that area is located in the tower and has been getting very busy. Sutila asked if the area north of Executive would be a possible location. Wilson said they looked at that area,but the Runway Protection Zone (RPZ) is there and management of surfaces was also an issue. Barker suggested the Commission be actively involved in plans for the viewing area because it presents an opportunity for Eden Prairie to offer something that other cities don't have. B. TOPICS/EVENTS FOR UPCOMING MEETINGS 1. April 2016: Topic TBD Tschohl said we will continue to look at updates on the UAS situation. 2. Springy 2016: Flyins! Cloud Airport Tour Tschohl said we need to schedule an airport tour sometime before the end of the school year for the benefit of the student representatives. The Commission Members discussed possible dates and agreed on the first Saturday in May, May 7. Schendel said there is a pilot seminar at Modern Avionics from 9:00 to 10:00 AM on Saturday mornings that is usually attended by 60-120 pilots. The consensus was to schedule the tour for FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2016 Page 8 10:00 AM, May 7, 2016, with the option to attend the pilot seminar held at Modern Avionics at 9:00 AM. 3. Date TBD, 2016: Review 2035 Flyins! Cloud LTCP Draft VIII. ADJOURNMENT A. Next Commission Meeting--April 14, 2016 MOTION: Hansen moved, seconded by Wilson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 7-0. Chair Tschohl adjourned the meeting at 8:25 PM.