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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFlying Cloud Airport Advisory Commission - 07/13/2017 APPROVED MINUTES FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION THURSDAY,JULY 13, 2017 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER HERITAGE ROOM I 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair, Keith Tschohl; Vice-Chair, Bob Barker; Braj Agrawal; Daniel Dorson; Dan Kiely; Mike Wilson COMMISSION MEMBERS ABSENT: Kurt Schendel STAFF: George Esbensen, Fire Chief; Jan Curielli, City Recorder VISITORS: Robert Dockery, MAC Representative I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Tschohl called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Tschohl said the MnDOT Aeronautics representatives were not able to attend the meeting so Item V. should be removed. MOTION: Barker moved, seconded by Kiely, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 6-0. III. PUBLIC COMMENT IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. COMMISSION MEETING HELD THURSDAY,APRIL 20, 2017 Tschohl said the Mr. Agrawal's first name was misspelled. MOTION: Dorson moved, seconded by Agrawal, to approve the minutes of the April 20, 2017, meeting as amended. Motion carried 6-0. V. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS UPDATE—MnDOT Aeronautics (Item removed) VI. STANDING DISCUSSION ITEMS FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2017 Page 2 A. NOISE REPORT—MAC Wilson said Ms Lewis was not able to attend the meeting tonight. Robert Dockery will give the noise report instead. Mr. Dockery is the Operations Agent for Reliever Airports. Robert Dockery, MAC Representative, distributed copies of the Reliever Airport Operations and Noise Complaint Report for Second Quarter 2017. Barker noted there were a lot of comments and discussion at the April meeting regarding the changed report format and what details previously included in the reports were now absent. He asked if any of the feedback was incorporated into the reports. Wilson said the information about letters sent out to operators at Flying Cloud Airport is available, but will not be included in the printed report. Mr. Dockery demonstrated the tools available on the revised website. An interactive report for reliever airports is available by quarters. The report shows the number of flights and the number of noise complaints for each reliever airport for the quarter. The report for second quarter of 2017 shows FCM had 30% of the total reliever airport flights and about 49% of the noise complaints received. Agrawal noted Eden Prairie has a lot more residential area than does Crystal and asked if that would explain the disparity in terms of complaint numbers. Esbensen said Crystal is a different type of neighborhood with a different type of housing. Wilson said operations are somewhat different at Crystal, and there are many older, established neighborhoods and a different mix of residents. Barker asked if the reports are now completely user selected and if there is some correlation between the flight paths and noise complaints. Wilson replied the complaints heat map is not typically printed because it includes all airports. Mr. Dockery noted complaints were up 17% in the second quarter of 2017. A switch was made from complaint tracking by household to tracking by location to avoid duplicate counts. Barker said the previous reporting system would correlate noise complaints to a specific street address; whereas, noise complaints are now shown within a grid. Wilson said they decided to show the complaints in grids, rather than dots on the map. Dorson asked what we are doing to help reduce the number of complaints. Tschohl replied we typically cannot change the mind of the person complaining. The Commission has looked more closely at a number of locations as well as reviewing the number of complaints. Esbensen said we will have a better year over year perspective with the new reporting system. Mr. Dockery noted the most complaints are received at 6:00 a.m. Wilson commented the tower opens at that time. FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2017 Page 3 Kiely asked if the number of flights is up in the second quarter because of better weather or more business. Wilson said there are probably more businesses being served by FCM. They have seen more activity in the south area of the airport, and there is redevelopment of the buildings on the north side. Kiely asked why they have started building in the south area. Wilson said interest has been slowly increasing over the past few years. Dorson asked if the increased noise complaints are for jet aircraft. Wilson said that is a trend at all airports. Tschohl asked if there is a way to determine the jet operations on the interactive reports. Mr. Dockery said the report does include information regarding operations by aircraft type. Esbensen suggested adding a fourth column to the aircraft type report that would show percentages in addition to the columns for numbers of operations and complaints. Mr. Dockery reported in April six letters were sent out to operators regarding 27 operations; in May, ten letters for 30 operations; and in June, 11 letters for 32 operations. Esbensen noted some of the complaints are for flights taking place before 6:00 a.m. that may be business driven. For example, they may need to take off at 5:45 a.m. to get to an early meeting. B. AIRCRAFT INCIDENTS AND RUNWAY INCURSIONS--MAC Wilson reported there was an incident where a training helicopter was hovering over grass and, after cutting the engine and dropping to the ground, it tipped over due to uneven terrain. The instructor had a minor injury, and the rotors and other parts of the helicopter were damaged. The Fire and Police Departments responded promptly. Barker asked if the incident disrupted a runway or taxiway. Wilson said it did not impact anything. Wilson said in another situation, an aircraft was using the high speed taxiway when it exited due to a wheel issue. They had to close down two runways because the tower had notified them which meant they had to wait for a release. Wilson said they have had a lot of runway incursions and recently had a runway incursion summit at the MAC. Dorson asked how FCM stacks up against other airports. Wilson said FCM is at 14.4 incursions per 100,000, and is currently number two in the nation. He reviewed the incursions that occurred during the quarter. He noted the FAA reaches out to pilots about incursions, while the MAC deals with vehicles incursions. Barker asked if there is anything about the configuration of FCM that accounts for the large number of incursions. Wilson said part of it is the parallel runways. Some operators are confused by the configuration of runways and taxiways. The resurfacing done on the north runway causes it to not show up as well, and paint FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2017 Page 4 doesn't stay on it. Barker asked if color contrast is the problem. Wilson said just the one runway appears different. There is also a problem with operators expecting to get the runway they usually use,but the tower has told them to go to another. Wilson said they are being required to have black outlines around white markings now, which will help when colors fade. They have discussed seal-coating of runways,but there are differences of opinion at the MAC about that type of surface. They will probably do a mill and overlay on the north parallel runway next year. Esbensen asked if they have considered the Texas under seal process which the City has used quite successfully to help prevent cracks coming up through a mill and overlay. Wilson said they have used fabric on cracks before. Next year they plan to add flashing RIELs to show the correct runway. They also plan to designate the north parallel runway as a utility runway. They hope the changes planned will help with incursions. He noted they will be getting expedited funding because of the high numbers of incursions at FCM. Barker asked if there is an equal level of diligence in the reporting of incidents. Wilson said Anoka has a contract tower with four controllers. Reporting may be influenced by the location of the tower and the helpfulness of personnel in the tower. C. AIRPORT DEVELOPMENT UPDATES--MAC 1. Non-aeronautical Development Wilson said the day care construction west of the Flying Cloud fields is well underway. They will have a long-term lease with the MAC. The MAC Commercial Department is marketing the site near Gate H on the north side. He noted his department has questions about access to that site. He said any revenue received from the sites goes into their operating budget. 2. Public Viewing Area Wilson said the slab has been poured for the viewing area. They will pour the footings and sidewalk soon, and the carpenters are scheduled for next week to start the viewing structure. He expected the viewing area to be completed in 3-4 weeks. They plan to have eight six-foot picnic tables in the area. Esbensen requested that the tables be of non-flammable material. Wilson said there will be a six-foot fence around the area and a five-foot wide sidewalk. They will do fabric and rock around the area. Esbensen suggested they plan some sort of opening celebration, and noted former Commission Chair Jeff Larsen was instrumental in getting this FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2017 Page 5 viewing area. Barker said the timing would mean the opening would probably occur before the next meeting. Kiely suggested we publicize the date when the area is to be opened. D. UNMANNED AIRCRAFT SYSTEMS (UAS) REGULATORY AND INTEGRATION UPDATES--MAC Barker said there has been a change in the rules for registration. and they have been refunding the fees. Kiely asked if they get a lot of calls at the tower. Wilson said they need to review their internal procedures on phone call requests because the calls should go to the tower and not to his office as they often do now. E. EDUCATIONAL ITEMS VII. OTHER OLD BUSINESS A. RECAP OF SPRING 2017 AIRPORT TOUR Agrawal said the tour was fantastic and gave him a great introduction to the airport. VIII. NEW BUSINESS A. UPCOMING EVENTS AND TOPICS FOR FUTURE FCAAC MEETINGS 1. WOTN Air Expo (July 15-16) Wilson said Wings of the North has some exciting new aircraft for the Air Expo, including a Corsair, a 2/3 scale of the Spirit of St. Louis, a UH52 helicopter, and possibly a B 17. Tschohl asked what will happen to the Air Expo once the south area fills in. Wilson said after this year they may switch to smaller events held more often. 2. Semiannual MAC Noise Abatement Seminar (October 28) 3. Super Bowl LII Updates (January 2018) Wilson reviewed the status of plans being developed for the Super Bowl. Agrawal asked what they charge for landing. Wilson replied the FBO's set the fees. He thought the fee will be close to that of other airports. They expect the FAA to allow 22 aircraft arrivals and eight departures per hour FLYING CLOUD AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES July 13, 2017 Page 6 before the event, with the reverse after the event. They start the reservation system on Wednesday before the event through Monday night after the event. Reservations are taken by the FBO's. Barker asked if airports further out are included in plans to reposition aircraft for the event. Wilson said they have been working with Rochester, St. Cloud, Owatonna and Mankato. Parking for big aircraft will be pushed to Minneapolis and St. Paul. 4. Review 2015 Flyins! Cloud LTCP Draft (2017-2018?) IX. ADJOURNMENT A. NEXT COMMISSION MEETING—OCTOBER 12, 2017 Chair Tschohl adjourned the meeting at 8:30 PM.