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2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes 2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES September 11, 2007 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on Wednesday, September 11, 2007, at 7:00 p.m., in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. The following Commissioners were present: Liz Petschel, Chair; Bill Dunn, Robin Ehrlich, Sally Lorberbaum, and Dave Sloan, Commissioners. Also present were: Jim Danielson, City Administrator, Jake Sedlacek, Assistant to the City Administrator, and Mary Heintz, Recorder. Not Present: Ellsworth Stein, Vice Chair; Brian Linnihan, Commissioner. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Commissioner Ehrlich, seconded by Commissioner Dunn, to approve the July 11, 2007, and August 6, 2007, Airport Relations Commission Meeting minutes. The minutes were approved as submitted. Unfinished and New Business Chair Petschel requested the addition of Night-Time Departures and Use of GPS on Flight Tracks to the agenda. A. Discuss September 19, 2007, Legislative Hearing Chair Petschel distributed notes from the August 15, 2007, Cities meeting, in preparation for the September 19 legislative hearing (7:00 p.m. at the Eagan Community Center). She said the group wants a positive message, emphasizing that the purpose for changing MAC appointments is to improve the relationship between MAC and the Cities. She said Merland Otto commented that MAC was involved when the dual track process was initiated and needs to be involved again. Chair Petschel stated that the Statutes that created the MAC directed that designees (Tom Foley is Mendota Heights’ representative) need to be better representatives of the Cities, which is the crux of the problem, and Commissioners need to clarify what ARC needs to say and what the message is, in advance of any ARC meeting that Tom Foley is scheduled to attend. Page 1 2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes Themes from the August 15 meetings were: • The Cities proximity to the airport creates what is essentially an economic partnership. Commission Meeting – September 11, 2007 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 2 • The cities bear all the risk (air crashes, fuel dumping, falling aircraft parts, etc.) with no representation. • The Cities’ ability to zone and develop are directly affected by the airport. • Transportation through the surrounding Cities is a lifeline for the airport and a major responsibility of the Cities and County. Possible solutions: • Moving four of the current outstate MAC representatives to a statewide board where they could have more impact on regional transportation, then filling those empty seats with City representatives. • Adding new seats to accommodate the Cities (Jeff Hamiel says he can do this). • More transparency and Cities input in the appointments, with input on slate (currently political payback). Commissioner Ehrlich suggested rewording the proposed verbiage for the September 19 meeting: instead of “It is also important to note that the legislature made the decision to leave the airport at its present site and then proceeded to abandon the Cities and any kind of oversight,” that it read “…the legislature has enforced little control over the MAC and airport policy since that date.” Chair Petschel said she made it clear to Burnsville and Apple Valley representatives that the main agenda issue cannot solely be noise. B. Night-time Departures and Use of GPS on Flight Tracks Chair Petschel reported that there will be a September 19, 2007, NOC meeting at 1:30 p.m. at MAC and the agenda includes the night-time issue with Eagan. She said there is fanning at night off the end of 17 and some of those fan flights are going over Eagan and those residents aren’t happy. Eagan recommends, instead of 17, using 12R for operations at night, mostly an industrial corridor, and it is anticipated that FAA’s response will concur, with two parallels to be used for the majority of departures. Chair Page 2 2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes Petschel requested input from Commissioners, noting that she doesn’t want more traffic off 12L. Commission consensus was that 12R is okay as long as planes don’t go over 12L. Chair Petschel noted that night operations are down but percentages that Mendota Heights takes are higher. Commissioner Ehrlich determined that flights aren’t equally distributed between 12:30 and 6:00 a.m. but most flights likely occur within a three-hour period. He said Mendota Heights takes a third of the night-time departures and average ten per hour for that period (900 total evening departures for the month, 30 per night, 10 per hour). C. GPS Technology Chair Petschel reported that the issue of flying flight tracks instead of headings is coming forward, which will allow planes to fly an absolute designated-degree heading and result in no excursion. She said it is ARC’s goal to use technologies to keep planes in the corridors and this may create the problem that particular areas will be exposed to constant repetitive flights. Commission Meeting – September 11, 2007 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 3 Commissioner Ehrlich recommended that the Airport use varying headings, such 90, 85, and 80 degrees, instead of consistently using a heading such as 90 or 110 degrees, to vary exposure. Commissioner Sloan agreed that more headings would help the situation. Commissioner Dunn recommended that the GPS be used for a trial period, such as six months or a year. Chair Petschel said GPS is claimed to save fuel and increase capacity due to separation accuracy as well as to decrease noise, though more information is needed. Commissioner Ehrlich inquired as to whether tracks would be adjusted given guaranteed separation. Chair Petschel acknowledged that this would be a good question to ask and said reassurance would be needed that the same homeowners wouldn’t be strafed with constant flights overhead, otherwise it wouldn’t be something that the Commission Page 3 2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes would want to recommend to the Community. Further discussion will continue at the next ARC meeting. D. Discuss Brian Linnihan Resignation The City Administrator reported there were three applicants for Planning Commission openings, of which two were chosen, but none is available to replace the ARC vacancy created by Commissioner Linnihan, who resigned effective August 30 due to an out-of-state employment promotion. He reported also that Mayor Huber plans to bring forward a Council recommendation that there be no expiration of ARC terms. The City Administrator stated that the ARC vacancy will likely remain unfilled until January 2008. E. Update for Introduction Book Commissioner Ehrlich requested that numerical reference material be placed in an Excel spreadsheet format, and Commissioner Lorberbaum requested that all materials be three- hole punched. Commissioner Ehrlich commented about the 2010 program documentation, and Chair Petschel cited the omission of the multi-million-dollar Humphrey Terminal project, now deferred from 2008 to 2011 and likely associated with MAC lawsuits. She said that she is glad, however, to note that the runway rehabilitation project is on schedule for next year, which involves construction of 58” of concrete onto a base and is expected to last 50 years. Acknowledge Receipt of Various Reports/Correspondence A. MAC Implementation Schedule for the 2008 CIP B. July 2007 ANOM Technical Advisor’s Report C. July 2007 ANOM Eagan/Mendota Heights Departure Corridor Analysis Commission Meeting – September 11, 2007 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 4 D. July 2007 (New Format) ANOM Eagan/Mendota Heights Departure Corridor Analysis E. Airport Noise Report, August 10, 2007 F. Airport Noise Report, August 17, 2007 G. Airport Noise Report, August 24, 2007 Page 4 2007-09-11 Airport Relations Commission Minutes H. Airport Noise Report, August 31, 2007 Other Commissioner Comments or Concerns Commissioner Lorberbaum wished everyone a happy Rosh Hashana and Happy New Year. Upcoming Meetings • MAC Meeting – September 17, 2007 – 1:00 p.m. • City Council Meeting – September 18, 2007 – 7:30 p.m. • NOC Meeting – September 19, 2007 – 1:30 p.m. Adjourn Commissioner Dunn made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Sloan, to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Mary Heintz TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. Page 5