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2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES March 12, 2008 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on Wednesday, March 12, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., in the Large Conference Room at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota. The following Commissioners were present: Acting Chair; Robin Ehrlich, Vice Chair; Bill Dunn, Sally Lorberbaum, Lyle Odland, and Dave Sloan. Not Present: Commissioners Liz Petschel and Ken Reed. Also present were: Jim Danielson, City Administrator; Jake Sedlacek, Assistant to Mr. Danielson, and Amanda Staple, Recorder. Approval of Minutes Acting Chair Ehrlich requested a grammatical correction on the roll call portion of the minutes; Commissioner Sandy Lorberbaum should read Sally Lorberbaum. A motion was made by Commissioner Dunn, seconded by Commissioner Lorberbaum, to approve the February 13, 2008, ARC meeting minutes as amended. The minutes were approved unanimously. Unfinished and New Business A. Review/Update Goals & Objectives Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that they had made so many changes recently that he did not know if they needed to spend a lot of time on this issue. Commissioner Lorberbaum was impressed that the committee had accomplished so many of the things that they had on the list. She questioned the last time that Senator Metzen had been to a committee meeting. Commissioner Dunn advised that it had been a little over a year. Commissioner Lorberbaum questioned if they should set a date for them to come back and suggested that they send an invitation for a summer meeting. Commissioner Dunn thought that they should wait until after the election. Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 2 Commissioner Lorberbaum thought that they would be able to take a couple of hours of their day to come to a meeting. Mr. Sedlacek explained that it would be a chance for the committee to tell them the issues that they care about. Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that there are some basic formatting issues as some of the items were statements and some were actions. Commissioner Lorberbaum stated that some of the items started with a verb and some did 2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] not. Commissioner Sloan advised that they had recognized that during the last discussion and had that fixed. Commissioner Dunn advised that Ken had stated at the last meeting that he had some things that he wanted to discuss. He did not think that they should go into it too much without Ken being present. Acting Chair Ehrlich thought that they should make sure that all the grammatical issues were changed and that number five be completed as half of the item was missing. Mr. Danielson advised that he had brought the wrong copy to the meeting; he had brought the first draft and not the one that they had made the changes to. He advised that they would add this item to the agenda for the next meeting so that they would have the correct draft and so that Ken and Liz would also be present. A motion was made by Commissioner Lorberbaum, seconded by Commissioner Dunn, to table this issue until the next meeting. The motion was approved unanimously. B. Leqve, Rydeen Visit Preparation Commissioner Dunn suggested that the MAC people be given a heads up of the questions prior to the meeting. Mr. Danielson stated that he had already told them that he would provide them with a list of questions before the meeting. Acting Chair Ehrlich suggested that they discuss the runway issues. Commissioner Lorberbaum questioned that if they are not really using a runway a lot, how would they justify building a new runway. Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 3 Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that they do not use the 17/35 runway in the evening because they spread out over Eagan, so that is why they use the other two runways more. He explained that they arrive in one direction and depart in the other direction so they only use a runway in one direction. He stated that the only numbers that are skewed are the nighttime numbers because of the Eagan issue. He then questioned what the airport’s plan would be for CDA. Commissioner Odland advised that when a plane is up in altitude and then has continuous decent, CDA, and keep that all the way through touchdown it saves on adjustments, fuel, and is also quieter. He explained that when they have continuous decent that means that they do not have to level off at any point during the decent. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that some of the airports are using noise-monitoring devices that are out of date or not necessarily recording things, as they should. He suggested that item be added to the discussion list. Mr. Sedlacek then reviewed the questions that the board had come up with: to explain out of corridor; are wheels up for noise or fuel; the runway use system; the quality of ANOMs; how far the pilot is out when the tower hands them off and does the heading matter; and is there an incentive for quick turn. 2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] C. February 19 MAC Meeting Update Mr. Sedlacek advised that he and Commissioners Petschel, Odland, Ehrlich, and Reed had all attended the meeting. He stated that there were about 45 to 55 chairs setup and full for the meeting. He advised that they went through the business agenda and they did have a broad range of things to deal with. He stated that the biggest issue was the Humane Society regarding the bid for the old Avia Communications building that is on airport property. He advised that the Humane Society won the bid and wants to turn the building into a dog spa. He stated that the issue was debated and advised that both sides were very well prepared. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that he found the meeting to be strange, and thought that if they are working to change the formation of MAC they should have people from areas that are affected by the airports. He thought that the people seemed to know little about airports and were from areas that are not affected by airports. Commissioner Odland thought that the people showed their discomfort of being in front of a big group of people. He stated that they are probably used to being in a small room without an audience. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that when they introduced themselves, none of them seemed to have the background for the position. Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 4 Commissioner Lorberbaum questioned if the meeting was around the time of the Delta merger being announced and thought maybe that had something to do with how the meeting went. Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that they did have good discussions at the meeting. Commissioner Dunn suggested that if they were uncomfortable in front of groups of people, maybe it would be good to send a few people to their meetings to make them more comfortable in front of others. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that Chad had a good presentation of the things that they do and advised that his staff was present at the meeting as well. Mr. Sedlacek stated that they had big power point presentations and showed how all the flights were going over Eagan and also showed the feedback they received from the Councilmembers and residents of Eagan. He stated that they then showed the flights being transferred to Mendota Heights and thought that was a win win situation. Commissioner Odland questioned the boundaries of the 90-degree corridor. Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that the 90-degree would be Highway 110 and stated that they should stay south of Highway 110. He advised that the Eagan/Mendota Heights analysis could be found on page two. Mr. Sedlacek advised that in October the Committee had gone to them and they said that it was a mistake and then in November, Eagan brought up that same issue because they noticed the increase in the evening. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that if you go back in time there is not a lot of luck in correlating the numbers. He advised that the number is still high but not that high and stated that of many of the flights, 53 of them returned to the corridor. Mr. Sedlacek advised that this does not show the number of flights that come back in. 2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] Commissioner Odland questioned how they report that they are out and then come back in. He thought that if they are out they are assigned there and wondered if that would be a pilot error or controller error. Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that Chair Petschel had said that regional jets are a lot more nimbler than other jets and stated that they can just zip back around and go back through Mendota Heights. Commissioner Odland stated that they would still need the approval of the controller to do that. Commissioner Dunn thought that it would be an issue of human error. Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 5 Commissioner Odland stated that would mean that it would be a fixable issue. Acting Chair Ehrlich explained that regional jets do not need the high altitude and therefore could turn around. Mr. Sedlacek suggested that they add to the questions for Chad and Carl to explain the deviation for the corridor, and whether it is pilot or controller error. Commissioner Odland stated that he had just spoken with a retired 3M pilot and was advised that the gear down on landing is more of a fuel consumption issue rather than noise issue. Acting Chair Ehrlich questioned if it was quieter with the equipment up. Commissioner Odland stated that that it is a great public relations deal to say that they are doing it for noise when they really are doing it to save money. He stated that what they are telling us may be 75 percent truthful and advised that there may be other issues that they are not being 100 percent truthful on. Acting Chair Ehrlich suggested that they add that issue for the MAC people. D. Update for Introduction Book Not Discussed Acknowledge Receipt of Various Reports/Correspondence A. January 2008 ANOM Technical Advisor’s Report B. January 2008 (New Format) ANOM Eagan/Mendota Heights Departure Corridor Analysis C. Airport Noise Report, February 8, 2008 D. Airport Noise Report, February 15, 2008 E. Airport Noise Report, February 22, 2008 Commissioner Odland stated that a diplomatic way to address the visitor about the CDA question would be to refer to the February 8th newsletter and acknowledge that they had read it. Acting Chair Ehrlich advised that the newsletter was not from MAC. Mr. Sedlacek advised that the group that writes the newsletter would actually be the 2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] MAC. Acting Chair Ehrlich did not think that it would be an issue to bring up the issue during the discussion. He questioned if someone from the Committee or the Council should Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 6 attend a conference that was discussed in the February 8th newsletter. He did not know if there was a cost to attend but advised that obviously there would be airfare and hotel costs. Mr. Danielson advised that the conference does have a cost to attend. Acting Chair Ehrlich stated that many groups like theirs work in a vacuum and do not know what is going on in the outside world. He thought that it would be nice to see what is going on in other communities and to find out what they are doing. He also felt the their group could possibly add to the discussions. Commissioner Odland stated that maybe it would be an opportunity to partner with other communities and do a round robin, where one year this Committee would be represented and the next Apple Valley would send a representative. He thought that it could be a three-year rotation. Mr. Sedlacek advised that Vern Wilcox from Apple Valley had attended one of those conferences and could possibly be brought in to brief this Committee. Mr. Danielson advised that the City rarely sends people to attend conferences out of state. He stated that one person had been sent to a conference last year for noise, and then another person would have the opportunity to go this year. He stated that the City does not send people to those conferences very often. He stated that they could wait to see what the agenda will be for the conference and go from there. He advised that he would also check on the cost. Other Commission Comments or Concerns None Upcoming Meetings • MAC Meeting – March 17, 2008 – 1:00 p.m. • City Council Meeting – March 18, 2008 – 7:30 p.m. • NOC Meeting – March 19, 2008 – 1:30 p.m. Commissioner Lorberbaum stated that she noticed that the October meeting date for this Committee would fall on Yom Kipper and questioned if they were willing to change that meeting date. Commissioner Dunn stated that they should change the date. Mr. Sedlacek advised that he would check on available dates and report back to the Committee at the next meeting. Commission Meeting – March 12, 2008 Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission 7 Public Comments None. Adjourn 2008-03-12 Airport Relations Commission Minutes.txt[1/25/2018 4:04:23 PM] Commissioner Sloan made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Dunn, to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Amanda Staple TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.