ARC 09-09-2015CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES
September 9, 2015
The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at Mendota Heights City Hall.
Chair Sloan called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
The following commissioners were present: David Sloan, Sally Lorberbaum, William Dunn,
Kevin Byrnes, and Arvind Sharma. Jim Neuharth arrived at 7:07 PM
Absent: Gina Norling (excused)
Also present: Public Works Director/City Engineer John R. Mazzitello, and City Administrator
Mark McNeill. Guest present was Rose Agnew
Approval of Minutes
Norling moved, and Sharma seconded that the minutes of the July 22, 2015 Airport Relations
Commission meeting, which consisted of a tour of MSP, be approved. Lorberbaum asked that
more description be made as to what had transpired during the MAC airport tour, which had
been held jointly with the Eagan ARC. All voted in favor, with the exception of Commissioner
Lorberbaum, who abstained.
Lorberbaum moved, and Sharma seconded that the minutes of the August 12, 2015 Airport
Relations Commission meeting be approved, with a correction by Lorberbaum that, at the bottom
of Page 1, there be a note regarding that there would be no additional MSP runways. All voted
in favor in favor of the minutes as amended.
Unfinished and New Business
4.a Discussion of Annual Work Plan. This topic is to be presented by Chair Sloan to the City
Council at its October 20th meeting. Chair Sloan asked that members review the work plan
independently, and then to let him know of any necessary changes. The final work plan would
then be discussed at the October ARC meeting, prior to going to the October 20th City Council
meeting.
4.b Long Term Comprehensive Plan Update. Sharma reported that the MAC Long Term
Comprehensive Plan update was on the MAC website. He will forward it to the Commission.
Rose Agnew, a guest who was in attendance at the meeting, reported that a MAC meeting on
August 27th which was scheduled primarily to make a public presentation of the LTCP turned
into a contentious meeting about airport noise from neighbors of MAC. She noted that on
August 28th, the FAA reopened previously-closed Runway 17/35.
4.c Response on 12R/12L anomaly from June Statistics—Mazzitello reviewed an e-mail sent by
Dana Nelson of the Airport staff on August 13th, which was in response to a question raised at
the August 12th ARC meeting, concerning an apparent spike in noise complaints. Her e-mail
said that Runway 12L and 12R had been closed for maintenance in June, which would have
resulted in increased flights over Mendota Heights.
4.d Commissioner Norling Statistical Review--Mazzitello reviewed the July statistics, which
had been submitted by Commissioner Norling. The report was consistent with what has been
reported recently by MAC, in that noise complaints have been trending upwards over the
preceding months.
4.e Review of Airport Operational Statistics—Commissioner Neuharth noted that Runway 12L
July o perations had been missed. Mazzitello said that he would correct that. Commissioner
Neuharth noted that 12R totals were high for total operations; however, the good news was that
the departures for north of the corridor in Mendota Heights are down.
5.a July 22, 2015 NOC Meeting--It was noted that this had been reviewed at the August ARC
meeting.
5.b NOC Technical Advisor’s Report—Sharma reported that he had attended the August 17th
MAC Board meeting, which lasted five hours. The MAC heard that passenger counts have
increased by 3.71% compared with last year, while the number of flights have decreased slightly.
He reported that MAC Board had awarded new vendor contracts for the terminal buildings, and
that the trend seemed to favor local businesses, vs. national chains.
5.c July Eagan/Mendota Heights Departure Corridor Analysis
5.d July Runway 17 Departure Analysis Report
5.e July Crossing in the Corridor Analysis
Mazzitello noted that, even though the agenda listed the reports for 5.c, 5,d, and 5.e were listed
as being for the month of June, they were actually for July. He reviewed the results of those with
the Commissioners. Dunn noted that four of the flights which made the top ten on noise were an
8 pm flight by an MD80, routed to Syracuse, NY. Chair Sloan said that he was looking forward
to the results of a portable noise monitoring station being used for a week in Sunfish Lake, to see
whether their readings corresponded with those of Mendota Heights.
Public Comments
There were no comments from the public.
Commissioner Comments
None.
Adjourn
Neuharth made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Dunn at 8:32 PM. All voted in favor.
Minutes Taken By:
Mark McNeill,
City Administrator