ARC 07 13 16 MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES
July 13, 2016
The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at Mendota Heights City Hall.
Call to Order
Chair David Sloan called the meeting to order at 6:59 pm.
The following commissioners were present: David Sloan, William Dunn, Arvind Sharma, Kevin
Byrnes, Jim Neuharth, Gina Norling and Sally Lorberbaum.
Absent: NOC Alternate Representative Jill Smith (excused)
Also present: MAC Staff Chad Leqve, Dana Wall, and Brad Juffer; also, City Administrator
Mark McNeill
Approval of Minutes
Corrections: Neuharth noted the opening of the new hotel at MSP will be 2017, not 2018;
Norling said that the runway notation in items 4.b should be 12L, rather than the second
reference to17/35. Motion Norling/second Dunn, to approve the minutes of the June 8, 2016
ARC meeting, with changes as noted. Motion carried 7-0.
Unfinished and New Business
4.a, b. Speakers: Brad Juffer presented information which had been part of the May NOC
meeting, regarding “crossing in the corridor”. He said that the procedure had been implemented
in 1995, and studied in 1997 and 1998. It can be used when there is only one FAA controller on
duty, and is meant to reduce the number of flights over residential areas. While in general its use
has been steadily on the rise, the increase in the number of 5 AM flights has reduced the usage
percentages somewhat. He said that the hope is to increase its use as much as possible.
Information has been forwarded to the FAA.
He then spoke on the turboprop issue which had been raised at the March neighborhood meeting
in Mendota Heights. He said that only a small percentage of all operations at MSP were
turboprop, and he gave statistics as to what amount of that was due to general, and commercial
aviation. He said that very few of the propeller operations happened before 6 am, and ost begin
at 7 AM. He said that inbound flights are usually from 7 to 8 PM. He said that they are trying to
find ways to improve operations; 50% of the turboprop flights using 12L and 12R leave the
corridor early, but that wind and air traffic play a role. He said that an update would be
presented at the July NOC meeting.
Neuharth said that the ARC should establish a chart to follow this issue. Chad Leqve said that
the FAA is trying to find a solution. The fact that the Mendota Heights ARC tracks factual
information is a help to the FAA.
Dana Wall then spoke to questions relating to noise issues from 12R and 12L which had been
posed at a previous ARC meeting. She said that those two runways had been used more in April
due to unusual spring wind patterns
She also discussed the noise abatement departure program. She said that the FAA has tried to
standardize noise departure procedures nationwide, and described procedures for both “close in”
and “distant”, meaning inside or outside of a 3.5 mile arc from the far end of a runway.
She also said that American Airlines will retire all of the MD-80 airplanes from their fleet by
2017.
4.c Request for Runway 12L Departure Notification: Norling said that she had observed
numbers going up for the use of 12L, but not 12R, and that current levels are back to what they
were before the opening of 17/35. She asked if more flights could be diverted over commercial
areas? Dana Wall said that 17/35 is being used very much, and that information had been
provided to MAC. Leqve said that in tracking runway use, 35% of flights use 17/35; as a result,
more complaints are coming from residents in Eagan. He further said that the FAA is trying to
deal with the conflicting runway issue. The engineering firm of HNTB is doing an analysis for
MAC, which is due in January, 2017. There can then be a better dialogue on runway use at the
airport.
4.d Review of Airport Operational Charts. Neuharth said that the charts for April looked
normal, and that he and John Mazzitello would construct a chart for turboprops. Lorberbaum
and Norling both noted nothing unusual in their charts.
Acknowledge Receipt of Various Reports/Correspondence
Chair Sloan said the NOC Committee would be meeting the following week.
Arvind Sharma distributed operations reports, and said that it appeared that the number of
operations were picking up. Leqve said that that was correct, and that MSP was nearly back to
1990’s levels. However, the long term use forecasts are still below the 2005 use levels.
Byrnes discussed articles which talked about the rotating use of runways at Chicago’s O’Hare
Airport.
Leqve stated that when the dual track airport study was done in the 1990’s, it was learned then
that a replacement major airport would have cost $3.2 billion. As a result of wanting to avoid
that expenditure, MSP is now the only airport in the country which mitigates to 60 db. It is also
the only airport in the country which has this level of a noise office
Upcoming Meetings
Upcoming meeting were noted.
Public Comments
There were no members of the public present.
Commissioner Comments
Chair Sloan gave McNeill an article regarding Delta Airlines to distribute to the Commission at a
later time.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Airport Relations Commission will be August 10, 2016. Dunn
indicated that he would be absent.
Adjourn
The meeting adjourned at 8:29 PM
Minutes Taken By:
Mark McNeill,
City Administrator