ARC 1-16-2019 MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA
AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES
January 16, 2019
The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on
Wednesday, January 16, 2019, at Mendota Heights City Hall.
1. Call to Order
Chair Sloan called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
2. Roll Call
The following commissioners were present: David Sloan, Gina Norling, William Dunn, Sally
Lorberbaum, and Kevin Byrnes. Absent: Jim Neuharth, Arvind Sharma
Also present: Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Jacobson, City Administrator Mark McNeill
3. Approval of Minutes
Motion by Lorberbaum/Second by Dunn to approve the minutes of the November 14, 2018 ARC
meeting. Motion carried 4-0; Norling abstained.
4. Unfinished and New Business
a. Work Plan for 2019—Those present reviewed the 2017 ARC Work Plan, and
discussed updates for 2019. Chair Sloan said that an annual update to the City
Council is overdue. Mr. McNeill spoke about the number of concerns expressed to
Mendota Heights elected officials by Mendota Heights residents about airport noise.
He felt that the ARC needed to do a better job of reaching out to the community,
and engaging residents.
Better use of social media as one of a combination of communications tools was
discussed. Also discussed was an April 24th joint listening session with the City of
Sunfish Lake; televising ARC meetings, and putting more information in the other
City media such as the Heights Highlights and Friday News.
Recommended Changes to the 2017 Work Plan:
Cover Page—Update to 2019
Page 3—Issue #2—Add “turboprop” under the first bullet point.
Page 4—Add more space after the word “Issue” in the headings; Delete Issue #4,
and combine remnants of that into Issue #6. Issue #5—Change title from “Provide
Review of…” to “Implement the…(City’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan)”. Eliminate the
first bullet point. Move the third bullet point (“Support expanded use of reliever
airports”) to Issue #3, and change the “Ongoing” to “As Needed”.
Page 5—Change Issue “6” to “5”. Split the Heading into two—“Provide
communications to the City Council, NOC Representative, and other
Intergovernmental agencies regarding airport issues”. Under that, include:
• Communicate any concerns to the City’s NOC Representatives
• Maintain list of Meetings pertaining to the Airport
• Provide Annual Report to City Council
Issue #6 “Inform and Engage Mendota Heights Residents regarding Issues Relating
to the Airport.”
• Provide Annual Report in Heights Highlights
• Provide for timely community meetings with residents. (Correct the typo on
“AS”)
• Provide for more direct feedback with residents
• Post link to MAC Noise and NOC website with our agenda/minutes
• Televise ARC Meetings as agenda content dictates
• Heighten awareness and communications of Mendota Heights’ noise and
operational concerns via social media, city’s website, and other
communications tools
b. Review of Airport Operational Statistics and Statistical Links
Complaints--Assistant City Administrator Jacobson noted that there was an
overall reduction of 6% in 2018.
Total Operations—were down
Turboprop Operations—Mr. Byrnes noted that there were no apparent seasonal
patterns—the numbers varied greatly. Ms. Jacobson stated that Atlas Air was now
delivering for Amazon, which might explain the increased number of night flights.
The ARC asked that Brad Juffer at MAC be contacted to explain why June, 2018
turboprop flights were so numerous.
Noise Monitor Charts—Ms. Norling stated that it was a relatively quiet
November. Mr. Dunn felt that C-130 aircraft were responsible for many of the noise
complaints.
5. Other Business
a. January 16 NOC Meeting—Chair Sloan reported that the NOC meeting held earlier
that day was relatively routine. They announced the April 24 Listening Session in
Mendota Heights, and that Eagan was going to use two temporary noise monitoring
stations at two of their parks. MAC discussed plans for the 2019 NCAA Final Four
Basketball Tournament.
b. MAC Board Meeting—In the absence of Commissioner Sharma, the minutes of the
most recent MAC Board meeting were reviewed from the MAC website.
c. NOC Website Dashboard—Ms. Jacobson showed screen shots of the tool that NOC
has created which notifies air traffic controllers in real time when planes stray out of
the corridor. She said that the notifications are not made public, so this may not fix
Mendota Heights’ issues.
d. New Eagan Sensors—It was noted that Eagan had received new sensors, and that
theirs monitors arrivals; Mendota Heights’ monitors arrivals.
e. 2019 Meeting Dates—Commissioner Norling said that the late change of meeting
dates had caused her to miss three meetings in 2018. Ms. Jacobson said that the
May meeting will be May 14th, and that the October 16th meeting will need to be
moved, as it now conflicts with the City Council meeting that evening. The April
meeting was changed to April 24th, to correspond to the Listening Session.
f. Meeting Start Times—Chair Sloan asked if it would be acceptable to change the start
times of the meetings to 6:00 PM? Those present were supportive, but it was
decided to wait until the next meeting on February 20th to discuss it, so that
Commissioners Sharma and Neuharth could comment.
6. Public Comments
No public comments were received.
7. Commissioner Comments
None.
8. Adjourn
Motion Byrnes/Second Norling to adjourn at 8:16 PM
Minutes Taken By:
Mark McNeill
City Administrator