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ARC 3-17-2021 MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS DAKOTA COUNTY, MINNESOTA AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MINUTES MARCH 17, 2021 The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Due to the on-going pandemic, the meeting was held virtually. 1. Call to Order/Roll Call Chair Sloan called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm. The following commissioners were present: David Sloan, Gina Norling, William Dunn, Kevin Byrnes, Arvind Sharma, Jim Neuharth, and Jeff Hamiel Guests Attending: MAC District G Representative Richard Ginsberg, MAC Staff Dana Nelson and Brad Juffer. Staff present: Assistant City Administrator Cheryl Jacobson, and City Administrator Mark McNeill. 2. Introduction of New Commissioner Jeff Hamiel was introduced as the newly appointed ARC Commissioner, replacing Sally Lorberbaum. Hamiel described his educational and work background. The other Commissioners welcomed him to membership on the ARC. 3. Election of Officers Jacobson asked for nominations for the position of Chair for the upcoming year. Byrnes nominated Gina Norling for the position of Chair. Sharma seconded. There were no other nominations. A roll call vote was taken: Sloan Aye Hamiel Aye Norling Aye Dunn Not Available* Byrnes Aye Neuharth Aye Sharma Aye *Was experiencing momentary connectivity problems, and so was unable to vote. Motion carried 6-0-1. Ms. Norling was elected as Chair of the ARC for 2021. Chair Norling asked for nominations for the position of Vice-Chair. Byrnes nominated Sharma, which was seconded by Sloan. There were no other nominations. A roll call vote was taken: Sloan Aye Hamiel Aye Norling Aye Dunn Not Available* Byrnes Aye Neuharth Aye Sharma Aye *Was experiencing momentary connectivity problems, and so was unable to vote. Motion carried 6-0-1. Sharma was declared to be Vice-Chair for 2021. 4. Approval of Agenda There were no additions or corrections to the agenda. 5. Approval of Minutes Consideration was made of the Minutes of the January 20, 2021 meeting. Corrections were later offered by Neuharth, who experienced audio technical difficulties during the meeting. Those requested related to correcting the spelling of his name, and the omission of his name from attendance at the January 20th meeting. Motion by Sloan, second by Norling to approve. A roll call vote was taken: Sloan Aye Hamiel Abstain Norling Aye Dunn Not Available* Byrnes Aye Neuharth Aye Sharma Abstain *Was experiencing momentary connectivity problems, and so was unable to vote. Motion carried 4-0-3 6. Public Comments There were no members of the public who wished to comment. 7. Unfinished and New Business a. Guest Speaker—MAC District G Commissioner Richard Ginsburg Representative Ginsburg also introduced Dana Nelson and Brad Juffer of MAC staff. Ginsburg said that District G of the MAC represents the Cities of Mendota Heights, Mendota, Lilydale, Sunfish Lake, West St. Paul, and portion of the City of St. Paul. He described the history of the MAC, showed the current board makeup, and discussed the Mission and Vision of the MAC. He said that the MAC operates much like a city, and has 650 employees. He described COVID’s impacts since March, 2020 on the operations of the airport. Brad Juffer, Manager of Community Relations, made a presentation about airport use, both post pre-COVID and since. He said that both the number of flights and emplaned passengers had dropped dramatically, but noted that the numbers are starting to rebound. Dana Nelson, Director of Stakeholder and Community Engagement, also presented. She spoke of supporting NOC and noise mitigation efforts, and efforts to engage more youth, exposing them to the types of careers which are available at the airport. She reported that noise contours had made a big reduction in the past year as a result of fewer flights overall, and in night time operations especially. Nelson talked about the Airport’s efforts in the area of sustainability, in areas such as water use reduction and waste diversion. She also spoke of goals for increasing the number of airport employees who use something other than private vehicles to commute to work. The MAC speakers took questions from the ARC members. In response to a query from Sharma as to when it was expected that airport use levels would return to pre-COVID levels, Ginsburg said that a full recovery was not expected until 2024. There were no other questions. Chair Norling thanks the MAC participants, who left the meeting at that time. b. Follow-up on Runway 12L Discussion Jacobson had included the presentation slides from the ARC’s January meeting in the packet for this meeting. There were no questions raised. c. City Council Priorities Overview Jacobson described what actions the City Council had taken in February regarding goals and objectives for the City over the ensuing two years. Norling asked about the future use of the Bourne property. She asked that the ARC be allowed to provide input about airport noise and the impact on that property before any final decision is made. d. May 2021 Meeting Format Jacobson said that based on current guidelines, the meeting could either be virtual, or be conducted person to person in the City Council Chambers. The consensus of those present preferred face to face meetings, but agreed that it could change should conditions warrant. 8. Acknowledge Receipt of Reports and Correspondence a. 2020 Complaint Data Analysis Jacobson reported that the charts are from MAC, and are provided for information only. b. MAC Monthly Reports—January and February Jacobson reported that the charts are from MAC, and were being provided for information only. c. Operational Charts i. Complaint Information—Jacobson said that former commissioner Lorberbaum had been responsible for doing these charts, and asked if anyone wanted to comment on the January and February charts. Sharma said that it was a surprise to see fewer complaints from Bloomington than from Mendota Heights, but noted that it was an impact of Runway 17 not being used. ii. Runway Use Information--Neuharth was unable to report due to technical difficulties at the meeting. (He later submitted these comments): A. 12L Total Operations & 12L Night Operations within Control (Under The Upper Control). B. Since 12L Total Operations were out of control during the months of: 5//2020-9/2020 & 12/2020 causes for the out of control condition will be added to the Control Chart. C. 12R Night Time Operations are operating in control while 12R total operations have been operating out of control since 3/2020. The causes for the out of control condition will be added to the Control Chart. D. Commercial Departures north of the corridor are operating within control. E. Turbo Prop Departures north of the corridor are operating within control. F. Turbo Prop Departures on Runway 12L have decreased while the departures on 12R have increased. iii. Turboprop Charts—These were not available at the meeting. iv. Noise Monitor Information--Norling said that noise levels from all of the Mendota Heights monitoring stations were way down. Norling said that Sensor 15 shows data which fluctuates, but overall, it is still well below historical averages. Dunn said that the reports indicate different types of planes, which fewer large passenger planes, and more C-130’s. Sharma remarked that a benefit of COVID is that it is allowing airline companies to speed up the retirement of noisier planes. 9. Commissioner Comments Sharma asked that the May agenda include a discussion of what information is being tracked, and said that the ARC should take a fresh look at what should be monitored. Hamiel said that he is happy to help in any way that he can—he indicated that he could seek out desired information, but doesn’t want to be “the MAC guy”. He said that the MAC must be encouraged to pursue solutions to problems. 10. Adjourn There being no further business, Chair Norling asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion by Dunn, second by Sharma. A roll call vote was taken: Sloan Aye Hamiel Aye Norling Aye Dunn Aye Sharma Aye Byrnes Aye Neuharth Aye Motion carried 7-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM. Minutes Taken By: Mark McNeill, City Administrator