ARC 05-17-23 Meeting MinutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION
May 17, 2023 6:00 p.m.
City Hall 1101 Victoria Curve
The regular meeting of the Mendota Heights Airport Relations Commission was held on Wednesday, May 17, 2023 at Mendota Heights City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve.
1. Call to Order
Chair Norling called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm.
Commissioners present: Gina Norling, William Dunn, David Sloan, Jim Neuharth, Bruce Bobbitt,
and Arvind Sharma. Commissioners absent: Jeff Hamiel.
Staff present: City Administrator Cheryl Jacobson and Office Support Assistant Sheila Robertson.
2. Approval of Agenda Motion by Sloan and second by Dunn to approve the agenda. Motion carried 6-0. 3. Approval of Minutes a. March 15, 2023 Regular Meeting Minutes Motion by Sharma and second by Dunn to approve the minutes pending grammatical errors to be reviewed, identified, and corrected by City Clerk Lusian. Motion carried 6-0. 4. Public Comments Scott Norling, of 1280 Lakeview Ave, reviewed the 2018 Very High Frequency Omni-Directional
Range (VOR) decommissioning and introduction of Area Navigation (RNAV), per a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) presentation at the January Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) meeting. He shared unofficial charts and maps that demonstrated various data points, such as houses in Mendota Heights that are only 1½ miles off of 12L, where planes are still flying at low takeoff altitudes and receiving more noise. He stated that he’s cautiously optimistic that the
NOC wants to help mitigate noise over the Eagan/Mendota Heights Corridor.
5. Unfinished and New Business
a. FAA Noise Policy Review Public Comment Period
City Administrator Jacobson asked the Commission to review links to the FAA’s Request for
Comments published in the Federal Register. She asked the Commission if they then would
want to submit comments on behalf of the city with City Council approval. She stated the
NOC will have their draft comment letter done around June 20, so the Airport Relations
Commission (ARC) could schedule a special meeting in June or July in order to review after
that point and draft a city comment letter. Public comments are due to the FAA by July 31.
Commissioner Neuharth made a motion to wait until the NOC’s draft letter comes out before holding a special meeting in June or July and writing a letter from the ARC. Second by Sloan. Motion carried 6-0.
City Administrator Jacobson will coordinate meeting date options with the ARC, noting a letter would need to be completed by July 13 in order to be added to the July 18 City Council meeting agenda. b. ARC 2023-2024 Work Plan Chair Norling asked if the ARC could make the RNAV work a separate priority item.
City Administrator Jacobson suggested making it an action item under the “Noise
Mitigation” heading.
Commissioner Bobbitt recommended setting an attainable number of goals to be focused
and honed in on.
Chair Norling suggested holding a NOC listening session after the RNAV work is completed.
Commissioner Sharma asked if there are any City events coming up that the ARC could be
present at.
City Administrator Jacobson noted the City’s annual Parks Celebration on August 12 may provide an option to have a presence at. 6. Acknowledge Receipt of Reports and Correspondence a. Review of Airport Operational Statistics (link: https://www.macenvironment.org/reports/) City Administrator Jacobson presented charts on “12R Total Operations”, “12R Night Operations”, “12L Nighttime Operations”, and “Departures North of the Corridor”. 1. Complaint Information Complaints are low at this time. 2. Runway Use Information NA 3. Noise Monitor Information
Commissioner Dunn stated that information hasn’t changed much at this time.
a. MAC Reports
NA
b. News Articles
NA
7. Commissioner Comments
City Administrator Jacobson noted that the July meeting will be a joint meeting with the
Eagan ARC, which will be hosted by the Mendota Heights ARC, on July 19. She added that
she’ll set up a special meeting regarding the follow up to the FAA Noise Policy Review.
8. Adjourn Meeting Motion by Neuharth and second by Sloan to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 6-0. Chair Norling adjourned the meeting at 7:12pm.
Minutes taken by Sheila Robertson
Office Support Assistant