Minutes of the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee 2/9/97 The Little River Airport Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee met on Sunday 2/9/97 from 4-6pm. Three committee members were present: Tim, Trey and Jack. Dick Ahrens acted as alternate for Joel. Grant Wheeler, Dave Brewer and Neil Boyle were also present. We agreed that the next Ad Hoc meeting will take place Sunday, February 23 from 4-6pm at Coast Flyers. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved. Reports ------- Fran is sick, Joel is out on vacation, Susan had to work today. Tim gave a brief report on the 1/31/97 Health, Welfare, Planning and Transportation committee meeting in Ukiah. Tim, Trey and Dave Brewer were there to meet with Patti Campbell, Michael Delbar and Norma. Tim handed out a short memo "Introducing the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee" and gave each of the Supervisors copies of all of our past reports. He also gave them a copy of the AOPA manual, "Airports: A Valuable Community Resource". He briefly reviewed the history of the committee and some of the major issues that have been raised. Trey explained that "everything is connected". He explained the tension of asset vs liability in the neighbor's view of the airport. He said that most neighbors want to keep the airport as it is and generally oppose any expansion. He mentioned the rare pigmy soil, the resulting sanitaion issues and the timber harvest. Dave Brewer introduced himself as both a pilot and a neighbor. Tim briefly summarized some of the airport funding and budget issues, including the County's position of Federal grants (it doesn't apply for them). Trey said that this is an issue of local vs Federal control of the airport, and that he favors local control. Control is a big issue for Trey. Tim said that accepting Federal funding only implies agreeing to obey FAA rules, not FAA management of the airport. The County has declined to do this. For example, the funds from the timber harvest should have stayed in the airport budget, according to FAA rules. Trey mentioned the local concern over the possible industrial park at the airport. Tim mentioned the "official" committee whose formation is pending before the full Board. We only has 30 minutes, so the meeting was essentially a "get to know you" session. The Supervisors were friendly and attentive. Tim handed out copis of a January 29 letter from the FAA Flight Procedures Office in Los Angeles. This states that no new survey of the airport is needed for the GPS approach. It also includes sample letters of concurrance, such as the letter the FAA needs from the County. Jack reported that the Coast Highlands owner's association asked how the Airport Advisroy Committee is doing and said that they liked Dr. Imperial's letter. Minutes ------- The minutes of the 1/26 meeting were approved. GPS --- Tim handed out a first draft one page flyer on the GPS approach. There were several suggestions for improvements. Tim said he'd do a second draft, incorporating the suggested improvements. Trey had marked up his copy of the 1/26/97 draft GPS report, and we discussed his comments. He suggested changing tree "cutting" to "topping". He suggested rewording and clarifying section 2.1. Dave Brewer said it may help to call the approach a "letdown" and to emphasize that the last stage of the approach is to land visually. We agreed to delete section 3.2.5 on volunteer observers. trey would like section 3.3's paragraph on a possible precision approach to be clarified. In fact, all of the sections that mention the precision approach need rework. We agreed to rename section 3.3.1 "Topping Trees". Section 3.6 on airspace needs a clearer statement of the issues - what, why and when. We need to define VFR in the glossary. Section 3.6.1 needs to explain that the radar limitation of one operation every 15 minutes applies only in cloudy weather. Section 3.9 needs to be updated to reflect the FAA's 1/29 letter. Section 3.11 needs to explicitly state the ceiling and visibility limits and should relate these to the weather data. Explain that we won't know the exact minimums for the approach until it has been designed by the FAA. 3.14.3 needs clarification, particularly in the discussion of the Master Plan. Section 4 should state that the approach trapazoid moves to the South, to make it clearer how this fits in with the noise abatement policy. New Business ------------ Grant Wheeler asked if he could speak. He has to suggestions. Considering the number of power outages, he suggests that we look into getting a surplus stand-by generator for the airport. He said that it may be possible for the County to get one for free from a military base that is closing. He offered to do some research to determine the right size for a generator that could power the runway lights, radio, water system and a minimal amount of power for the office. Second, he said that he is willing to research the constant current power supply which feeds the runway lights. He's concerned about the consequences of a failure while a pilot is landing, and wonders if there should be regular safety inspections and preventative maintenance. He asked if there is a maintenance manual - Andy said there is no documentation at all. Grant offered to try to get one and to look into what spare parts it might be reasonable to stock. Trey expressed concern about taking any action without DPW permission. We agreed that Tim will write to DPW to ask permission. Timber Plan Amendment --------------------- Dick reported that a timber management plan amendment notice has been posted, covering the whole airport. It adds self-imposed restrictions to prevent reharvesting before 10-12 years, restricts harvest to selective cust and allows custting for salvage and safety. This is a follow-thruough by Steve Smith on actions promised earlier. Radio ----- Someone expressed concern over the base station Unicom radio. The old radio is no longer legal for transmitting due to its sloppy frequency tolerance. The new FCC rules prohibiting use of such radios when into effect January 1st. Andy has been using his personal hand-held radio instead, but its range is very limited. A pilot has donated a more modern aircraft radio that is legal. Tim has donated a 24 volt power supply. The cabling and installation has yet to be done. We agreed that Tim will write to DPW to ask permission for us to install the new radio. Meanwhile, Grant will do the necessary cabling between power supply and radio, but the final installation will be delayed until we have approval from DPW. We agreed to meet next on February 23 at 4pm. The agenda will be: - approve minutes of previous meeting - reports on recent events - GPS instrument approach - new HWP&T committee - agree on agenda for next meeting Ad Hoc Airport Committee voting members: ----------------------------------------- Joel Bornstein pilot, flight instructor lives near airport Trey Loy non-pilot, lives near airport Jack Reichel pilot, businessman Tim Scully pilot, computer programmer, lives near airport commutes by air to Oakland weekly Susan Winding airport neighbor, non-pilot, local business owner Ray Yates non-pilot, Albion businessman Fran Tucker non-pilot, neighbor of the airport manages the Woods Ad Hoc Committee alternate members: ----------------------------------- Michael Moore pilot, economist Dick Ahrens pilot airport neighbor