Minutes of the May 4, 1997 meeting of the Little River Airport Ad Hoc Advisory Committee A regularly scheduled meeting of the Committee was held at 4:00 pm at Coast Flyers. Committee members present included: Jack Reichel, Joel Bornstein, Ray Yates, Trey Loy and Fran Tucker. Also in attendance were: Dave Brewer, Lee Edmundson, Lauren Jones, Richard Gallagher, Grant Wheeler, Gail Diamond, Charles Meinershagen, Andy Becker, Nang Becker and John Merriman. Chairperson Tim Scully was unable to attend the meeting as he was abroad on business. Trey agreed to preside over the meeting. Jack moved that he be allowed to do that; Joel seconded. Approval was given by all present. As our first order of business we discussed the minutes of the community meeting held on April 20, 1997. Ray offered that Diane Weidemann called for the committee to consist partly of two, "Environmental Neighbors." Trey recapped the meeting: He noted that there seemed to be two opposing sides. He noted a perceived unfair division of the proposed committee members; pilots, non-pilots and business Rep. He favors the official committee. Fran spoke of apparent misinformation and misperceptions. She feels that people should come to more meetings in order to become better informed. Supervisor Patti Campbell said she would provide the Mendocino Beacon with the date of the Planning, Transportation, Health and Welfare Committee's recommendation to the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors Re: The Little River Airport Advisory Committee. This date did not appear in this week's Beacon. Fran asks that the Ad Hoc Committee check with Supervisor Campbell to find out when the recommendation will be made. Lee said that Supervisor Campbell requested written comments. Lee reported that there was a meeting of Patsy Brown and others at Diane Weidemann's House. He will report on the meeting when he hears of the news. Trey said he was contacted, but he backed off when he heard, "We would like you to feel....." Grant remembered that at the Ukiah meeting the Supervisors made it clear that they wished to concentrate on the resolution only. Grant feels that our meetings are run fairly. Trey says the pilots tend to dominate; he feels alone sometimes. He wants the neighbors to feel like coming to the meetings. Ray wants equal representation; pilots and non-pilots. Lee says that Tim is a "Straight Shooter." He thinks the makeup of the committee isn't the real issue. He called it a "Straw Dog." His opinion is that the business representative is really a spokesperson for the Chamber of Commerce. He will certainly vote pro-business. Joel welcomed Gail Diamond, who arrived a few minutes earlier. He then asked Ray Yates if he is a member of the Chamber of Commerce. Ray answered "No." Joel said that the Chamber might vote against the pilots anyway; citing Liz Irwin's statement that if the pilots get the growth that she fears, business will suffer. Lee said there is a fear in the neighborhood of charter flights coming in from San Francisco every weekend. Trey said we don't know how to solve the problem of lopsidedness on the committee. Other issues are involved. Jack stated that even though he is a pilot, he is against growth in the community. His vote isn't automatic. He votes in the best interest of the community. Lee stressed that he isn't speaking personally when he reports an atmosphere of fear surrounding the issue of charter flights. Grant says we couldn't stop them anyway; if they want to operate they will. Joel reported that a man from LA visited the airport about a month ago. He spoke of opening a charter service between SF and Mendocino. Both Joel and John Merriman spoke strongly against his plan, relating the failure of the airline service some years ago. They spoke of the lack of confidence that the public had in the airline's ability to keep schedules. Ray and Jack asked for clarification. Joel went on to say that the old airline had an NDB approach with probable 400' minimums, and there were many times when they couldn't get in to Little River. Trey said he thinks there are fewer based pilots now, but that traffic has increased on the weekends. Fran said we need to address the community's needs and perceptions. She feels that the GPS is a non-issue. She was originally neutral on that question. She wavered for weeks. It was ok to go slowly. Now she is in favor of the approach, because of the safety improvement. The neighborhood feels strongly against expansion, to the point of fighting the GPS approach and it's enhanced safety. Can they be made to understand and to feel differently? Trey asked that we close this discussion. Summing up, he said that he wants a comfortable feeling in the neighborhood and the perception of a safe place to go to for meetings. Jack asked if perhaps we should move all of our meetings to the Woods? Fran said the Woods would be ok. She thinks the Sunday schedule at the Woods is open. It would be ok with her if we always met there. We decided to defer any decision process until our next meeting. She will check the schedule before then. The Brown act was mentioned; Would we be permitted to hold our meetings off the airport? Someone volunteered to look into this. Ray complained that there are too many meetings. Why not once per month? Dave suggested that we shouldn't cut back until the new committee breaks-in. Trey voiced curiosity of how the new committee will be made up. We moved on to the discussion of Supervisor Peterson's letter. He supports the GPS approach plan. He clearly stated that he knows of no plans to expand the airport. Ray noted that with Budge gone from Department of Public Works we may see new accounting methods. Where did the money go? Trey commented on the budget problems. Jack continued the discussion. Trey mentioned the drainage problems at the airport. Ray commented on the windsock appropriations. Trey led us back on course. He said the official committee is important. Fran spoke of the fact that the county owns the airport. What are it's plans? She feels somewhat better after reading Supervisor Peterson' s first paragraph. His last paragraph, relative to future developments at Little River Airport, causes her some worry however. Trey notes that Supervisor Peterson wants another $45,000 study. Fran said the study was included in the master plan. Trey mentioned Dr Jonas letter to the newspapers. We discussed his mention of helicopters. Trey wants to know how many emergency flights use the airport. Lee Edmundson spoke of contacting Vicki Spanelli of Reach Helicopters, after getting the lead from Dr Jonas. There is considerable reluctance to disclosure of the actual number of flights; either helicopter or fixed wing. Lee did get some numbers. He'll provide them at the next meeting. Richard Gallagher is a MD who sometimes works with emergencies at the hospital. His discussions with Dr Jonas reveal concern for disaster relief. Also, Coast Hospital cannot handle major problems. Dr Jonas wishes to see 24 hour fixed wing availability for emergency evacuations. He stated that fixed wing is much better for the purpose, for many reasons. Lee said there is information to support these statements. Some fixed wing flights are declined for weather reasons; more helicopter flights are declined. Jack said that future need is a greater issue. Richard spoke of problems requiring evacuation occurring almost weekly. He said he thinks San Francisco severely limits helicopter flights. They are acceptable in Santa Rosa, however. Trey concurred that helicopter noise is more disturbing than a fixed wing airplane's sounds. He mentioned his being in favor of GPS. Lee said that Reach doesn't differentiate between emergency, semi-elective and elective issues. They are all emergencies to Reach. He spoke of non-emergency flights with Dr Jonas; asked if there are records. Lee feels that in a real emergency, the Coast Guard will get in; whether we have a GPS approach or not. Fran spoke appreciatively of Lee's hard data. Trey said a letter from the Grange supports GPS approach. They really like that sort of thing to be available. He recapped: Do we want an agenda item for the next meeting? Shall we write the Health, Welfare, Planning and Transportation Committee again? Shall we discuss the uneasy feeling of the neighbors further? Yes. Trey then brought up the GPS report agenda item. Dave gave Lee a copy. Fran agreed to give Gail a copy. Gail brought up the Coast Guard again. She wondered if they should somehow be represented at our meetings. She asked if there has even been a safety problem that the GPS approach might have solved? Gail stated that, "The increase in airport use is a consequence of; not a cause of increased tourism." Grant, on tourism, mentioned that he met a reporter from New Jersey who was working on a story for a New York physicians' professional publication. He said that is an indication of how tourism is being increased. They are coming from further away, as Mendocino is becoming better known as a great destination. Charles Meinershagen asked if the Coast Guard has ever been represented at one of our meetings? What are their plans? How does Little River Airport fit in with them? Andy mentioned that the Coast Guard's interests are many. The helicopters come from Arcata. They want jet fuel to be available at Little River. Ukiah is too far for them to go when they are involved in a search and rescue operation. The fixed wing aircraft come from the Sacramento area. They are like a separate agency. They, also, would like to see the availability of fuel at Little River. Again, it's too far to go to Ukiah, when they have limited fuel capacity. The 40 minutes of flying that they take to and from Ukiah severely limits the time for them to search, especially when they are out on the ocean. Trey thinks we should write them a letter, possibly to invite them to send a representative to one of our meetings. He would like that to be an agenda item for our next meeting. Charles is sure the Coast Guard could come here, possibly to a community meeting. He feels that Little River is a very significant airport. Back on Supervisor Peterson's letter, Fran said many of her concerns were addressed. Jack asked her whether she might prefer aviation or non-aviation uses at the airport. Fran's concern is that non-aviation use will have a greater effect on road traffic. She notes that there is already a problem there. Richard thinks Supervisor Peterson is looking for possible plans. He doesn't think Supervisor Peterson has any plan at this time. In response to one of Fran's concerns, Joel commented that the non-aviation use would be out of sight of the road. Answering Gail's question, he said that he didn't know of an accident which had occurred here that a GPS approach might have averted. However, he said that the GPS approach will make it safer here in marginal weather, possibly preventing an accident. Lee reiterated that he feels the military doesn't need for us to have a GPS approach. They will find their own way here when they need to do so. Fran says the point is that we will be prepared. This will allow a feeling of greater security. Trey commented that there are other ways to get here in an emergency. By sea, for example. Joel agreed to write up these minutes. We hoped that Grant could back-up with his tape recordings, if necessary. Trey announced that the next meeting will be held on May 18, 1997 at 4:00pm at Coast Flyers. We'll try to resolve the Brown act issues surrounding our possible meetings at the Woods, in the future. We decided to postpone approving the April 20th minutes until the next meeting. Our agenda for May 18th will be: (1) Approve minutes of April 20, 1997 (2) Possible letter to Mendocino County Board of Supervisors (3) Possible letter to the Coast Guard (4) GPS approach issues (5) Possible meeting location change Lee requested that the committee makeup be further discussed at the next meeting. He asked if he should invite some friends. Trey reminded him that all of our meetings are open to anyone who wishes to attend. Lee took a moment to apologize for getting somewhat loud at times during the meeting. Others noted that he wasn't the only one who got excited. There being no further business to be conducted at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 5:50pm, by unanimous approval. Minutes respectfully submitted by Joel Bornstein 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 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 Susan Winding airport neighbor, non-pilot, local business owner