Minutes of the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee (rough draft for approval) 8/10/97 The Little River Airport Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee met on Sunday, 10 August 1997 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm in the Clubhouse at The Woods, 43300 Little River Airport Road, Little River. Six committee members were present: Trey Loy, Tim Scully, Joel Bornstein, Fran Tucker, Ray Yates and Jack Reichel. Grant Wheeler, Dick Ahrens, Bill Larkins, Lee Edmundson and Richard Gallagher also attended. We agreed that the next Ad Hoc meeting will take place Sunday, August 24 from 4-6pm at the Woods. Minutes ------- The minutes of the last meeting were approved. Reports on recent events ------------------------ Dick Ahrens passed around the noise flyer which LRAPA is planning to send to local pilots, asking for their opinions regarding the flight paths depicted on the poster. There were no objections. Tim reminded everyone about the upcoming Health, Welfare, Planning and Transportation Committee meeting on Monday August 18. He didn't have the time for our agenda items yet, but said he'd send email once he has it from Norma. Trey asked to be telephoned. Tim passed around a clipping from the Beacon, with his letter updating the status of the noise abatement policy. Trey said that Neil Boyle doesn't seem to have stoppd writing for the Beacon, so perhaps we should have sent the letter to him. Lee said that Neil stops at the end of the upcoming week, he'll be athletic director at the High School this year. Lee suggested addressing future items to Katherine Lee and specifically suggesting to her were we'd like the item to appear. We discussed the HWP&T meeting on the 18th. Tim said that although our main agenda item is the GPS report, the official Airport Advisory Committee may also be discussed by the Supervisors since it was not reported out of their last meeting. Tim said we should briefly discuss what he should say when presenting the GPS report. Trey said that the Supervisors should be made aware of the question and answer format used for the GPS report. Hopefully they will agree that it answers most questions. We suggest one last community meeting to present the report and collect feedback. We need to get information out well in advance of the meeting. Lee asked about the two approaches we are requesting. There was some discussion of straignt-in vs circling approaches, with agreement that circling approaches are relatively dangerous and have a higher noise impact, hence our recommendation for straight-in approaches. Jack introduced Bill Larkins, an aviation historian. Bill passed around one of his books on WWII aircraft on board ships and an extensive magazine article he'd done on how military aircraft were destroyed at the end of the war. Bill has an outstanding collection of photographs of aircraft. Jack briefly outlined the suggested project - collecting the history of aviation in Mendocino County. He suggested that the Ad Hoc Committee consider doing the project. Bill Larkins explained that he would be very happy to help with the project but that it will need a strong leader who is local. Bill won't commit to doing all the work - he will provide advice and support. Fran said that the involvement of non-pilots and the Ad Hoc Committee would help broaden the perspective of the project to include the impact of aviation on the whole community. Trey said that he felt the pilot's group should do this project. He sees no reason for the Ad Hoc Committee to do it. Fran said that people moving to the Woods would be interested in knowing how the airport came to be here. Trey disagreed - he doesn't want the committee's limited time and possibly money to be spent on this. Tim suggested that we consider forming a subcommittee that could work on the project separately. Lee said that he didn't think that the proposal was clear enough. What would be delivered? What would it cost? When would it be delivered? Would it result in a publication? Lee sees no problem in having a subcommittee develop a proposal. Dick Ahrens said that he's interested in working with Bill and is willing to take the lead on the project, but that he can't do this if the Ad Hoc Committee is involved because of his membership on the Grand Jury. Jack said he thinks the Ad Hoc Committee can benefit from the project and that the Supervisors would probably like it. Grant said that he thinks there are non-pilots who would participate in the project, history buffs, and not just pilot oriented folks. Trey said that we already have a historical society, why not go to them. Lee said it isn't either/or. Why not form a subcommittee and make a more concrete proposal? Dick said he is no longer a member of the Ad Hoc Committee and will not join a subcommittee. Lee suggested that Dick check with County Counsel - he doubts that there is a conflict of interest. Dick said that he wants to avoid even the appearance of a conflict. Joel suggested a combined project of the pilot's group and the Ad Hoc Committee. Tim said that sounds like a good idea. Have the LRAPA start the project and report to the Ad Hoc Committee. Lee said that he recently participated in the Living Communities Conference and heard that the ALUC's Comprehensive Land Use Plan is being harmonized with the General Plan. He asked how much contact and coordination there has been between the two committees. Tim loaned Lee a copy of the 1993 ALUC report and explained that a member of the ALUC is on the mailing list for our minutes, but that we do not get minutes from the ALUC. Dick said he thought the ALUC was inactive. It is advertising for a member. Trey said that he contacted Karen Calvert, a planning commissioner who is on the ALUC. He also called Charles Peterson to ask about coordination. Charles wants Steve Heckroth to do it. Trey called Steve. Steve said that we won't discuss ALUC business informally due to Brown Act concerns. The ALUC meets once a month when the Planning Commission meets. GPS REPORT Tim reported that the 5 copies of the GPS report finally arrived in Chuck Boyer's office last week, but thet they are stuck on his desk awaiting a cover letter from Bob Parker, who is out of town. Chuck said that the reports will be delivered this week. COAST GUARD LETTER Chuck Boyer telephoned Tim to let him know that a letter would be arriving regarding the query sent to the Coast Guard. It seems that the Coast Guard officer we wrote to was angered by the letter. He phoned DPW and asked who we were and why we were asking him questions. Tim had failed to send a copy of the original letter to DPW, so they were unable to answer some of the Coast Guard's questions. Chuck said on the telephone that we should talk to him before sending out any letters that have any possibility of causing contraversy, so he can avoid being blindsided. Tim apologized to Chuck for failing to copy him on the letter. Tim FAXed the letter he'd sent to the Coast Guard to Chuck with another apology. Chuck said that he didn't see anything wrong with the letter. Tim read DPW's letter which asked the committee to get DPW approval before sending letters "of this nature". He also passed around the letter to the Coast Guard around to everyone at the meeting. There was some discussion of how much our relationship with DPW has improved - we appreciated the way that Chuck telephoned to explain the letter. Dave Brewer suggested that we should similarly telephone to let the addressee know about impending letters so they are taken in context when they arrive. Joe suggested that out letters should explain that we are a citizen's committee and not an arm of DPW. NOISE POLICY ------------ Tim reported that DPW sent a package of revised Noise Abatement flyers which have been amended to say that "Safety Supercedes Noise Abatement". There were sent to the committee, the pilot's group, the airport supervisor and Coast Flyers, according to DPW's cover letter. The same flyers were also mailed to the publishers of various pilot's guides, and DPW sent us copies of the cover letters. Trey suggested letting Neil Boyle know, so the Beacon could publish an article on the noise policy. Grant said that Neil no longer works for the Beacon, he is now teaching at the High School. Jack expressed regret that Neil is gone, he was an excellant reporter and was supportive of the Ad Hoc Committee. Everyone agreed. Tim will send the information to the Beacon without addressing it to a specific reporter. short GPS report ---------------- Tim passed around a shortened version of the GPS report, produced by printing the first 32 pages. Joel asked why this is being considered. Tim answered that the full report, bound, costs $12 to produce. The short version, with no color illustrations or binding, costs $1 to copy. This offers interested parties two ways of getting the report. The committee approved this idea. Trey suggested bringing a few of the short versions of the report to the August 18 HWP&T meeting, in case more people attend. LEGACY ------ Next, we discussed the legacy this committee might leave to the official committee. Tim suggested a list of issues that could be be worked on, such as: additional hangars, non-aviation use, card-lock fuel, etc. Trey pointed out that it may be a while before the official committee members are appointed and the committee formed. He suggested that this committee should consider continuing to wrap up the GPS issue, if the Supervisors agree. He also suggested that the pilot's group is sure to raise all the open issues, so this committee doesn't need to do so. Dave Brewer asked Trey what he would like the next committee to know. Trey just wants to keep the airport as it is, nothing more. Noise abatement was a big item for him. Ray said he'd like to see proper tools provided for the airport manager. Nang told him that she was not currently certified to give the alitmeter setting, that the radio was not certified and that she was uncertain of the certification status of the altimeters. Joel said that DPW has budget to have the altimeters certified annually (and this is not expensive) and that he's not aware of "certification" for radios - they either work or they don't. Jack said that he has added Tim to the Mount Diablo Pilot's Association (MDPA) mailing list. The MDPA has built a clubhouse and is very active. Bill Larkins, an aviation historian, is preparing a talk on the history of aviation in Contra Costa County for MDPA. Jack related one story of ballooning in Martinez in 1910. He said that Mr. Larkins talk will be exciting. He suggested that we ask Mr. Larkins to consider researching aviation history in Mendocino County for a talk here. Joel said that a Mendocino historian (Bill Wagner?) has photos of Little River Airport in the 1940's - perhaps he could help? He then suggested that a talk on the history of the airport could precede a community meeting. Trey said that this isn't appropriate for the Ad Hoc Committee, let the pilot's group do this. Ray said it is community history and not just for pilots. He, for one, has no objection to the Ad Hoc Committee doing this. Tim suggested making it part of an Airport Day which the pilot's group has been discussing for some time. Grant said it is better for this to be at a separate meeting. Community meetings are usually polarized, this is different, it is just history. Ray said that making it part of an airport day sounded good. We could cover WWII, the airline which used Little River, etc. We agreed to meet next on August 10 at 4pm at The Woods. The agenda will be: - approve minutes of previous meeting - reports on recent events - official Airport Advisory Committee - GPS instrument approach - 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 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 Susan Winding airport neighbor, non-pilot, local business owner