Minutes of the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee (rough draft for approval) 8/24/97 The Little River Airport Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee met on Sunday, 24 August 1997 from 4:00 - 5:30 pm in the Clubhouse at The Woods, 43300 Little River Airport Road, Little River. Three committee members were present: Trey Loy, Tim Scully, and Joel Bornstein. Grant Wheeler, Dave Brewer, Lee Edmundson and Charlie Meinershagen also attended. Jack Reichel attended part of the meeting. We agreed that the next Ad Hoc meeting will take place Sunday, September 7 from 4-6pm at the Woods. Minutes ------- The minutes of the last meeting were approved. Reports on recent events ------------------------ Tim read his 8/12/97 letter to the Supervisors regarding closer coordination with the ALUC. He then read the agenda for the HWP&T meeting on Thursday, August 28. The Ad Hoc Committee is agendized for 11am to 12 noon. The agenda has two topics: the resolution to form an official AAC and the GPS report. We got into a discussion of the recommendation in the GPS report. Lee Edmundson contributed $12 and took a copy of the full report. Dave Brewer said we should ask the County what else they may need besides the final community meeting. We discussed the two previous community meetings which discussed the GPS approach - the October 20 and November 3 1996 meetings. Lee raised a question from the minutes of the October 20th meeting, on page 147 of the full GPS report. How can the County limit the size of airplanes and the hours of access to the airport. Tim explained that this question came up in the context of the noise abatement policy, which was the other topic of the October 20 and November 3rd meetings. Lee asked if the FAA letter regarding curfews and access restrictions was part of the GPS report. Tim said that it was not, because it was not directly relevant to the GPS approach issue. Having or not having a GPS approach has no effect on the County's ability to impose access restrictions or curfews. Lee said that the Ad Hoc Committee has to be prepared to say what might result from the GPS approach. Dave agreed that the expansion question must be dealt with head-on. Tim said that the GPS report does exactly that, stating clearly that the GPS approach is not an expansion of the airport. Lee asked: what if someone with GPS wants to land at 2am. Tim responded that, pilots can land at 2am now. The GPS approach will only be usable during ordinary hours of operation of the airport, unless the pilot makes alternative arrangements for an approved source of the altimeter setting. Trey said that the purpose of the report is to provide all the information so that people can think for themselves. Joel passed on a request from the Woods staff for the discussion to calm down, it had gotten rather loud. Judith asked that people stop interrupting each other. Lee asked what changes the new airspace designation would bring. Joel said that it would restrict VFR traffic when the weather is cloudy. Lee said that pilots may understand that, but we need to make it clear to non-pilots. Lee pointed out that the GPS approach would allow pilots to successfully land in weather when they previously were not able to land. Tim explained that it isn't completed landings that count. Without the GPS approach, pilots circle around (making noise) looking for a hole in the clouds. If they don't land, they still have made lots of noise. With the GPS it is much more straightforward. They fly the approach and either land after a straight-in approach (with low noise impact) or they find they can't land, fly the missed approach and leave. Charlie Meinershagen introduced himself as an airport user and as a neighbor with a house under the traffic pattern. He said that his neighbors' biggest fear is expanded use of the airport. This fear is not based on facts. His neighbors think that traffic has increased in recent years, yet the fact is that it has decreased (look at fuel and parking sales). How can we overcome this? Dave Brewer said that nothing can be done to satisfy or convince the most extreme opponents, but the majority of people in the middle will be open to the facts. Lee said that most people won't read the report. He suggested creating a fact sheet, short enough for people to read easily. Trey responded that any issue can be oversimplified. A brief summary will end up being slanted one way or the other. Trey also said that we should not leap ahead to the community meeting before we have presented the report in Ukiah. Tim asked Lee to send him suggestions for a fact sheet via email. Judith said that a short page or two would be good - she hasn't read the whole report. Joel suggested 5 questions and answers. Trey said that the issue is complicated and there are gray areas. Everything is interconnected. He is opposed to slanting and oversimplification. Tim said that he had one more item from the "reports on recent events" part of the agenda and asked if he can finish that up. He read Patti Campbell's letter of August 14 regarding closer coordination with the ALUC. He then opened the meeting to discussion of the official committee resolution. Charlie Meinershagen asked if Diana Wiedeman has stated publically what her goal is. Lee answered that he has never heard anyone associated with her say that they want to close the airport. They just don't want any increase in traffic. Trey said that he is also afraid of and opposed to any growth. We discussed the meeting of the 28th. Several pilots said they'd try to come. Trey said he'd try to come. Dave reminded Tim of two issues that come up in the earlier pilot's meeting. Tim said that the pilot's group has tentatively scheduled a meeting with three old-timers to record their memories of the airport and aviation in the County. This may be followed up by more efforts to collect oral history. Trey expressed support for this work, saying that although he doesn't want the Ad Hoc Committee doing the work, he is glad to see it is being done by loacl people. Tim reported on the second action by the pilot's group - they agreed to ask DPW for permission to post larger and more brightly colored signs regarding the noise abatement policy along the taxiway. The Ado Hoc Committee had no objection. We agreed to meet next on September 7 at 4pm at The Woods. The agenda will be: - approve minutes of previous meeting - reports on recent events - ALUC coordination - report on Augist 28th Health, Welfare, Planning and Transportation committee meeting - 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