The Little River Airport Advisory Committee minutes, 2/19/99 meeting A meeting of The Little River Airport Advisory Committee was held at the Woods Clubhouse on Friday, February 19, 1999, at 9:06 am. The agenda had been posted at the Little River Airport and at the Little River Post Office. Present at the meeting were committee members: Tim Scully, Willow Trent, Susan Winding, Trey Loy and Joel Bornstein. Also participating in the meeting were: Dick Ahrens, Naomi Jarvie and Leonard Swithenbank The minutes of the last meeting were approved with no changes, after a short discussion over Susan Winding's question pertaining to the number of touch and go landings upon which we agreed. Tim Scully spoke of the correspondence of the past month. It is appended below. We had a short discussion pertaining to the fuel system which we are now told has been ordered. It will not be delivered until July, 1999. Trey Loy asked Naomi if the Mendocino Beacon would announce the open position on the committee. She replied that it would appear there. We had a short discussion of the possible openings and candidates. Trey asked if anyone else is planning on resigning from the committee? Joel Bornstein said that he is going to do so. He suggested Dick Ahrens as a possible replacement. The Dept. of Transportation has said that it does not approve of a motocross track at the Little River Airport. Indeed, they regularly clean up the areas used for motorcycling. Joel said he was responsible for the concept being brought to our attention. He said it seems all but dead at this time. Trey Loy said the noise abatement policy is being simplified and that it might undergo further simplification. He prefers that the pilots' guides simply state that "noise abatement procedures are in effect." Pilots would contact the airport supervisor for information. Some others feel that specific information should be published. Tim said that the Airport Facilities Directory, the publication from which the pilots' guides get their information, is published every 56 days. Joel said he would find the address to which we should have notification sent and transmit it to Tim. Chuck Boyer, the Airport Manager, wrote that we should have approved signs made up and bill the Dept. of Transportation. Susan said that Rick Sachs or Stan Squires can produce the signs to our specifications. Trey said he has been contacted by the Mendocino High School Scholastic Federation regarding voluntary painting projects at the Little River Airport. Tim said the signs should be black lettering on a yellow background. He will write the FAA for guidelines. Leonard Swithenbank addressed the committee with his request for permission to move a portable hangar from the Round Valley Airport to the Little River Airport. He has purchased a Cessna 172 which is used for search and rescue operations. It is currently in Round Valley, where its utility is greatly diminished by the inconvenience of his having to drive from Fort Bragg to Round Valley. His aircraft is uniquely equipped for search and rescue missions. The search and rescue operations would benefit anyone in the County who might need such service, Leonard said, in response to a question from Joel Bornstein. He also uses the plane for his personal transportation. Trey Loy said Leonard's request for an exception to the Little River Airport rules might be more appropriate if the plane's use were limited to search and rescue, only. He is against the addition of any new privately owned hangars. Joel noted that Leonard's request indicated that the hangar would be removed from the airport if required, particularly if the new rental hangars are constructed. Susan Winding said she thinks that is reasonable, but Trey said he did not think it would be acceptable. Tim asked Trey what Leonard should do to? Trey suggested that he get a letter from Sheriff Craver and write Gene Calvert of the Dept. of Transportation as well as to Stan Townsend. Trey Loy's report on flight training as it relates to noise abatement was tabled after a short statement which repeated much of the discussion reported under correspondence, above. Regarding the proposed survey of the residents of the area: Joel Bornstein reported that he had contacted Fifth District Supervisor David Colfax at the Stanford Inn two weeks ago. Supervisor Colfax said he is expert in creating such surveys. He feels that the survey, as proposed, will be ineffective. Joel suggested that we might contact David to request his assistance in writing a more useful survey. Joel said also, that he had spoken of the fuel situation and his request to be relieved from the committee, with David. Joel said that there have been no meetings of the Flight Training or the Hangar subcommittees. Susan Winding said her subcommittee has had meetings. We briefly discussed the hangar situation further. It was agreed that the waiting list should be posted at the airport. Tim Scully said he will ask Chuck Boyer for a copy to be posted at the airport. Trey Loy asked about the procedures for getting a loan for the construction of such improvements? Tim explained the process. Trey wants to get the facts and figures. It is important to him to know whether the pavement will be done by the County or by a private firm. Tim will inquire. On erosion control, Trey said he thinks we should be ready to go at the next appropriate time. This year's window has already passed. Our next meeting will be on March 19th at 9am at The Woods. The April meeting will be on the 16th at the same time and place. We agreed to carry the agenda of this meeting to the March meeting, with the aforementioned addition. Approve the minutes of the last meeting Communications (letters, FAXes, etc, sent/received since last meeting) Brief history & current status for David Colfax Leonard Swithenbak's application to temporarily place a small portable hangar at Little River Airport Reach helicopter - can they install an Automated Weather Observing System? Airport Master Plan Update - and environmental report for Master Plan, should we start work? Should flight training activity (including touch and go landings) at Little River be restricted in some way? Fuel system replacement: status report The airport budget, actual income and expenses Logging of traffic at the airport Airport erosion control, grass planting Additional hangars at the airport Non-aviation uses of the airport Dirt bikes on the airport and related liability issue Reports from subcommittees Public comment Report on finances (contributions received, expenses incurred) Agree on a date, time and place for the next meeting Agree on agenda for next meeting Joel Bornstein suggested that we once again write Supervisor David Colfax to invite him to our meeting. As we had concluded the agenda, the meeting was unanimously declared concluded at 10:48 am. Joel Bornstein, Secretary Members of the Little River Airport Advisory Committee ------------------------------------------------------ Joel Bornstein pilot, flight instructor lives near airport Dave Brewer pilot, lives near airport Trey Loy non-pilot, lives near airport Tim Scully pilot, computer programmer, lives near airport commutes by air to Oakland weekly Willow Trent airport neighbor, non-pilot Susan Winding airport neighbor, non-pilot, business owner The committee is actively seeking a new non-pilot member. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/19/99 Email from Risk Management --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bruce Mordhorst [mordhorb] Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 1999 8:57 AM To: tim scully Subject: Re: liability and motocross users on the airport Tim: I have been in contact with the County's excess insurance carrier on your issue. They feel this type of use would be covered but since we are self-insured, the County would have to pay up to $200,000 per incident. They are checking with other entities on requirements and restrictions. I will keep you posted on what I receive. I should be able to get back to you in early February with details. Please call or write if you have questions. Bruce Mordhorst -----Original Message----- From: tim scully To: mordhorb Cc: tim.scully Date: Tuesday, January 12, 1999 1:13 PM Subject: liability and motocross users on the airport >The Airport Advisory Committee has asked me to write to you to >explore the liability problems of officially allowing some >part of the airport land to be used for motocross riding. > >The committee hasn't yet researched which portion of the >airport's 572 acres would be used for this, but let's >assume that we could find an area well separated from the >operational areas of the airport. > >We have a number of questions: > >- Would fencing of the area be required? > >- Would adult supervision be required? > (something analogous to a lifeguard at a beach) > >- How much coverage would be needed? > >- What difference would "jumps" make? (Some of the > riders like to run up a ramp and fly for some distance > before landing.) > >- What would the incremental cost of this coverage be? > (Or a range of costs depending on the variables listed > above or other variables you can think of.) > >Is coverage possible for the "worst case" of an unfenced and >unsupervised area, with posted signs stating the rules for use? > >Since three young people have come forward and made a polite >presentation, we'd like to make a real effort to find out if >there is any practical way to accomodate their request. > >The committee recognizes that the liability issue is only one >of many issues that would have to be resolved before this could >happen, but we imagine it to be the most difficult issue, and >hence wanted to research it before investigating the other issues. > >Thank you for your assistance. A reply via email would be >appreciated. > >Tim Scully >Chairman, Airport Advisory Committee --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/27/99 email to Chuck Boyer (Airport Manager) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tim Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 1999 2:21 PM To: boyerc Cc: tim Subject: AAC items The Little River Airport Advisory Committee asked me to write to you about two things: 1) We'd appreciate a status update on the fuel situation at Little River. For example, were do we stand with the new card-lock system and is there any hope of getting a fuel truck in the interim? 2) It was brought to the committee's attention that the Little River Airport noise abatement policy is not in the FAA's official Airport/Facility Directory listing for the airport. We haven't checked the other pilot guides, but wanted to know if the policy was sent to the publishers and if perhaps it could be sent again? 3) We are also still interested in getting the additional signs posted, if that's possible. Thank you. I'm appending an old letter about the non-governmental publishers: Tim Scully 6/27/97 Chuck Boyer Department of Public Works Courthouse Ukiah, CA 95482 Dear Chuck: I'm responding to your letter of June 18 with a list of addresses for pilot guide publishers and information on signs for the noise abatement procedure. Here are the addresses of pilot guides which are candidates for a mailing on the noise abatement procedure: Pilots Guide To California Airports Optima Publications 180 Second St Los Altos, CA 94022 Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. 55 Inverness Drive East Englewood, CO 80112-5498 Airguide Publications P.O. Box 1288 Long Beach, CA 90801 AOPA Airport Directory Publications Division AOPA 421 Aviation Way Frederick, Maryland 21701 Air Chart Systems 12061 Jefferson Blvd - Suite A Culver City, CA 90230-6219 When the noise abatement procedure was adopted, we discussed two more signs to be posted at the airport: - at the central taxiway: No intersection departures Noise abatement - at the entrance to the airport parking lot: Noise Sensitive Neighborhood. See details of noise abatment procedure in the airport office. I am enclosing a map which is a reduced copy of one I have posted in the airport office, to try to communicate more clearly to pilots where the most noise sensitive areas are. The Little River Pilots Association is still working on the details of a noise abatement flyer incorporating a similar map which it plans to publish. Thank you for your patience and your help. Respectfully Yours, Tim Scully, Ph.D. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/27/99 email from Norma Leon (Clerk of the Board of Supervisors) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Norma Leon [leonn] Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 1999 3:53 PM To: tim.scully Subject: Supervisor's e-mail addresses Patti Campbell campbell@co.mendocino.ca.us David Colfax colfaxd@co.mendocino.ca.us Michael Delbar delbarm@co.mendocino.ca.us Tom Lucier luciert@co.mendocino.ca.us Richard Shoemaker shoemakr@co.mendocino.ca.us Norma Leon leonn@co.mendocino.ca.us ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1/28/99 email to Norma Leon (Clerk of the Board of Supervisors) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tim Scully Sent: Thursday, January 28, 1999 6:09 AM To: 'Norma Leon'; Tim Scully Subject: RE: Supervisor's e-mail addresses Thank you for the email addresses! Here is Lee Edmundson's letter of resignation. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEE EDMUNDSON 15 January, 1999 To the Members of the Board-. I herein tender my resignation from the Little River Airport Advisory Committee. My term is scheduled to expire in January, 1999, and I decline to continue on. My resignation is effective as of 11 am, January 15, 1999. During my tenure, we were able to have the LRAAC develop, and subsequently adopt, thorough findings for the airport's application for the GPS service for the airport. Not only did the LRAAC adopt the findings unanimously, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors did as well. This is testament to our ability to work together to achieve common goals. My hope is that this Committee will continue the Sub-Committee system to solve problems and resolve issues, guaranteeing that all Little River Airport issues are aired before the entire committee and before the concerned public before being recommended to the County. My work on other government, civic and private concerns is demanding, and so my time has become more limited. I feel confident that the LRAAC will suggest my replacement in short order, and that they will serve the Committee in equal stead. Respectfully, Lee Edmundson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/9/99 email from Risk Management ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bruce Mordhorst [mordhorb] Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 1999 2:59 PM To: tim.scully Cc: Sue Goodrick Subject: Answer to Questions on Motocross Riding at Little River Airport Dear Tim: The County Insurance Broker was not successful in giving me guidelines for motocross facilities other than the activity would be covered under our General Liability Excess Insurance Policy. The County is self-insured up to $200,000 per incident. I will do my best to answer your questions based on past practices and my experience as a Risk Manager. 1. Would Fencing of the area be required? Yes If allowed, the County would not want the user to be allowed to enter other parts of the Airport Facility to disrupt services and endanger airplanes. 2. How much coverage would be needed? I would recommend that the group obtain at least $1,000,000 in general liability coverage that names the County and additionally insured. The company would have to be approved by my office. 3. What difference would "jumps" make? I am unfamiliar with what distance would be safe for riders to attempt. I assume that standards have been established by other motocross facilities based on the size of the bike, personal safety equipment used by the rider and the experience of the rider. If you asked me as a Risk Manager, the smaller the jump the better. 4. What would the incremental cost of this coverage be? Since we are self-insured up to $200,000 per incident, the cost to add this type of activity is minimal but could be substantial if we had an incident. The activity is considered incidental to the Airport and would be difficult to place a dollar figure on for a premium. 5. Is coverage possible for the "worst case" of an unfenced and unsupervised area, with posted signs stating the rules for use? The answer is yes but not practical. Since we now know that this type if activity is taking place on County property, we must do everything within our power to make sure the activity is conducted in a safe manner or make sure it stops. I did talk to the Risk Manager from Yuba County that had a motocross facility. They did not attempt to operate it themselves but decided to lease it to a private individual that obtained the insurance, erected the proper safety measures and supervised the participants. Unless the facility is properly built, supervised, maintained and obtain the necessary insurance, I would not recommend that the facility be allowed on County property. Motocross is a dangerous activity and the County would be held accountable for any incident that may take place if we did not do our absolute best to insure a safe activity. Thank you for the opportunity to express my opinions on this issue. Feel free to call, write or E-mail me if you desire more information. Bruce Mordhorst Deputy County Administrator/Acting Risk Manager COPY: Gene Calvert, Director of Transportation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/9/99 email to Risk Management ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tim Scully Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 1999 5:38 PM To: 'Bruce Mordhorst'; Tim Scully Cc: Sue Goodrick Subject: RE: Answer to Questions on Motocross Riding at Little River Airport Thank you for taking the time to respond to all of our questions. I'm not sure I fully understand the implications of the County's self-insurance. If the group had a $1,000,000 liability policy and there was an accident which resulted in a $1,500,000 judgement, would this mean that the County would have to pay out $200,000 before its excess liability coverage kicks in to pay the final $300,000? --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/10/99 email from Risk Management --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bruce Mordhorst [mordhorb] Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 1999 7:14 AM To: tim.scully Subject: Re: Answer to Questions on Motocross Riding at Little River Airport The answer is Yes. We would have to pay $200,000 before our excess insurance would kick in the remaining amount. Bruce --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/12/99 email from Stan Townsend (DPW) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Stanley Townsend Sent: Friday, February 12, 1999 11:53 AM To: Bruce Mordhorst Cc: Tim Scully; Sue Goodrick; Gene Calvert; Chuck Boyer Subject: Motocross at Little River Airport Bruce, In your recent response to Tim Scully of the Little River Airport Advisory Committee concerning motocross activities at the Airport, you made the statement: "Since we know that this type of activity is taking place on County property, we must do everything within our power to make sure the activity is conducted in a safe manner or make sure it stops." I would just like to make it clear that the motorcycle activity is in no way authorized or condoned by the Department of Transportation. More than once, earth moving equipment has entered the Airport property illegally and constructed motorcycle jumps. Each time we have discovered this, we have brought in our own equipment and removed the jumps. Due to the off-road abilities of the vehicles in question, we know of no effective means to make the Airport property immune from such trespass. No funding is available for a full perimeter security fence. As the perpetrators show disrespect for property rights, we have no reason to believe that such a fence (if installed) would not be cut. We intend to continue to do what we can to exclude unauthorized activities from the Airport. -- Stanley Townsend, Deputy Director Mendocino County Department of Transportation 340 Lake Mendocino Drive Ukiah CA 95482-9432 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2/16/99 email to Stan Townsend and Chuck Boyer --------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: tim Sent: Tuesday, February 16, 1999 9:03 AM To: boyerc; townsens Cc: tim Subject: Re: AAC items I haven't heard from you regarding any of these issues, and our next committee meeting is coming up on Friday morning. Could we possibly get an update on the fuel situation at Little River? > From tim Wed Jan 27 14:21:20 1999 > To: boyerc > Subject: AAC items > Cc: tim, > > The Little River Airport Advisory Committee asked me to write to > you about two things: > > 1) We'd appreciate a status update on the fuel situation at Little > River. For example, were do we stand with the new card-lock system and > is there any hope of getting a fuel truck in the interim? > > 2) It was brought to the committee's attention that the Little > River Airport noise abatement policy is not in the FAA's official > Airport/Facility Directory listing for the airport. We haven't > checked the other pilot guides, but wanted to know if the policy > was sent to the publishers and if perhaps it could be sent again? > > 3) We are also still interested in getting the additional signs > posted, if that's possible. > > Thank you. > > I'm appending an old letter about the non-governmental publishers: > > Tim Scully > 6/27/97 > Chuck Boyer > Department of Public Works > Courthouse > Ukiah, CA 95482 > > Dear Chuck: > > I'm responding to your letter of June 18 with a list of addresses > for pilot guide publishers and information on signs for the noise abatement > procedure. > > Here are the addresses of pilot guides which are candidates for a > mailing on the noise abatement procedure: > > Pilots Guide To California Airports > Optima Publications > 180 Second St > Los Altos, CA 94022 > > Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. > 55 Inverness Drive East > Englewood, CO 80112-5498 > > Airguide Publications > P.O. Box 1288 > Long Beach, CA 90801 > > AOPA Airport Directory > Publications Division > AOPA > 421 Aviation Way > Frederick, Maryland 21701 > > Air Chart Systems > 12061 Jefferson Blvd - Suite A > Culver City, CA 90230-6219 > > > When the noise abatement procedure was adopted, we discussed two more > signs to be posted at the airport: > > > - at the central taxiway: > > No intersection departures > Noise abatement > > - at the entrance to the airport parking lot: > > Noise Sensitive Neighborhood. > See details of noise abatment > procedure in the airport office. > > I am enclosing a map which is a reduced copy of one I have posted > in the airport office, to try to communicate more clearly to pilots > where the most noise sensitive areas are. The Little River Pilots > Association is still working on the details of a noise abatement flyer > incorporating a similar map which it plans to publish. > > Thank you for your patience and your help. > > > Respectfully Yours, > > > Tim Scully, Ph.D. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2/15/99 email from Dave Brewer re airport traffic logging ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Actuals through August '98. July and August were lower than I estimated. Dave Little River Airport Summary of Operations by Month* 1/14/98 Estimate November 219 December 273 January 124 February 103 March 366 April 451 May 434 June 462 July 651 808 August 576 700 September Guess 600 October Guess 325 ------------------------------------------------ Total 4584 4865 * One operation is one takeoff or one landing ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Chuck Boyer [boyerc] Sent: Thursday, February 18, 1999 10:19 AM To: tim scully Cc: townsens Subject: RE: AAC items Tim: Sorry that I took so long to get back to you, but I have been really busy and I did not have all the answers to your questions. Now to your questions. 1. Fuel situation at the airport. The good news is that we have ordered an aboveground tank. The bad news is that it will not be delivered until the first part of July 1999. We went out to bid in November and in December the Purchasing Agent rejected all the bids because they did not meet the criteria as set forth in the bid document. We went out to bid again in January and it took some time to check out the low bidder and finally the Purchasing Agent rejected this bid. We have accepted the bid of the second low bidder. We were getting a fuel truck through Valley Oil, the company that provides our avgas, but at the last minute they wanted us to enter into a written agreement with them. The agreement was unacceptable to the County because it wanted us to unconditionally accept the truck and it had a hold harmless clause. Also, the cost was much more than we had originally been told by Valley Oil. We are going to look around again and see if we can find some kind of acceptable tank so we can have avgas at the airport in the interim before the aboveground tank is installed and functioning. Any help would be greatly appreciated. 2. Stan Townsend sent the Noise Abatement Procedures, as requested by the Ad Hoc Airport Advisory Committee, to Air Chart Systems, AOPA Airport Directory (Publications Division), Airguide Publications, Jeppesen Sanderson, Inc. and Pilots Guide to California Airports (Optima Publications). They were all sent on 21 July 1997. 3. If the Committee would check with FAA and make sure that the signs meet their guidelines and if they do, get the signs made and send the bill to me at the Department of Transportation, I will then get the signs installed at the airport. Best Regards, Chuck Boyer