07/09/2002 - Airport Relations Commission MINUTES OF THE EAGAN
AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMISSION MEETING
JULY 9, 2002
A regular meeting of the Eagan Airport Relations Commission was held on Tuesday, July 9, 2002, at
7:00 p.m. Those present were Michael Cook, Bruno DiNella, Eric Drenckhahn, Mike Schlax, Lance Staricha,
Jerry Thompson, and Charles Thorkildson. Absent were Joe Kinard and Eric Pehle. Also present were Jamie
Verbrugge, Assistant City Administrator and Mary Swenson, Recording Secretary.
AGENDA
Upon motion by DiNella, seconded by Thorkildson, the agenda was approved as presented. All
members voted in favor.
MINUTES
Schlax made a motion to approve the minutes of the June 11, 2002 meeting; Thompson seconded the
motion. All members voted in favor.
VISITORS TO BE HEARD
There were no visitors to be heard.
MSP AIR CARGO STUDY
Verbrugge gave a brief overview of the recently released Minneapolis /St. Paul Air Cargo Study, a
document produced by the Minnesota Department of Transportation - Office of Aeronautics and the
Metropolitan Airports Commission, stating the Twin Cities Airports Task Force, MAC, MnDOT and members
of the air cargo industry have become extremely concerned with the decline in air cargo shipped from the
Minneapolis -St. Paul (MSP) International Airport.
Commissioner Thorkildson, who has been discussing the study with other representatives of the cargo
and freight forwarding industry, presented a summary of the MSP Air Cargo Study Report to the Commission.
Thorkildson gave a presentation on the summary he prepared, while stating consolidations have brought the
costs down, but has hurt the industry by not providing service to all areas.
Thorkildson stated the main issues of concern regarding the recommendations are: 1) removal of
traditional cargo handling from the airport area; 2) development of a cargo airport; and 3) development of a
regional distribution center.
There was discussion among Commission members regarding cargo /freighter economics in Eagan and
aircraft operation noise over residential neighborhoods in Eagan. The question was raised as to whether we
can cut down on aircraft noise and still have economic growth in Eagan relative to the cargo industry; this
scenario was discussed further by Commissioners.
JOINT AIRPORT ZONING BOARD
Verbrugge stated the Eagan City Council was presented the recommendations of the Airport Relations
Commission regarding the MSP Joint Airport Zoning Board at the regular City Council
Airport Relations Commission Minutes
July 9, 2002/2
meeting on June 18, 2002. Verbrugge stated the City Councilmembers agreed to take no action on the
recommendations due to issues related to potential liability that could affect the City of Eagan. The City
Council directed representatives Verbrugge and Schlax not to act on any issues that could compromise the
City. Verbrugge stated the July 11 meeting of the Joint Airport Zoning Board has been cancelled.
BLUE RIBBON PANEL
Verbrugge stated the final meeting of the Blue Ribbon Panel was held on June 18, 2002. He further
stated the panel has agreed upon a structure to forward to the MAC. MAC Planning and Environment
Committee will address the issue on August 6 and the full Commission on August 19.
Verbrugge stated the panel is sending letters to the mayors of the respective communities to be
included in the newly formed structure. Verbrugge stated there will be six community and six user members.
The six community members consist of Minneapolis, Richfield, Bloomington, Mendota Heights, Eagan, and
one of five communities represented on a rotating basis. Those communities would include St. Paul, St. Louis
Park, Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, and Sunfish Lake.
Schlax made a motion to extend the Commission meeting beyond 8:30 p.m., Thorkildson seconded.
All members voted in favor.
COMMISSION SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
At the April ARC meeting, several Commissioners volunteered to do some research on various issues
for presentation at the monthly ARC meetings.
Noise Events — Cook presented material showing a month -by -month graph of all runway use
operations with a breakdown of departures and arrivals. He further presented a remote monitoring tower site
location map and graphs relating to respective towers and overall noise levels.
ANOMS Towers — DiNella presented information on Runway 17/35 and daily RMT noise level
summaries on Eagan's remote monitoring towers. There was discussion relative to the new flight tracks over
the City of Eagan, where these flight tracks are located and the number of operations per track.
Communications — Pehle and Thompson met with Communications Director Garrison and Assistant
City Administrator Verbrugge. Thompson presented a draft ARC Communications Plan Outline to the
Commission including goals, messages and tools.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon motion by Thompson, seconded by Drenckhahn, the Commission members adjourned the
meeting at 9:05 p.m.
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DATE SECRETARY