DRAFT

Humboldt County Airport Advisory Committee
Minutes for September 24, 2002 at 7:00 PM

Dave Zebo Conference Room

1.0 Call to order

1.1 Chairman Limmer called the meeting to order at 1909.

2.0 Roll Call

2.1 Members present: Jack Limmer, George Jutila, Al Castaldi, Richard Fenton, Kyle Gable, Chuck Goodwin, Arthur Hooven, Alistair McCrone, Anthony Howard

2.2 Public Employees in attendance: Dan Horton

2.3 Guests: None

3.0 Adjustments to Calendar: None

4.0 Minutes of the meeting of August 27, 2002 were reviewed and approved.

5.0 Consent Calendar-Written Reports: None.

6.0 Old Business

6.1 Written reports or oral updates:

6.11 The committee’s letter to the Board of Supervisors regarding concerns over lack of communication between County departments was signed and delivered recently. The letter generated a phone call to the chairman from Alan Campbell, Director of Public Works, and a reply to the committee is expected this week or next. It was further discussed that the "duck ponds" currently being constructed by Calif. Dept of Fish and Game are part of a 10-year master plan and are a restoration of existing or historical ponds. They are being constructed, per Karen Kovacs, under a coastal permit previously issued through the County Planning Department. This was noted by the committee as another example of poor interdepartmental communication due to lack of notice to the Aviation Division from the county Planning Department.

6.2 Dan Horton reported that Shutt Moen will schedule public meetings regarding ACV runway extension options of 600’, 1200’, or 1800’ as soon as the FAA’s review letter of the options is actually received. It was reported that the FAA’s letter will state that extending the runway using any of the options will not increase landing minimums at ACV.

6.3 Kneeland Airport: Public meetings regarding the airport improvements are to be scheduled at a future date. Shutt-Moen was given "due dates" recently by the County Department of Public Works for this and other master plan work products.

6.4 Deer fencing at the Arcata-Eureka Airport: Non-metallic fencing will be approved by the FAA for the bluff area that has been the subject of recent disagreement. Dan Horton reported that a newer style of "A-frame" fencing may be promising for future fencing at Murray and Rohnerville airports, due to lower required fence heights and reduced costs. This fencing type has also been noted to be effective in controlling deer incursions onto airport properties even though it is only four feet high.

6.5 Airport Security: TSA team is to be here in early October to plan implementation of additional security measures for checked baggage screening at United and Horizon gates. These measures may reduce available terminal seating and will impact carrier’s passenger loading capacity. It was announced that TSA will not fund any physical plant expansion at this airport and that they may require funding from County sources in order to implement these changes and continue air carrier operations.

6.6 Control tower for the Eureka-Arcata Airport: The FAA is unsure of any funding availability for installing or operating a control tower at AVC.

6.7 Any installation of Super Unicoms at Murray Field and the Rohnerville Airport are on hold pending approval and political issues at the equipment manufacturing level.

6.8 New GA ramp at ACV: The County Board of Supervisors has accepted an FAA grant of $1.5 million for development of a new GA ramp off of Central Avenue, including a $400,000 smart card access system.

7.0 New Business

7.1 Dan Horton noted that the possible introduction of 70 passenger planes may cause ACV to be changed to a level IV category airport from it’s current designation as a level III category airport. This will increase security requirements for air carrier operations.

7.2 Discussion was held regarding the effect of indeterminate TSA unfunded security mandates and their possible effects upon air travel in Humboldt County and at other small airports. The committee would like to explore how we could or should help to publicize these issues to the Board or to the public. Further discussion was held regarding the uncertainty of the committee’s mandate/authority since we serve at the pleasure of the Board of Supervisors, and are "advisory" to them in nature. It was decided that we need a firm idea of the committee’s intended mandate and that we may need to dedicate a separate meeting to discussing ways to inform the Board of Supervisors of our concerns regarding the future health of aviation in Humboldt County.

7.3 A motion was made by George Jutila and seconded by Alistair McCrone to "dedicate the next regular meeting to the fullest extent to the development of our committee’s position regarding the impediments to aviation in Humboldt County represented by upcoming unfunded TSA security mandates". The motion was unanimously approved.

 

8.0 Public Comments: None received.

9.0 Date and place of next meeting: October 22, 2002 at the Dave Zebo Conference Room at 7:00 PM

9.0 Chairman Limmer adjourned the meeting at 2053.