Special Meeting - Airport Noise and Safety Committee - September 25, 2007

MINUTES
Special Meeting
Fullerton Municipal Airport
Noise and Safety Committee
Tuesday, September 25, 2007 - 5:00 pm
Fullerton Council Chamber
303 West Commonwealth Avenue

CALL TO ORDER

Mr. Harris was assigned the Chair position by mutual consent, and called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL

MEMBERS PRESENT:
Fullerton: Jeff Harris, Chair
Michael Johnson

Buena Park: Tom Atkins
Dottie Jones
Heide Oliveira

MEMBERS ABSENT:
Fullerton: Ashok Patel

STAFF PRESENT:
Fullerton: Rod Propst, Airport Manager
Rob Ferrier, Assistant to the City Manager
Heather Allen, Senior Planner (Acting)
Susan McGraw, Administrative Assistant
STAFF PRESENT:
Buena Park: Jay Saltzberg

NEW BUSINESS:

Ms. Heide Oliveira was introduced as the new Committee Member appointed by the City of Buena Park.

OLD BUSINESS

1.DISCUSSION REGARDING KFI RADIO TOWER AND CONSIDERATION OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION.

Airport Manager Propst presented the Committee Members copies of a letter from Member Patel stating he had to be out of the country but wants it on record the he is in full support of the resolution being proposed by staff to this Commission.

Mr. Propst presented his report regarding the City of La Mirada’s intention to rebuild the KFI Radio Antenna.He discussed issues leading to this intention – the result of a second fatal crash occurring in 2004, killing two persons.

• June 25, 1992 letter to KFI requesting installation of strobe lights on existing tower.

• May 24, 2001, a Resolution from this Committee again asking for installation of high-intensity strobe lights on the existing tower was sent to KFI, as well as to the Managers of La Mirada and Buena Park.

• July 26, 2005, FAA Public Notice soliciting comments on rebuilding the tower.

• August 31, 2005, City of Fullerton responded to Public Notice that the tower would not be in the best interest of the public.

• June 28, 2006, FAA issued Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation.

• July 2006, City of La Mirada issued Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative Declaration for the Tower Reconstruction.

• August 2007, City of La Mirada issued a draft EIR.

• September 11, 2007, FAA issued updated Determination of No Hazard to Air Navigation to expire on October 21, 2007, unless petitions submitted prior to expiration.

• September 19, 2007, City of Fullerton, filed petition.

• FAA accepted petition and has withdrawn “Determination of No Hazard . . .” pending a full review of the study.

Mr. Propst asked the Committee to review the Resolution being presented to them and to approve that the Resolution be forwarded to the parties addressed in the Resolution, including the City Councils of the City of Fullerton and the City of Buena Park, and the owners of the KFI Radio Tower.

Mr. Propst then presented slides describing specifications of the new tower reconstruction by the City of La Mirada, including height of new tower which is in direct line of flight to the Fullerton Municipal Airport.The final slide referred to the crash in 2004 and height of new tower in relation to physical surroundings.

Chair Harris opened for questions from the Committee.

Responding to questions from Mr. Atkins, Mr. Propst stated that based on the negative declaration, using a 204-foot tower would serve 75% of listening population and believes it would be feasible to continue use of temporary tower.There is still no answer as to why action to install strobe lights not been taken.

Mr. Propst directed to the Chair that Mr. Jay Salzberg of the City of Buena Park staff wishes to address the Committee.

Mr. Salzberg, City of Buena Park, addressed the Committee stating that the City of Buena Park is aware of this issue, also has concerns, and does have some thoughts about the potential mechanism and advisory bodies that go beyond the scope of the current resolution.The potential of sensitivity is between counties as well as cities; the Airport land Use Commission is also involved, but does not have jurisdiction; the Committee that does have jurisdiction is located In Los Angeles.How do we involve the downtown office in this application, as well as other cities in LA County that may have some leverage with the Committee to bring in additional authority?

Chair Harris asked Mr. Propst if there is there a mechanism to connect this involvement.Mr. Propst stated that the Airport Land Use Commission in any county operates under Public Utility Code of the State of California and cannot reach out for project.Projects have to be submitted by either the municipality or county in which it is to be constructed.LA has chosen to NOT become involved, saying it have no jurisdiction.Its own bylaws relating to comprehensive land use planning however requires that any tower higher than 200 feet above ground level should be reviewed by that body.However, they are also saying there is no airport in LA County being affected by this tower; therefore they are not going to review this project.

Clearly, this project relies on the fact that the obstacle evaluation published in 2006 indicates no hazard to aerial navigation as a result of this tower.On the other hand, it is highly significant that the FAA has withdrawn its determination of no hazard and is revaluating this project based on Fullerton’s request for evaluation.

Committee Member Jones stated for the record that it not intended to take anyone’s authority nor direct any body of authority.The Committee simply wanted to bring to light specific circumstances that should be considered and is this Committee’s opinion only.

The hearing was opened for Public Comment.

Mr. Deano Darling, Whittier, is a radio and aviation enthusiast.He corrected some misinformation regarding the current tower, which is 250 feet tall, top-loaded, but is restricted to only half power, and advised thatCox Communications, previous owner of KFI, worked to place strobes, and submitted required info to FAA.The reason for the lack of strobes was because of the two-years of delays from the FAA – prior to crash.

He also addressed the issue of pilot error contributing to the fatal incidents.

He went on to say that radio frequency is imperative.The Los Angeles area is covered sufficiently with the current tower, however, not to the extent of a higher tower in the event of a major disaster.Not everyone has access to satellite communications, but everyone has a radio and batteries.He is still of the opinion that the antenna should be rebuilt to 780 feet, but the new height of 684 will still provide AM broadcasting in event of a disaster

The Public Comment segment was closed.

A motion was made by Member Michael Johnson to approve and forward Resolution 402 to the appropriate entities.The motion was seconded by Member Tom Atkins and was passed unanimously.

COMMITTEE COMMENTS - None

PUBLIC COMMENTS - (on items not on the agenda) - None

ADJOURNMENT - The meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m. to the next Regular Quarterly Meeting: Thursday, November 29, 2007 (rescheduled because of Thanksgiving Holiday).