HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995.06.20 CITY COUNCIL MINUTESDATE: (062095)
City Council
6/20/95
7:00 A.M.
State of Idaho)
County of Madison (ss
City of Rexburg(
Present were the following: Mayor:
Councilman:
City Clerk:
Attorney:
Engineer:
Finance Officer:
Pledge to the flag.
Nile L. Boyle
Jim Flamm
Kay Beck
Glen Pond
Nyle Fullmer
Farrell Davidson
Bruce Sutherland
Rose Bagley
J. D. Hancock
Joe Laird
Richard Horner
A motion was made by Jim Flamm and seconded by Nyle Fullmer to approve
the minutes. All Aye
RE: K STREET BEING USED BY CONSTRUCTION TRUCKS
TOPIC: (19,140...K STREET,STH WEST,SUMMERWOOD SUBDIVISION,SIGNS)
Some ladies representing K Street were at the meeting. On May 31, they
had called Mayor Boyle and asked him if there was a reason why the
construction trucks were going down K Street. The mayor had told her
there was no reason they should go down K Street, they should be going
down 5th West, and he said he would take care of it. Three weeks
later, the trucks were still going down K Street and she called Delbert
Edstrom and then called Jim Flamm. Jim got a three way conversation
with the mayor or Mr Edstrom and could not reach either, so he then
called John Millar who said he had talked to Edstrom and said he would
go down and talk to them. Mr Flamm called back later and told her they
would consider having some signs put up "No Trucks Allowed". Their
concern is (1) there are over 40 children under the age of 18 on that
street which is a dead end street, (2) that road is just not
constructed to handle these huge trucks, (3) we were under the
understanding the access would be 5th West and not K Street. She asked
how soon the signs could be put up and what if they have no regard for
the signs?
The mayor said when he talked to them they said they were just bringing
the belly dumps down K Street to do the turn -a -round. (Discussion on
wording on signs). Nyle told her there would have to be a complaint
signed by the witness. The witness would have to take the license
plate down and become a complainer and sign the citation of a real
citizens arrest. Kay told the council it would take two to three weeks
to get the signs up. Farrell suggested that a barricade be put up
until the signs are put up. A motion was made by Jim Flamm that we get
a sign up at both ends of the street and barricade it until the signs
are up. J. D. could word the sign such as "No Trucks Allowed Except
service Trucks". Seconded by Bruce Sutherland. All Aye
RE: RECYCLING BINS & RECYCLING DISCUSSED
TOPIC: (19,140,,,RECYCLING,B.F.I.,GARBAGE,TRANSFER STATION)
Carl Kay Rasmussen was at the meeting. He had read in the paper about
the proposal for recycling. Recently he was in Lewiston and had
noticed that they have a series of containers up there and his
brother-in-law told him it was for recycling. They have a man that
works on his own, the city does not pay him and they have a series of
these containers around the town in various locations and he comes with
the truck and dumps them into bins he has on his truck and recycles it
and that is his source of income. He felt we should look at it
further. (referring to the article from Reader's Digest on file) He
expressed that he is is not in favor of curb side recycling. He felt
there was a better way to do it. He did not feel the citizens should
have to pay for it.
Mable Smith- We are basically guaranteeing this gentleman an income.
The city will do the billing, collecting, handle his complaints,
contact the residents if they don't comply with his pickup rules and
the citizens have no choice except to accept his services. The citizens
can't drop the service if they are not satisfied. She is not against
recycling, but she did not think this was the right method for the
city. It is not fair to force people to pay this man's professional
business.
The mayor told the council after the article was put in the paper we
have had 60 phone calls from residents with 26 for it and 34 against.
The mayor felt it was not cost effective to recycle. It still costs
money. In Boise at the landfill it costs $16 a ton but here it is $50
a ton. If we went to Bonneville County Landfill it would cost $68.
Wayne Baker from B.F.I. stated they are asking the people to pay for
the convenience. We have been operating the drop off centers in
Rexburg at a loss and this is a business and they need to show a
profit. They have added cardboard to this list they will pick up.
There are several options this could be done including a drop off with
a Blue Bag. We need to reduce the amount of Solid Waste going to the
Landfill. With the Blue Bag the residents would separate the garbage in
their home in a Blue Bag, You would put all the Recyclable items in
one bag and the regular garbage in another special bag. At the
Transfer Station the colored bags would be separated and sorted. It is
not as efficient as the way B.F.I. proposed.
The mayor explained the B.F.I. made a proposal to the city to pick up
all of their garbage and felt comfortable that they could do it without
increasing costs and do the curb side recycling. Because of law suits
they have had in the past, they will not be a part of transferring any
garbage other than to a Title B Landfill, which Bonneville County is
------ but Jefferson County is not. As soon as the garbage was going to a non
Title B Landfill, they are not willing to do that. If our garbage was
going to a Title B Landfill, they would look at that one. In the City
of Boise the residents pay $7.95 regular and if they curb Side Recycle
they give them $1 discount and only charge them $6.95. In the ADA
County where the pickups are further apart, they charge them $7.95 but
they do not give them a $1 discount if they have curb side recycling.
They are getting about 85% of the people in ADA county that are doing
the curb side recycling. If we did curb side recycling we would
probably save 353 tons at $50 a ton we could probably pay about $1 of
the $2 charge.
Glen Pond asked what the cost of the Blue Bag would be? Wayne Baker
said they would have to determine that based on the transportation and
sorting. There would be some cost involved to the city.
The mayor said if we do not do this he felt the city would not continue
putting money in the recycling bins around town. He asked Mr Baker if
we don't put any money in the upkeep if B.F.I. would discontinue
picking them up? Mr Baker said that was likely they would
discontinue. The mayor said he thought most of the weight comes from
newspaper. Mr Baker said they would maintain the newspaper drops.
(discussion)
The mayor felt that recycling is not cost effective and we probably
should back away. It would cost about $6000 to maintain the recycling
bins. Richard said we did not budget for it and if we continue we will
have to raise the garbage rates.
The transfer station has always accepted any recycling items without
going across the scale. A motion was made by Bruce Sutherland that we
continue the way we are doing it now without curb side recycling but
that we discontinue the recycling bins. Seconded by Jim Flamm. Jim
felt we should work with Mr Baker and try to work out something that is
cost effective. Nyle said the problem he had with curb side recycling
is everyone is going to have to pay the extra but we will still end up
taking it to the landfill, because people won't recycle. All voting
aye. The mayor said we need to get a plan to get the yard waste out of
the garbage. The mayor said we would discontinue the recycling bins as
of July 1.
RE: COMPLAINT ON STREET CREWS WORK; STREET IMPROVEMENTS
TOPIC: (19,142,,, STREETS,STREET DEPARTMENT)
Budge Clay- He had a clipping out of the paper about the Override
Election. He realized there needs to be a lot of road work done. His
question is about supervision and organization. He was concerned
because he had observed over the last two weeks city crews working on
_.. the patch jobs on the streets. His first observation was when they
were doing a 10' x 20' patch job just around the corner from 6th South
and 5th West. There were five men, a big truck pulling a trailer, a
backhoe, a dump truck and a pickup doing a 10' x 20' patch. He could
not see why the city should pay five men for five hours to do that
patch and during that time all those outfits were parked there. When
he walked down to see what was going on, three men were leaning on a
• shovel or rake. The only men that were working was one man with a rake
and the one in the backhoe. The man in the backhoe was dumping it out
and shaking it and tamping it down and the other four men were not
doing anything. He did not think it was profitable to have the men
stand around. The next project he saw was a block east of Steiner
Elevators at that intersection and the same thing was going on there.
There was one on 7th South and 5th West and he got out of his outfit
and talked to them. One of the men said he was doing the job that he
was assigned. He had a shovel but at that time there was no need for a
shovel. Instead of dumping out the asphalt and getting those men to
work, one man was doing the job with a rake. When the backhoe wasn't
needed he was sitting there observing. When there is that small of a
patch job they should be split up and put someplace where they are
doing the job they are assigned to do. He felt there should be better
management and better supervision. Better than half of the men that
are on a patch job are not working they are standing. Something needs
to be done. He had worked hard all his life and could probably work
harder than those men. He has observed this situation many times. We
should not be paying men to lean on their shovels. Kay Beck said he
would talk to Farrell about it.
RE: INGRESS/EGRESS DISCUSSED; DOWNTOWN BUILDINGS
TOPIC: (19,142,,,EGRESS,INGRESS/EGRESS,REFLECTIONS,U.B.C.,BASEMENTS,
DOWNTOWN)
Ingress/Egress-(Joe gave a handout on file) He and the Fire Chief went
over to the Reflections Hair Salon. They were not able to find a way
to get another exit out of there, but did find some more violations.
The clearance on the stairs was 5' 10" instead of the 6' 9" There is an
open grade from the basement outside. This basement is just a typical
downtown basement that we see in all the downtown stores. Basements
and second stories have been found to be one of the most dangerous
places as far as deathly type fires go. Because of this the U.B.C. has
some tight restrictions on basements and their use. (discussion on the
handout with exceptions) He had talked to local contractors about the
cost to put stair wells out of a basement and they tell me it will cost
from $2000 to $3000. (explaining) He stated the only thing he could
suggest is 111003.1 Number of Exits and making an (8) exception to that
similar to Exception (2), Exception (8) would read A business on the
second floor or in the basement of an existing building and having an
occupancy group classification of B.F.M or S of business factory,
mercantile or storage can be served by only one exit if the total
occupant load served by that exit does not exceed ten. The total
occupancy load shall be calculated using the requirements and criteria
set forth in Chapter 3 and 10 of the code. Smoke detectors shall be
installed in the 2nd floor or basement as called for in the code or as
directed by the building official. Joe told the council if they want
an exception to all of this we could add this as an eight exception and
add the same thing to the section on fire sprinkling system. They are
all tied together. (discussion) Joe stated that probably in this
instance where they have a very small basement, with two tanning beds
and a little storage area, this would probably fit within this
exemption 8 because they would have less than ten occupants. Joe said
this exemption won't solve all of our problems. J. D. stated that we
have a problem because these buildings downtown were all built before
the U.B.C. was in effect. He felt this exemption would be defensible.
Once they go over the occupancy loan of ten they need to bring it to
code. Jim stated as someone comes in and changes the use of the
building, we need to make sure they know they can't change the use of
it without the additional expense of meeting the code. People need to
be very careful as these buildings change hands that people don't get
the idea that they can do things in the basements that would violate
the code. We can grandfather what is going on, but the time to do it
is when the change is made. Bruce felt it was the responsibility the
owner to comply not the renter.
A motion was made by Kay Beck to add Exemption S. Glen questioned it
and Nyle explained and also stated it should be for the long term. Jim
stated this would protect existing uses. Seconded by Farrell Young.
All Aye The mayor asked J. D. to write up the exemption.
RE: LANDSCAPING AT THE WATER TANK - 5TH SOUTH 2ND EAST
TOPIC: (19,143,,, WATER TANK,LANDSCAPING,5TH SOUTH,2ND EAST)
The mayor reported on the landscaping at the water tank at 5th South
and 2nd East. Joe, DeLynn and the Mayor went up to the water tank and
looked at it. For what ever reason when that was engineered, that
retaining wall is illegal for the clear site triangle and the fence is
too close to the road. They would need to move the fence up to the top
of the berm, cut off the retaining wall, and put in somekind of ground
cover and water it. Possibly by the time we finished, we are talking
in excess of $10,000. There are a couple of problems, the concrete
wall in the back that used to be part of the water tank, do we want to
do something on that side and include that? We would need to haul in
dirt and have landscaping. The retaining wall is for a catch basin.
Most of the cost would include cutting off the retaining wall and
sloping the ground back out and putting a fence along the top of it and
putting in a sidewalk along the top. The mayor explained we need a
retaining wall of somekind. Richard told the council the budget could
handle it. A motion was made by Bruce to do what ever is most cost
effective, a solid fence or landscaping. (discussion) Seconded by Nyle
Fullmer. All Aye.
RE: REQUEST FOR FOUR-WAY STOP SIGNS
TOPIC: (19,143,,, SAFETY COMMITTEE,STOP SIGNS,TRAFFIC,IST SOUTH,
2ND EAST)
We have a request with the Traffic Safety Committee for four-way stop
signs. The police don't have any problem with moving the ones off 1st
and 3rd South and just having the one at 2nd South and 2nd East. The
Traffic Committee wanted the one from lst South moved to let South and
Center. What Chief Siepert would like to try there rather than going
to the four-way stop is to try some larger stop signs and street
painting. (discussion on 1st South as a through street and stop
signs) Glen reminded the council, when we widened 2nd East we talked
to the people and told them we would have the stop signs where they are
located and that was the agreement. He was hesitant in going up and
changing that, because that agreement was made with those residents
when we widened that street. Bruce agreed. Kay said he thought we
should just do it. (discussion) Nyle Fullmer said the way it is now it
keeps the traffic flow pretty constant but he would get some input from
the people along that street.
RE: ORDINANCE 774 - INTERMOUNTAIN GAS FRANCHISE
TOPIC: (19,144,ORD,774,INTERMOUNTAIN GAS,FRANCHISE FEES,
FRANCHISE TAX)
ORDINANCE NO. 774 - Intermountain Gas Franchise Ordinance
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF REXBURG, IDAHO, GRANTING TO INTERMOUNTAIN
GAS COMPANY A TEN (10) YEAR EXTENSION TO TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
SYSTEM: PROVIDING FOR THE USE OF STREETS AND ALLEYS, AND RULES
GOVERNING THE SAME, SUBJECTING THE GRANTEE TO ALL POWERS OF THE CITY:
SETTING FORTH THE RULES OF THE FRANCHISE AND GRANT: PROVIDING FOR THE
RIGHT OF INSPECTION BY THE CITY OF GRANTEES PLANS, ACCOUNTS, AND BOOKS;
REQUIRING GRANTEE TO FURNISH CERTAIN MAPS: SETTING FORTH THE QUARTERLY
PAYMENT TO THE CITY, AND THE FILING OF QUARTERLY REPORTS WITH THE CITY;
REQUIRING GRANTEE TO INDEMNIFY CITY, AND FILE EVIDENCE OF INSURANCE:
REQUIRING COMPLIANCE WITH SAFETY REGULATIONS; SETTING FORTH AN
AGREEMENT NOT TO COMPLETE, RESERVING POWER OF EMINENT DOMAIN: PROVIDING
FOR SURRENDER OF FRANCHISE: GRANTING RIGHT TO SALVAGE; REQUIRING
WRITTEN ACCEPTANCE: PROVIDING FOR CONSENT TO SALE OR ASSIGNMENT;
PROVIDING FOR PAYMENT OF PUBLICATION COST; SETTING FORTH PENALTIES AND
FORFEITURES, SEPARABILITY AND REPEAL.
(discussion) This is the third reading of the ordinance.
Ordinance 774 was then placed before the council. The mayor then
called for the voting for final passage of the ordinance, and the
motion was made by Jim Flamm and seconded by Nyle Fullmer that
ordinance 774 be passed.
Those voting aye: Glen Pond
Jim Flamm
Nyle Fullmer
Farrell Young
Those voting nay: Kay Beck
Bruce Sutherland
The roll showed the majority of all the city council members present
voted for the passage of said ordinance which was regularly passed.
Mayor Boyle declared the motion passed.
A motion was made by Jim Flamm and seconded by Farrell Young to pay the
bills. All Aye
The mayor told the council that we need to go into a work session to
decide about the Override Election.
Meeting adjourned.
Mayor, Ni a L. Boyle
City Cl rk ose Bagley/
DATE: (062095)
AIRPORT BOARD
Public Hearing
6-20-95
6:00 p.m.
Airport Board: Gerald Taylor
Roger Porter
Warren Smith
Richard Smith
Steven Terry
Don Larson, FAA, Seattle Airports District Office
Wayne D. Pickerill, ITD, Div. of Aeronautics, Boise
Others: Mayor, Nile L. Boyle, County Commissioners - Brooke
Passey, Gerald Jeppesen; City Council - Nyle Fullmer, Kay W. Beck.
Janet Williamson was present to take minutes for Rose Bagley.
RE: PUBLIC HEARING FOR AIRPORT SITE SELECTION
TOPIC: (19,145,,, AIRPORT,PUBLIC HEARINGS)
Gerald Taylor opened the meeting, introduced the board and turned the
time over to Armstrong Consultants.
Ed Armstrong said he would have Sue go over the alternatives for the
existing site and then those that needed to leave early could make
comments. Following their comments, the alternative sites would be
presented. He said that what they were there to do is basically cover
the preliminary - it is a draft stage of the site selection. After
this point the Airport Board and agencies need to select a preferred
alternative to the existing site and 3 out of the 6 alternatives we
have studied for further study. A month from now they will come back
with a final draft. At that point it will be up the agencies and the
community to select the preferred alternative to those 4 alternatives.
Ed turned the time over to Sue. She explained that this is a
preliminary analysis of the existing site and also the alternative
sites. The preliminary analysis is to assess the development options
and how best the recommmended facility requirements for the airport can
be developed. What that means is is it best to develop those
facilities and the existing site or another site.
If the existing site is developed, several nonstandard conditions
(those that do not meet FAA guidelines) will have to be corrected.
These costs and conditions are included as part of each alternative's
evaluation. With all of the alternatives to the existing airport a
redesign of the golf course and some acquisition of homes/land would be
involved. Sue gave a description of each of the alternatives to the
existing airport, their rating scale and criteria, accommodation of
aviation demand, airspace impacts, environmental impacts, and
development costs of each. (Copy attached).
(Break here for comments)
Keith Steiner, CEO of Madison Memorial Hospital & President of the
Chamber of Commerce - The location of the hospital to the airport is
very important and in relationship to disaster planning and the mere
conveniences of relationship of business and positions and the personal
and also professional interests of those that fly the airport has been
very essential to us.
Rexburg has become the hub for several major aspects of commerce and
business and education and health care. The hospital has had to assume
the role and responsibility of being the regional, primary care
provider hospital for services. When you get into the definition of a
regional center you get into the definition of an airport, so I want to
speak specifically to the importance of that airport remaining in
Rexburg. There are reasons for this. 1 - in reviewing the airport we
see that there are numerous small airplane hanger owners (almost 40);
we also have a very thriving small business with Hart Enterprises and
also the other businesses, and those people have worked very hard over
the years and desire to have that remain in place. Second - we
recognize that there has already been some investment made in that
airport. Particularly, there has been an $800,000 grant where the
entire runway and the parking area have been completely resurfaced and
the runway of 6" of asphalt makes it an excellent surface for landing.
Also, taking into consideration that relocation of any of those private
businesses and hangers could equal 1 1/2 - 2 million dollars, in this
day and age when we know that grant money is really being tied up, it
really becomes a concern. And so, as I see it, (at least from a
business point of view) the investment into the existing location is
something that needs to be weighed very heavily.
The extension of the runway seems feasible. At one time the river
really was a barrier. We are encouraged that there are alternatives
that can work. The investment and cost to completely relocate the
airport is something that needs to be seriously considered. I think
that future dollars can be very well used to give serious consideration
to expansion.
Bob DaBell, MEDCO Representative - One of the original goals of MEDCO
was to support the expansion of the existing airport. Many and various
groups of people and individuals ask about and use the existing
airport. Extending the runway at the existing airport will help
preserve the existing 1.4 million dollar assets at the present airport
and provide an airport that will help serve the needs of a business
community built upon the collective capital contributions of many
individual families. Based upon what he has studied and heard he urges
the airport board and FAA to maintain the existing airport site and
continue the study to determine the most cost effective way to extend
the runway to enhance safety and assessablity of additional air
traffic.
(Sue continued reviewing the existing site alternatives - copy
attached)
Nick Pela reviewed the 6 alternative sites scattered through out the
valley. At this point, no comparison was made between the relocation
sites and any of the alternative sites that Sue talked about.
Initially they drew an arch about 5 miles around the City of Rexburg
and used that as a starting point to locate several sites. The only
site that is outside of that 5 mile radius is the Snake River Site.
The 6 sites identified are Burton Site, Joint county Site, Rexburg
Bench East Site, Rexburg Bench West Site, Snake River Site, and Teton
Site. Nick went over each site and their rating. (6 sites with
limiting factors and construction costs attached.)
The Burton and Joint County were the 2 top rated sites. Some of the
positive highlights of these 2 sites are:
Burton
- Best soils
- Best IFR Utilization
(Because of lower elevation)
- $650,000 cheaper to build
- Closer to Rexburg
- No Wet Land Impact
- Less Noise Impact
Joint County
- Best Wind Coverage
- Funding split with
Fremont County
- Land acquisition easier
(fewer owners)
(cheaper - less land)
- Less Farm Land taken out
of production
David Taylor - He lives about 500 yards off of the south end of the
runway and the noise does not bother him. There are 2 things that he
wants to bring up. One - last year he had a daughter that was injured
and the decision was made to life flight her to Salt Lake. It was
during the Summer and the density of the altitude was high enough were
the life flight wouldn't come into Rexburg. I really feel that there
is a need there for the runway to be lengthened. Two - I have flown
into a lot of airports as a pilot and appreciate it when the airport is
located in proximity to the city. So, I am a voice toward keeping the
current site. It seems like it would be the most economically
feasible. Relocating the river would not be a problem - 3/4's of the
time it is dry.
Eldon Hart - He is concerned with relocating the airport. He has a
school, Aero Technicians, that dates back to Ricks College in 1946 and
they currently limit their enrollment in the mechanics program to 25
students. Many of the schools are being closed up in the country
because of money constraints. If they had to go to the joint county
site, (they would recommend it because of St. Anthony), but at the same
time, because of housing, because of transportation costs, he thinks
they would close the school because it is too far from housing and the
transportation costs would be too high.
About 2 years ago they had an expensive alarm system put in their
building mainly because they have had someone break in, mangle a
vending machine and get into the till and take money, several times a
month. The Fire Department or the Police are there now quicker then he
can drive to the airport. One of the reasons they are is because of
the alarm system. If we move the site then we lose this service and we
have to provide fire protection, water, sewer, etc. Personally, he
feels we need this extension. The school lost a G1 airplane because
they didn't have a long enough runway to take off on. With the
facilities we have, the water and sewer we have, he feels that at the
present time it would be better to keep the airport where it is and
extend the runway.
Mike Walker, Director for Madison County Ambulance - He is in support
of lengthening the existing runway. As David Taylor said, the life
flight airplanes won't land here under certain conditions. What
happens is we have to go to Idaho Falls and pick the team up, bring
them back here, pick up the patient and then go back to Idaho Falls.
It is a lot of time and a lot of unnecessary time in the back of an
ambulance.
He lives 4 houses north of Dave and noise is not a problem, but in view
of the ambulance, we probably would recommend keeping it in the present
site. One thing is, we are 5 minutes away from the hospital. We can
get there and back quicker. Also, there are times when the Air 1
Rescue from Idaho Falls lands and they have been somewhere else and
haven't had time to refuel before they fly up here. The airport now is
close enough they can go out there and be back by the time we go into
the hospital and get the patient and have them back out to the
helicopter. The further out it is, it puts one of our 2 ambulances out
of commission that much longer. It is nice having it close by.
Patty Forsgren, member of the Golf Board - Speaking in behalf of the
Golf Board we like it just where it is also. There isn't a better
neighbor for a golf course then an airport. She had a question for Mr
Larson - being familiar with part 77 of the FAA guidelines, tell me
how you are going to have enough room to clear a 15' truck, being so
close to the highway, if you were to move 400 feet south? Mr. Larson
said they talked about that this afternoon. That is one thing that we
have to deal with. Patty asked if they didn't need several hundred
more feet then we have, even moving 400? That is true, Mr. Larson
said, as she pointed out in the alternatives to the existing site, that
would still leave you 1500 feet short of what you need. FAA would not
agree to an extension that would put the beginning of the runway
protection zone, for instant, right on the road. So, really, it is not
an option to move the runway 400 feet south because of the road.
Ed Armstrong said if you were to move south you could have that runway
for take off to the north and have a displaced threshold for a forced
landing, which basically means they would be landing farther down the
runway which would take care of your 21 approach load.
Richard Smith - so to clear this question up - our runway landing area
would be shorter then our take off. Yes. (Some discussion) What
would be the restriction on the south - would there be a declared
distance? Don Larson, yes. Richard - We would have a declared
distance so that would be an unusable landing on the south end and
taking off from the north to the south we would have a declared
distance unusable.
Richard Law, City Councilman in the City of St. Anthony - On June the
13th the city council passed this resolution: Be it resolved that the
City of St. Anthony endorses the creation of a regional airport if the
regional airport is located on the county line site.
In talking with the people in St. Anthony, Ashton and surrounding
communities, we would benefit greatly from a regional airport located
on the county line. It would serve the the needs of the entire upper
valley.
Jim Martin, Superintendent of the Golf Course - mentioned that in all 3
alternatives to the existing airport there was a million dollars
planned for the reconstruction of the golf course. He asked just what
that was for. What would be the impact on the golf course? Ed said
those would be adjusted depending on the number of holes to be
reconstructed. They had allowed $100,000.00 for each hole that would
be changed plus moving of the golf club. The mayor asked if that
million dollars was part of the cost and eligible for FAA funding and
Ed said yes. Mayor asked if there was any money for relocating
hangers, Ed Harts business, etc. and Don Larson said no, not if they
were relocated to a new site. If, for safety reasons, they needed to
be relocated at the existing site there would probably be money for
that.
Jason Nielson, Pres. of the Golf Board - If the runway is only extended
to the north, he thinks they can get by at the golf course, from what
they have determined, without many changes. The golf course is a big
drawing power and takes in over $100,000 dollars a year. By not
extending it to the south his understanding is that all they would have
to do is put a fence down the runway to keep people from going on to
the runway and move hole #6 tee box. If your talking a million dollars
to change the golf course this would be a whole lot cheaper. We are
talking about having the same golf course and keeping a nice golf
course that people will come and play. (Some discussion of how far the
fence would be into the golf course) Richard felted there had been
mixed signals given to the airport board as to where the fence would
need to be located. Don Larson said that at different times there have
been different design categories assigned to the airport. Over time,
some of the design standards have changed. Right now though, based
upon the recommendations that the consultants have come up with in
their plan, this would be designed for a B-2 category airport and the
runway object free area will be 500 feet wide. What you want to look
at is not making the situation worse but your not looking at tearing
out hangers etc. The airport board has been told many time 125 feet
from center line and also there might be a variance of 62 feet. Don
said that was based on previous design categories - maybe visual only
operations and small aircraft. Now you are looking at providing an
airport that will serve the needs of larger aircraft - aircraft over
12,500 pounds, twin engines, turbo crops, occasional business jets -
things of that nature, that automatically puts the airport into a
design category that has more stringent requirements then what was
needed in the past.
Your getting by with a situation now that is a "touch and go" type
situation, with people operating that close to the runway that if the
FAA were to put a lot of money into developing the airport,
particularly runway extension, then we would also be looking at a high
priority of safety.
Ed said that their intend in the plans were that if the holes at the
golf course had to be moved there would be money in there for that.
Patty Forsgren said there is not enough land there to do that and then
they would just have an executive course. Jim Martin stated that if
the fence has to go 250 feet there wouldn't be enough width to play a
hole up and a hole back along the side of it. Ed said that if you look
at #2, 3A, and 3b all of those show the holes out of the object free
area.
Kent Jolley - he lives just through the golf course on the east side.
He said the golf course seems to be a nice buffer between their
subdivision and the runway. Noise is not a factor. It is not a
particular annoyance. It would seem to him, considering all the
economic factors, it would be silly to try to move the airport.
Considering the existing businesses and hangers it would be best to
stay there and work out the problems with the golf course.
Paul LaBeck - In respect to what Mr. Jolley said, everything is fine
now, but, if you do extend your present runway, and you get more
frequent operations and larger aircraft, in ten years will you have
curfews? Don't look at today and tomorrow - look ahead 10 years. The
world is changing.
Lewis Hart, Hart Enterprises - One of the things that this survey has
convinced me of is there isn't a good alternative to where the airport
is now. I have always been of the impression that the airport should
be where you can zone it so that if someone moves in they can't
complain about it. I have always leaned towards the idea that the
airport should be moved. And it should have been back in 1976. But
from this study, it is pretty obvious that the best alternative is to
leave it where it is and improve it.
John Millar, representing Planning & Zoning - We addressed this issue
through our planning and zoning group and we support the site at its
existing location. We have developed zoning around the site to help
protect the area and those businesses and residents there. He felt it
may be easier for the airport board to make a decision on the value of
length if there were some type of presentation made in graphical form
showing the number of expected annual operations that would be lost if
you dropped the runway length from 6500 to 6000 or 5500. Are we buying
500 feet of runway for 100 operations a year? That greatly effects the
impact on the river and the wetlands area. The relocation of the
river, as proposed, will never sell. You will never get that past a
core of engineers. I am sure there is a more feasible alternative.
Mayor asked if you buy those 4 homes what do you do with that property
after you buy it? Don said if FAA participates in land acquisition for
approach protection we expect any dwellings or structures to be removed
and not to be constructed. You could use it for low intensity
activities like open park land, crops that don't attract birds, things
of that type.
Kent Jolley asked if they were aware of the existing navigation
easement at that particular location. Years ago, when he was county
attorney, he remembers they went through the process to acquire the
navigation easement all around the existing airport and that includes
the area being talked about. Richard asked then, if there is this
easement, then the $525,000 acquisition costs may not be required. Ed
said that in the long fun you would want to purchase those homes and
the area if they ever come up for sell. The Mayor had heard that that
property had been sold with in the last month and they were going to
develop homes in that area. Was that navigation easement ever put on
any planning and zoning? Kent felt that it was in existence. It was
Richards understanding that those easements had been recorded. It is
important that the city or county attorney look into this easement.
Armstrong's will be back, in about a month, after they have reviewed
each of the alternatives against the existing airport alternatives.