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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-08-23 Airport Advisory Board Agenda c AGENDA DANIA BEACH AIRPORT ADVISORY COMMITTEE AUGUST 23, 2007, THURSDAY 7:00 P.M. 1. ROLL CALL AND SELF INTRODUCTION 2. EXCUSED ABSENCES 3 MINUTES 3.1 MINUTES JUNE 28, 2007 4. PRESENTATION OF SUB COMMITTEE REPORTS. 4.1 DISCUSSION OF RUNWAY PROJECT, MASTER PLAN UPDATE & PART 150 PROJECT, EIS UPDATE, TASK FORCE UPDATE.. 4.2 NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE MEETING DISCUSSION 4.3 PRESENTATION OF ANY MEMBER RUNUP LOGS 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 6, NEW BUSINESS 7. ADJOURN A REMINDER FROM THE CHAIR: ALL COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND THIS MEETING SHOULD WRITE A NOTE TO DANIA CLERK STATING YOU WILL BE ABSENT OR YOU WILL BE CHARGED WITH AN UNEXCUSED ABSENCE. THANK YOU. SEE YOU AT THE MEETING. • j City of Dania Beach Airport Advisory Board Meeting Thursday,June 2r,2007 Chairman Field called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Members present:) Billy Phipps Betty Sokol Dick Sokol Jay Field Beulah Lair Bud Witz Rae Sandler George Jason Clive Taylor Linda Sacco Sulie Spencer Members absent: Loretta Murray Boisy Waiters,Jr. Thomas Allen Don Hill (There were no requests for excused absence) Others present: Suzanne Witz Richard Sacco Minutes of the previous meeting were presented for approval. A motion to approve as written was made by Rae Sandler,seconded by Beulah Lair. Motion carried. Chairman Field began by giving the members of the Board an opportunity to discuss their observations and opinions in regard to the June 5*Airport Expansion Public Hearing. Most of the members had attended the meeting and those that hadn't been able to attend had watched it on TV. They were angry that the TV broadcast was discontinued at midnight before the County Commissioners had their discussion and vote. Beulah Lair said she had received a call the day after the meeting from someone who said he was calling from the Sun Sentinel. it was obvious he was fishing for anything negative he could put into print. One question he asked was did she feel there would be many people putting their houses up for sale as a result of the vote of the Broward Commission in favor of the south runway entention. She told him she has no intention of moving and the same is true of the majority of the people living in the area.She said it isn't a"done deal"and the fight is far from over. Several of the Board members said they have been receiving solicitation calls and letters from real estate people.One member of the board observed a woman walking the Maleluca neighborhood making notes on the addresses of houses with "For Sale"signs. 1. Everyone was pleased with the number of people present at the June 5th meeting who were there in support of no expansion. All agreed the signs with pictures of Maleluca homes was a good idea. Several people who were supposedly in favor of south runway expansion took notice and remarked they didn't realize the neighborhood homes were so nice. The Mayors handling of the meeting was severely criticized. People who had signed up to speak were told they had three minutes but the Mayor cut their time to two minutes which upset quite a number of people. The Board felt Brenda Shalifours treatment by the Mayor was outrageous and very disgusting. Several pilots spoke in opposition of the south runway but when Commissioner John R.odstrom wanted to ask them a question the Mayor would not permit him to do so. It was definitely ' obvious the Mayor was trying to do everything he could in support of the south runway expansion. All the Board members agreed the Broward Commissioners had already made their decision well in advance of the meeting and they weren't really listening to the people who spoke. One member of the board commented she felt the meeting was somewhat of an exercise in futility. Others said they thought it has attracted the attention of people who previously were not aware of how serious the situation is and didn't realize so many people would be adversely affected. Chairman Field mentioned the County Commission is presently in the process of hiring a new airport manager. Rehiring a previous manager is one consideration. Chairman Field was able to give the Board quite a bit of information regarding his previous tenure. Rae Sandler again stressed that the support of every member of the Airport Advisory Board is needed and suggested those members who continue to miss meetings without excuse should be replaced with people who are interested enough to attend.She announced an anti-airport expansion,strategy meeting is planned for Saturday afternoon,June 30*. It will be held in the Conference Room at City Hall from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Everyone was encouraged to attend and bring friends. There being no further business to discuss,Chairman Field adjourned the meeting at 8:00 P.M. \Respectfully submitted, Jay Field,Chairman Suzanne Witz J 2. Print This Article Posted on Fri, Aug. 10, 2007 Broward airport runway ruling stands BY BREANNE GILPATRICK Federal authorities will not fight a court order that cuts off one of Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport's main strategies for reducing flight delays. The Department of Justice decided Thursday that it would not ask the Supreme Court to review a May decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals that said the Federal Aviation Administration must keep the bulk of the airport's traffic on its main runway. The decision is good news for airport neighbors, who equate use of the secondary runways with extra noise. But it could be bad news for travelers because the purpose of using the extra runways was to limit delays. Meanwhile, Broward County is moving ahead with a separate airport expansion plan for the airport, which is one of the busiest in the nation. "The federal government only seeks Supreme Court review in extraordinary circumstances," said Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman with the FAA. "We decided this case did not meet that standard." The decision comes after two residents and the cities of Hollywood and Dania Beach filed a lawsuit complaining that putting more planes on the southern and crosswind runways made living near the airport miserable. Dania Beach Mayor Bob Anton said today that he was happy the city won its initial fight, saying he would get calls from frustrated residents whenever the alternate runways were used. He also said some residents told him the noise was so loud that they would stay in hotels to escape it. "We won, and rightfully so," he said. "That shows there was some validity to what we've been saying." The FAA started using the alternate runways to ease traffic in June 2005, after mounting delays put the airport on a federal list of six potential "trouble spots"for vacation travelers. The FAA insisted that it had the authority to use"all available runways"to reduce traffic backups because they were creating delays nationwide. But the federal court decision said that without an environmental study, the county could only use those alternate runways if repairs or emergencies--like a plane breakdown --prohibited the use of the main north runway. In the meantime, the county is pursuing a$695 million expansion plan for the airport's south runway to reduce future congestion. Broward commissioners voted to expand the runway to about 8,000 feet starting in 2012. And on Tuesday, commissioners are scheduled to authorize the use of$545,000 in grant funds to continue a required study that examines the environmental effects of that expansion. The county received a draft of that study in April and should get a final version in a few months, Bergen said. I ` But more than 1,000 people turned out for the county's initial airport vote, many of them protesting the proposed expansion. Also, cities bordering the airport have said the fight to block project isn't over. "We're not backing down,"Anton said. "Period." ©2007 Miami Herald Media Company. All Rights Reserved. hftp://www.miamiherald.com Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-flbmelaleuca0702nbjul02,0,252109.story? colt=sfla-home-headlines Runway plan means homeowners in Dania neighborhood can't sell homes By Thomas Monnay South Florida Sun-Sentinel July 2, 2007 DANIA BEACH --They say they are not giving up. Residen ts of Melaleuca Gardens are undeterred after losing the latest battle in their 12-year war against the expansion of the south runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. "They're going to keep fighting," said Anne Castro, a Dania Beach commissioner and Melaleuca Gardens resident for 18 years. "They're going to stay. It's overwhelming." But some homeowners concede that even if they wanted to move, a state disclosure law would make it almost impossible to sell their homes. The law requires prospective buyers to be told about zoning changes and projects that could affect home values in a neighborhood. City officials say the Broward County Commission's June 5 decision to approve lengthening the south runway from 5,600 to 8,000 feet would increase noise and pollution in the waterfront community of 400 homes sandwiched between Griffin and Old Griffin roads,just south of the runway. "People don't even want to look in there,"said Eyvonne Kafouros, a Realtor with A.J. Ryan Realty, a Dania Beach company. "As soon as you give them the disclosure, they are gone." Two years ago, Alan Stanish paid$250,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bath house and spent about $55,000 upgrading it. After trying for a year to sell it, in June he turned it into a rental. "I don't know if I'd buy there with the knowledge that a noisy runway is going to come through," said Stanish. He said he would not have bought if he knew the county was going to act so quickly. While Castro agrees the runway would deter prospective buyers, she noted there are barely a dozen homes for sale in the community. Most belong to speculators who thought the county would have bought them back for a lot of money. "We have no one selling because of the airport,"said Rae Sandler, president of the neighborhood's homeowners association. She said people sell mainly if they want to retire to smaller homes or relocate to bigger ones. Beulah Lair, a member of Dania Beach's airport advisory board, said residents love the waterfront community where neighbors help each other and there is easy access to the beach and major highways, as well as the airport. "We're staying right where we are,"said Lair, a resident for 30 years. "Nobody's panicking. It's a beautiful place; it's a good neighborhood." Castro said residents are telling her they plan to continue working with the city to fight the expansion. Mayor Bob Anton, also a Melaleuca Gardens resident, said commissioners would meet with the city's airport attorney to discuss strategy. "We're not ruling out legal action,"Anton said. 1 Gregory Meyer, a Broward County aviation spokesman, said the Federal Aviation Administration will issue a final report on the environmental impact of nine options for expansion by December. The options range from taking no action to building a 6,001-foot runway 340 feet north of the south runway. The FAA will state which one is an"environmentally preferred alternative," but Broward County will make the final decision, said Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman. Expanding the south runway would eventually affect 1,051 homes, and Meyer said they would be either soundproofed or bought by the county. "We're very sensitive to the concerns of our neighbors and we'll do our best to accommodate all of them while still going forward with the commission's vision," Meyer said. He said construction on the runway could start as early as next year,with completion projected for 2012. In the meantime, some homeowners say they are putting off plans to upgrade. Jocelyn Kelly, a registered nurse, said she paid an architect$10,000 to draw a plan for a two-story addition to her corner house, "but we're not going to do it with a south runway expansion." Kafouros, the Realtor, said she had been considering adding a pool, new floors and bathrooms to her two-story waterfront home in Melaleuca Gardens. "We're going to replace something if it breaks,"she said. "Otherwise, we're not going to do anything else." Thomas Monnay can be reached at tmonnay@sun-sentinel.com or 954-385-7924. Copyright @ 2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel a Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer Spacer http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-flzspirit28nbjun28,0,673014.story?coll=sfla- business-front Spirit Airlines takes off at Fort Lauderdale airport, snaring No. 1 spot in May By TOM STIEGHORST South Florida Sun-Sentinel June 28, 2007 Spirit Airlines is hitting its stride at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Long a contender among a crowded field of low-fare airlines, Spirit in May led all other carriers, flying 15.3 percent of the 1.8 million people traveling through the airport last month. Southwest Airlines was second at 13.6 percent of the traffic, and longtime leader Delta Air Lines was third at 13.3 percent. Traffic overall rose 4.6 percent in May, led by a 21 percent surge in international passengers that were largely delivered by Spirit planes. It was the first month that Miramar-based Spirit has been the largest carrier at Fort Lauderdale, airport officials said. In Palm Beach County, passenger traffic was up 3.2 percent in May. Delta was the market leader with 23.3 percent of all passengers. Spirit doesn't fly to West Palm Beach. Several factors account for the increasing passenger counts at Spirit. It has been adding destinations this year, including flights to Lima, Peru begun Wednesday. Other cities added this year include Aguadilla, Puerto Rico; St. Maarten, in the Netherlands Antilles; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Guatemala City, Guatemala. Spirit has also drawn notice with promotional fares as low as$1 each way on certain days. The fares help attract passengers, leading to Spirit's first quarterly profit in several years. In the first quarter, Spirit had operating earnings of$12 million on revenue of$173 million, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. In last year's first quarter, Spirit's operating loss was$8.3 million on revenue of$114.8 million. Spirit also benefited in May from seasonal drawdown in capacity by some competitors. Over the first five months of 2007, Spirit was the fourth-largest carrier in Fort Lauderdale, with a 12.2 percent market share, trailing Delta, Southwest and JetBlue Airways, airport statistics show. Staff Writer Tom Stieghorst can be reached at tstieghorst@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5008. Copyright©2007, South Florida Sun-Sentinel