| Blaine airport politics haven't lost any airspeed |
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by Tim Hennagir Life Editor
When county commissioners received a load of flak about a plan to add 1,000 feet to an east-west runway, they called off an information meeting. The Dec. 2 meeting at Kingswood Church in Blaine was canceled Nov. 20 after the county talked to Connecticut-based Key Air LLC executives. The open forum would have continued a Nov. 18 meeting by the three-member Anoka County Airport Committee. That meeting now stands adjourned. While the resolution in support of an expanded runway is officially off the table, commissioners are keeping a keen eye on the issue, as well as each other. Dennis Berg, Anoka County Board chairman, said Key Air contacted him before Thursday’s grand opening and asked the Dec. 2 meeting be called off. “Earlier that day, they called and asked if that would be an option,” Berg said. “There was still the expectation we would develop a legislative position.” Week of controversy The legislative position mentioned by Berg was the controversial runway resolution that appeared on the Nov. 18 Anoka County Airport Committee agenda. “I put it on the agenda.” Berg said. “What the committee would have ultimately decided [at the continued Dec. 2 meeting] I guess we will never know.” Before the Key Air event started Thursday, Berg and Scott LeDoux, airport committee chairman, met privately with a number of Key Air staff and executives. Berg and LeDoux also spoke with Brad Kost, the company’s chief executive officer and president, during a closed-door meeting inside the new airport terminal building. “I wanted to get that information first-hand because I had the question earlier in the day,” Berg said. “And 80 percent of what we were hearing wasn’t true.” According to Berg, commissioners were getting swamped with all sorts of questions about a change in airport designation if the resolution was approved. Airport classifications Under current state law, minor airports such as Anoka County are restricted to 5,000-foot runways. A longer runway would mean a classification change. Citizens and city officials from communities in the airport’s flight path were concerned about the fast-paced approach the county was taking with the issue. Opponents of the runway resolution were concerned that if the airport was classified as intermediate after a state law change, larger planes would start arriving. According to Berg, the runway resolution was offered by Anoka County as a way to help solve a safety issue that related to aircraft insurance requirements. Call for cancellation “This whole thing just got ahead of itself,” he said. “It was getting impossible to do any other county-related business the way our phones were ringing.” Berg said he was comfortable with canceling the Dec. 2 meeting and telling county staff people that was the path commissioners were going to follow. Late Friday afternoon, Anoka County issued a news release stating the recessed Nov. 18 airport committee meeting had been adjourned. The release also stated the airport committee was no longer considering the proposed resolution of support for lengthening the airport’s east-west runway. LeDoux, Commissioner Robyn West and Commissioner Dan Erhart unanimously agreed the Nov. 18 meeting should be adjourned, the release stated. “As a result, there will not be a public information meeting Dec. 2 in Blaine,” the release ended. “No further meetings on this issue have been scheduled.” Chairman comments LeDoux said Friday a public information meeting might be brought forward again in the spring and that an airport noise and safety study was in order. “We will not avoid the public,” LeDoux said. “While the county committee process didn’t work, this is a big deal for the people who live around the airport.” LeDoux said the airport has a huge economic impact. As an example, he mentioned Key Air’s current $25 million investment in terminal and hangar facilities. “They are very bright and patient people,” LeDoux said of Key Air. “The taxes and jobs they bring are quite impressive. It’s a positive for Anoka County.” Economic impact Erhart agreed with LeDoux about the additional economic development impact the runway expansion could have. However, Erhart said that if those who opposed the idea continued to be disruptive, he wouldn’t spend a lot of his time working to push such development. “If people want to kill this issue, I’m not going to stand up and try to force it,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of other things to do in Coon Rapids and Anoka.” Erhart was referring to his involvement in the Northstar Commuter Rail project, which is scheduled to begin its initial service starting next November. “I’m not the airport committee chairman, I don’t represent Blaine,” Erhart said. “If people don’t want to improve the tax base, I don’t know what we can do.” Issue isn’t going away According to West, the runway safety issue isn’t going to disappear anytime soon because Key Air is interested in doing something to solve the problem. West said she was concerned that if Anoka County did pass a supporting resolution that was sent to the Legislature for approval, a loss of control might occur. “We’ll just have to start over with this process,” West said Friday. “In the future, we need to be transparent and do a better job of presenting this issue.” West said Key Air could become an important business player in the community, but her constituents made it clear to her they were against larger planes. “I’m realizing where people are at with this particular issue,” she said. “I’ve accumulated a number of e-mail addresses and plan to use them in the future.” Organized opposition Commissioner Rhonda Sivarajah used the electronic approach during the past week to express concern and opposition to the runway expansion resolution. “My colleagues have decided they are going to rush this local approval through the county, without public notification,” Sivarajah wrote Nov. 13 in an opposition e-mail. Sivarajah further stated it was her belief other Anoka County commissioners didn’t understand the ramifications of supporting a runway beyond 5,000 feet. “An intermediate airport could have devastating impacts on surrounding neighborhoods and communities,” Sivarajah wrote in the widely distributed e-mail. According to Sivarajah, the Blaine airport has the largest land mass in the six-reliever airport system controlled by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). “Once legislation is approved to go beyond 5,000 feet, it may not stop at 6,000 feet - it may go beyond that,” Sivarajah said in her e-mail message. Sivarajah’s skepticism Friday, Sivarajah said she wasn’t comfortable with the action taken by the Anoka County Airport Committee to cancel the Dec. 2 public meeting. “It think it’s really unfortunate,” Sivarajah said. “The information sharing still needs to take place. I think good people can agree to disagree on an issue.” When the Nov. 18 meeting was recessed, Sivarajah said those who opposed the runway resolution thought their voices would be heard at a later date. “I was surprised that in the matter of two days, the county board could totally backtrack on what we told citizens we were going to do,” Sivarajah said. Citizens are going to look at county government more skeptically when airport issues occur because of how the runway resolution was handled, she said. “Key Air came knowing the additional runway footage wasn’t there,” Sivarajah said. “It’s important for everyone to pay attention to this issue in the future.” Key Air’s explanation Kost said in a interview Thursday night the runway extension is needed for safe aircraft operations when inclement weather affects takeoffs and landings. “If there’s an event and a pilot needs to stop the aircraft, we need to make sure there’s ample asphalt,” he said. “Greater breaking distance is required.” When planes operate in adverse weather conditions, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has special guidelines for each type of aircraft, Kost said. Aviation companies such as Key Air incorporate the guidelines into their operations manuals and insurance companies sign off on the procedures, Kost said. “We need to have 6,000 feet,” he said. “That can be accomplished without changing the airport classification. What we are talking about is a safety issue.” Kost confirmed he spoke with several Anoka County commissioners last Thursday when he visited Blaine for the ribbon-cutting event at Key Air’s facilities. “The general consensus was there needs to be more information transferred from all sides and all parties so educated decisions can be made,” Kost said. According to Kost, the intent of Anoka County’s recent runway extension resolution was misunderstood. His company doesn’t want larger planes in Blaine. “There’s not enough asphalt to accommodate them,” Kost said. “You would have to change the entire airport infrastructure if you wanted to bring in cargo planes.” Overruns the answer? Kost said there are two ways the aviation community could work within the airport’s current classification to make the 1,000-foot runway extension a reality. One approach would be raising the requirements for airport classification through the legislative process. That would keep Blaine within runway guidelines. The other approach, Kost said, is adding overruns (stopways) at the ends of the runway that may not be included in posted operational distances. “We’ve had the same type of situation with the airport we operate in Connecticut,” Kost said. “We put 400 feet on each end, and everybody is very happy.” Dialogue continues? While Anoka County canceled the Dec. 2 public information meeting at Key Air’s request, Kost said it was important to continue the runway discussion. “Informing the public is in everybody’s best interest,” he said. “We [Key Air] need to give people a better understanding of what we are trying to accomplish” Ideally, Kost said he would like to see one or more meetings early next year that would involve cities near the airport, Anoka County and citizens. “I think it really needs to be something that’s informative and constructive, he said. “All parties need to sit down and talk about their needs and concerns.” MAC addresses issue Gary Schmidt, director of reliever airports for the MAC, confirmed operations at Anoka County start to become marginal with wet, icy or snow conditions. The estimated maximum aircraft gross weight for runways at the airport is between 50,000 and 60,000 pounds for different dual wheel planes, he said. If an overrun is added to improve safety margins, Schmidt said the issue of runway length becomes a bit technical when it’s discussed in aviation circles. “If you have a safety overrun that’s paved, does that mean the runway would actually be more than 5,000 feet? I think there are differing opinions,” he said. More planes coming Another issue the public has difficulty understanding, Schmidt said, is Anoka County will experience more traffic no matter what happens with its runways. “Will it increase significantly in five years? Probably not. Ten years? Maybe,” Schmidt said. “People assume that the airport is never going to change.” Process fails public Schmidt said last week he was disheartened by the way the aviation community (the MAC, Anoka County and Key Air) all failed to follow the right process. “We’ve been at this long enough to know better,” he said. “Public confidence has been damaged by the way this runway resolution issue has been handled.” Schmidt said communities around the airport felt the course of action Anoka County took was part of some internal conspiracy pushed by aviation interests. “That’s not what it was intended to be. We have nothing to hide.” Schmidt said. “We have some fences to mend. I don’t blame those cities for being upset.” One city’s response The Blaine City Council learned the Dec. 2 meeting had been canceled Thursday night. City Manager Clark Arneson broke the news during a workshop. Arneson told the council that around 4 p.m., he learned Key Air would not pursue the current resolution calling for 1,000-foot east-west runway extension. “This was going on throughout the day,” Arneson said Friday. “The decision by Key Air was made early in the afternoon, before the evening event.” Arneson is no stranger to airport-related politics. When he worked in Bloomington, Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) received the attention. “There’s a careful balancing act between noise, people’s concern and property values,” he said. “MSP is the economic engine that drives Bloomington.” Arneson said there are reasonable ways of improving safety at the Anoka County-Blaine Airport without seeking a change in the airport’s classification. “From a safety and economic development standpoint, there are things we can work on,” Arneson said. “A key step will be getting the safety study done.” Mayor has concerns Blaine Mayor Tom Ryan said county commissioners could have done a better job of communicating why they wanted to pursue the runway resolution. While airport-related controversies have had a 40-year history in Blaine, Ryan said last week’s runway resolution flap was something entirely different. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed,” he said. “When Anoka County pulls this type of thing, it’s really hard to believe. Nobody will accept blame.” According to Ryan, county leaders should have taken the lead when the runway issue became heated. He also was critical of the board’s meeting schedule. “They really aren’t in touch with the people,” he said. “Their meetings are at odd times. I’d like to see them meet in the evenings. They don’t talk to people.” Ryan said it would be beneficial for the city, the county, Andy Westerberg, (MAC’s District E commissioner) and Key Air to keep the airport dialogue rolling. “Instead of everybody having their own agenda, we need to meet and find out what’s needed without having to go through the back room politics,” he said. Ryan said last Thursday night’s grand opening event at Key Air provided a perfect opportunity for county board members to discuss runway safety issues. “It could have started right there,” Ryan said. “Nobody did anything. Everyone was isolated and they were all knocking each other. They have to fix that.” Tim Hennagir is at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . |
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| Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 November 2008 ) | ||
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