There was a very disappointing turn of events yesterday when a committee of the Metropolitan Airports Commission voted to not go forward with the promise to insulate homes most effected by airport noise.
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/local/9146813.htm?1c If this stands when the full commission votes, it will mean the MAC will be going back on a promise it made to thousands of homeowners who depended on this promise was they made choices about what to do with their homes. And this wasn't just any promise. It was the basic underpinning for the agrement to expand the airport at its current site. I strongly disagreed with the MAC decision in 1996 to expand the airport at its current site---they put $3.1 billion into a facility that is landlocked, is nearing capacity and will increasingly face serious noise pollution problems well beyond Minneapolis; a facility that because of these limitations can't compete with air facilities in competitive cities like Denver and Detroit. But they justified the decision to expand at the current site by saying they would fully insulate homes out to the 60 DNL.* That was a bad deal then but it's much worse now when yesterday's vote says the MAC won't even live up to its promise. The MAC has a lot of new commissioners who were appointed by Gov. Pawlenty. Council members Benson, Colvin Roy and I, along with my rep. Dan Boivin, have had a series of meetings with these new reps to give them this background. Sen. Wes Skoglund and Rep. Thiesen have also been lobbying the MAC. Our meetings with commissioners seemed to have gone very well but there has been tremendous lobbying pressure from Northwest. In recent days there were even letters to commissioners from legislators who should otherewise have no connection to this issue, including House Speaker Steve Sviggum and Sen. Dick Day. In the wake of this pressure great credit should go to former Bloomington Mayor Coral Houle, who with my rep. Dan Boivin, led this fight and put in tremendous blocks of time lobbying other MAC members. Also deserving credit is commission member Lonni McCauley of Coon Rapids. It was greatly disappointing the John Williams, north Minneapolis dentist, voted to break the promise to these residents. Facing such a blatant disregard for its own acommittments, the MAC seems to be, once again, devolving into a group that can be pressured into doing whatever Northwest and the Governor wants...even if it means breaking a long held promise to thousands of homeowners about their single largest investment. Seeing how all this worked, or didn't, it's clear that it's time to consider legal action that will finally establish that the MAC made a promise and it needs to stick to it. R.T. Rybak * (The 60 DNL refers to the neighborhoods on the noise maps that have the worst airport noise. These lines cover neighborhoods closest to the airport but it's important to note that even if the MAC agreed to do what it promised...to insulate to the 60 DNL--it wouldn't come close to providing relief to neighborhoods like Central, Kenny, Lynnhurst, King Field, etc. that also have very bad noise issues. That's why we continue to work hard on issues like landing patterns, quieter jets and cargo hubs at other locations that can help relocate the loudest traffic. We are making progress in these areas, esp. in building a statewide coalition of people to work on these issues. ) REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
