That is one of the topics that will certainly be discussed this coming Saturday, May 21, 2005 between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm when Minnesota's Senior U.S. Senator, Mark Dayton, is the keynote speaker at the South Metro Airport Action Council (SMAAC) Spring Forum to be held at the Richfield City Hall, 6700 Portland Ave So.
I hope that the moderator of this forum allows this post because the SMACC Spring and Fall forums are usually held at the Windom Community Center but was moved to the Richfield City Hall because we will not be able to accommodate the anticipated crowd at the Windom site. (He may also want to send a reporter to cover the event) Last Monday, the Metropolitan Airport Commission voted $13M for design and planning of the proposed $983M expansion of MSP. This project started out as a proposal by Northwest Airlines at the urging of Governor Pawlenty for $862M and has grown by over $100M in only the past 4 months. Earlier this year, the MAC was fined a substantial penalty for massive underground aviation fuel leaks at the airport. Last week, two Northwest aircraft collided at the terminal due to mechanical failure while NW aircraft mechanics are being laid off and maintenance inspections and repair work is being outsourced to foreign countries. In the past few months, several instances of parts of NW aircraft falling off during flight have been reported. All of this is happening while the MAC and Northwest push for reductions in the sound-proofing program originally agreed to by all participating parties (airlines, MAC and Legislature) in 1996 when the dual-track process was stopped and it was agreed to expand MSP at its present location. And the FAA is currently considering the latest Part 150 program submitted to them for approval. If any of these topics interest you, then plan on joining us this coming Saturday, May 21st at the Richfield City Hall, in the City Council Chambers, from 11 am to 1 pm. Senator Dayton will give some prepared remarks about the aviation situation at MSP from a federal perspective and then will field questions from members of the audience. This is a free forum, you do not have to be a member of SMAAC or ROAR to attend and the general public is welcomed to attend. SMAAC would also encourage Minneapolis Mayoral candidates as well as announced and endorsed city council candidates to attend and learn the issues regarding the operations of MSP. Surely, those people that are elected this coming November will be participants in potential lawsuits with the MAC and the airlines in the future. Maybe we should just move the new Twins ballpark to MSP- plenty of parking on site, good access to freeways, accessible by light rail and crowd noise would never be a problem. And when the Twins are not in town playing baseball, Northwest could open the doors and pull a 747 into the building to do an oil change. With Carl's $125M contribution, this would only amount to a 25% cost overrun at MSP and it would be paid for by passenger ticket surcharges and not Hennepin County residents. Thinking regionally- finding solutions globally!! Ron Lischeid SMAAC Board Member and Treasurer UDIA resident Work Downtown Office in Windom REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
