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HomeMy Public PortalAboutAAC Minutes 1987 03/04AIRPORT COMMITTEE MINUTES MARCH 4, 1987 Attending: Lyn Clark, Jim Sproat, Bill Williams, Bill Doris, Bud Sehmidt Master Plan: The committee discussed several difficulties with the current Airport layout plan (ALP) of the current Master Plan. These include: , 1. Existing private Hangars 2. Jet Ramp location 3. Fuel dump location 4. Terminal location 5. Street access if the Highway 55 Bypass is constructed along Deinhard Lane The committee recommended that the 1980 ALP should be updated. o Airport Engineering Services: The committee reviewed the possibility of a further airport improvement project and asked that the City Council request proposals from Engineering firms to insure that an engineer for the airport is available in the event a project is secured. Manchester Hangar: Schmidt reported that Mr. Manchester had visited on February 23, and had inquired about the site East of the U.S.F.S. ready-room building. This area will not be available until at least September 15, when this portion of the U.S.F.S. lease is expected to be abandoned. McCall Air Taxi has been consulted and does not object to the site. e Miscellaneous: Attachments on the NDB weather situation were reviewed. Boyd Miller's proposal for placing canopies over certain plane tie-downs was considered but tabled to the next meeting. Respectfully submitted, Arthur J. Schmidt Airport Manager AIRPORT COMMITTEE MEETING FEBRUARY 4, 1987 Attending: Ron Delp, Lyn Clark, Bill Williams, Bud Schmidt ai~d Rick Fereday Prior meeting minutes: Lyn Clark asked for an addition to the prior meeting minutes. She noted her opposition to night-time helicopter landings within the city, unless a medical emergency existed. 2) Helicopter Landings: Bud Schmidt reported that he continues to work with the Hospitial Administrator and will be in Boise February llth to discuss the matter with the Lifeflight operators. 3) Cascade Beacon: The Committee asked that a letter be sent to the City of Cascade urging them to operate their beacon while the lights are out. This would require a white/white lens rather than the ordi. nary green/white configuration. 4) A letter from the State of Idaho, Bureau of Aeronautics was reviewed regarding the weather/altimeter transmission problem (attached). The Bureau is pursuing this matter. Private Hangars: The absence of written policies regarding the future of the existing hangars has become problematic to both owners and city staff. Mr. Moltke's letter and Mr. Fereday's concerns were noted by the committee. Various alternatives such as a written policy with time limits upon the leases or an amendment to the Airport Master Plan to permit the hangars to remain at their current locations were discussed. The.committee determined to con- sider this issue further at the next meeting. 6) Manchester Hangar Proposal: Doug Manchester called the City Administrator and inquired whether the city might be interested in selling him land for his hangar at the South end of the runway. This could provide funds for the runway extension project. The committee advised that they wished to protect the terminal area and that they did not want to create a "through the fence operation". The committee was sympathetic to locating a jet ramp at the south end of the runway and asked staff to explore an alternate location in this area with Mr. Manchester. 7) Highway 55 Bypass: The committee inquired about impacts of the.proposed route on the airport, namely the approach and the vehicle access. The committee recommended that as this project matures the airport master plan should be reviewed. 8) Without further business the meeting adjourned. Arthur J. Schmidt Airport Manager 1 LANE" \ STATE OF IDAHO ,,~..o ..~,.s,.o.T~.~-,o. 8oA.o D EPA R TM EN T jo.. M. O.MAN. C--MA. TRANSPORTATION LLOYD F. BARRON - WCE CH.~RM^N MEMBER MARION DAVIDSON - AN EOUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER E. DEAN TISDALE OiRECmR BUREAU OF AERONAUTICS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 3483 RICKENBACKER ST. · BOISE, IDAHO 83705 PHONE (208) 334-3183 February 9, 1987 Victor Zembruski, ANM-224 FAA-N.W. Mountain Region 17900 Pacific Highway South C-68966 Seattle, WA 98168- Dear Vic: As you are aware, our Bureau is attempting to establish NPI's, based on our Nonfederal NDB's, for Gooding and Grangeville. In addition, our Bureau will install a Nonfederal NDB at McCall this summer, which will subsequently have a NPI established. Our real concern at this point in time is the weather data which will be required for the NPI's. We are interested in weather re- quirements for both Part 91 and 135 operations. We hope that you can provide some answers to our current weather concerns. Weather Observations, Part 91 & 135 Please summarize the observation and reporting requirements for Part 91 and 135 operations. We need to know type of equipment allowed, methods of observations, dissememination, etc. AWOS Program (1) What is status of F & E program for Idaho? Previous data in- dicates that AWOS were planned for Coeur d'Alene, Hailey, Caldwell, Nampa, and Rexburg. Could you tell us what class of AWOS is planned for these locations and their proposed installation dates? continued... STATE OF IDAHO- Tt ANSPOI TATION DEPAI TI ENT Victor Zembruski, ANM-224 Page Two February 9, 1987 AWOS P~oqram, cont. (2) AWOS, AIP Program: We would like a benefit/cost analysis performed for the three classes of AWOS for Lewiston, McCall, Gooding, and Grangeville. Could you indicate the estimated total cost of each AWOS System installed under the AIP Program? We have noted that the last publication of the FAA approved equip- ment list (AC 150/5345-1, dated 7-7-86) shows only one approved AWOS System, the HANDAR, INC. AWOS-I. Please indicate if any other AWOS Systems have been added to the approved list since this last publication.. Advisory Circular '150/5220-16 indicates the preferred method of voice transmission for the AWOS Systems is existing NAVAIDS. How- ever, the FCC is apparently not authorizing any new 6A3 Emmissions (voice), and in fact, is eliminating this feature from NAVAIDS on license renewal publications. Do you feel that this situation will create a problem for AWOS voice transmissions? Could you explain'the methods of getting weather observations of various systems (AWOS, RAMOS, SAWRS, etc.) on the FAA teletype circuit? Does the FAA intend to cooperate in the necessary financial assistance to accomplish this access when the weather observations are necessary for instrument approaches? (3) Interagency Cooperation Currently, we seem to be suffering from a lack of weather information between the State, FAA, and Weather Bureau. As an example, the weather situation at McCall is typical: The weather Bureau operates a RAMOS facility at this location. Visi- bility and ceiling observations are added by the local FBO, and put on line via computer. The McCall weather is available through the FAA teletype system via Boise FSS. However, our conversation with weather Bureau personnel indicate the following confusing facts. a. No altimeter data is available. b. The altimeter function cannot be added to the RAMOS System be- cause the equipment manufacturer has gone out of business, and no equipment is available. c. The Weather Bureau plans to replace their RAMOS Systems "in the near future", however, we have no indications of when, with what type of equipment, or the type of data which will be collected. continued... Victor Zembruski, ANM-224 Page Three February 9, 1987 d. Since a NPI Approach is planned for McCall in the next year or so; this would seem to be an ideal project for Interagency co- operation. If we knew the Weather Bureau's time schedule and equipment list, the State could provide any additional weather collection data units that would be required for an NPI Approach. The FAA could assist us in on-line System Access and providing a voice outlet over the McCall VOR (which would be ideal from a broadcast range standpoint). In addition, the weather situation at Lewiston is identical to McCall, with an existing'RAMOS, no altimeter, etc. e. Weather Bureau personnel have also indicated that there are "rumors" that FAA is taking some of the RAMOS Systems off the FAA teletype system. Do you have any confirmation of this situation? In summary, we feel that aviation weather services in the State must be approached in a timely manner, with the cooperation of all in- volved agencies. From the State's standpoint, we are willing to do anything necessary, within our budget~and manpower limitations, to provide needed avia- tion weather services. We hope you can provide us with answers for some of the information we have requested. We are aware that some of the requested informa- tion may be out of your area of operation. From this viewpoint, we are sending a copy of this letter to Fred Isaac, requesting his input in addition to yours. We hope you can provide us with some answers in the near future. Sincerely, WORTHIE M. RAUSCHER, Chief Bureau of Aeronautics and Public Transportation LARRY A. HIPPLER Airport Development WMR/LAH/vp cc: L.H. (2) Fred Isaac, ANM-400, FAA-SEA Maux Barnes, Weather Bureau -BOI Bud Schmidt, McCall City Admin. LWS Airport Manager STATE OF IDAHO CECIL D. ANDRUS GOVERNOR IDAHO TRANSPORTATION BOARD JOHN M. OHMAN - CHAIRMAN LLOYD F. BARRON -wcE CHAIRMAN MARION DAVIDSON ' MEMO]Eh E DEAN TISDALE DIRECTOR TRANS_P___ORTAT'IO_ N. DEPARTMENT AN EOUAL OPPORTUNII[Y FMPLOY~: BUREAU OF AERONAUTICS AND PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION 3483 RICKENBACKER ST, · BOISE, IDAHO 83705 PHONE (208) 334-3183 January 30, 1987 Arthur J. Schmidt, City Administrator City of McCall 212 Park Street P.O. Box 1065 McCall, ID 83638 Dear Bud: I have made some inquiries concerning the weather reporting facili- ties at McCall. You were correct in your assumption that some prob- lems exist. The RAMOS Weather Station at McCall is operated by the U.S. Weather Bureau. The automatic data collection features include windspeed and direction, temperature, and dew point. In addition, Pioneer Aviation, by contract with the Weather Bureau, provides manual ceil- ing and visability data. The RAMOS automated data is collected every 20 minutes, while the ceiling/visibility observations are performed approximately every hour (during the time Pioneer Avia- tion is attended). Note that there is NO Altimeter Data on the RAMOS System. Pioneer has an altimeter in their building, but it is not FAA Certified. The Weather Bureau personnel in Boise say that the altimeter func- tion cannot be added to the RAMOS System because the RAMOS equip- ment manufacturer has gone out of business. Therefore, there are not altimeter units available. To further complicate matters, the Weather Bureau indicated they planned to replace their RAMOS Systems with newer equipment within the next eighteen months. There are also "rumors" that the FAA is pulling some RAMOS Systems off their teletype lines. Continued... STATE OF IDAHO- TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT Arthur J. Schmidt, City Administrator Page Two January 30, 1987 We have discussed the problem internally, and we will do the follow- ing: (1) Contact the FAA to determine exactly what weather information is required and how it must be transmitted, for the various classes of instrument approaches. (2) Solicit the known manufactures of Automated Weather Observation Systems (AWOS) to determine what type of equipment is available, and its cost. (We do know that one manufacturer offers a unit that does "everything" for about $20,000, but is not yet FAA Certified). (3) Ask the Weather Bureau to determine the future of the McCall RAMOS Station and planned data transmission methods. (4) Investigate the possibility of joint State-Local funding for AWOS System, based on priority and funds available. (5) Provide the City of McCall with a recommendation for a weather system incorporating all the required weather data at the least cost. We would hope to have the data available by March or April. Sincerely, WORTHIE M. RAUSCHER, Chief Bureau of Aeronautics and Public Transportation Airport Development WMR/LAH/vp cc: L.H. Maux Barnes - US Weather Bureau, Boise Pat Girard, FAA-BOI OFFICE OF THE CLERK BOX 1065 MCCALL. IDAHO 83638 TO: FROM: DATE: RE: Police Chief Parker Fire Chief Points Bud Schmidt, City Administrator February 11, 1987 McCall Hospital Helicopter Landings As a result of my meetings with the McCall Hospital Administrator, Life- flight personnel and medical staff, I am advising you of what I believe the most appropriate management of these situations to be. First, no other community served by the lifeflight responds to these landisngs with police or fire services at all. Our situation is different in that we have a more congested landing area and require some street clearance for safety. The McCall situation is not the worst situatin that exists from the pilots' point of view. Secondly, our response to these landings arose from the previously existing conditions of the landing area, namely overhead wires along Hewitt Street, a gravel pakring area and 'landings in the middle of Hewitt Street. These wires were'marked with ribbons by the fire department and the area hosed down to reduce dust and traffic~was con- trolled by city staff. Now the wires have been removed, the parking lot paved and the landing area has been relocated to the Hospital parking lot, off the street. Thirdly, the significance of our response with emergency vehicles has in past created another problem. The presence of this equipment attracts attention, traffic and bystanders. The hospital staff would like to reduce the number of people arriving at these incidents. Fourthly, from the point of view of good risk management, it is important that we exercise reasonable care. It ismy view that it is reasonable for the city fire department to act as the primary responder to these incidents. In the event of a catastrophy, we have eliminated a response time and we could provide immediate suppression and rescue services. It is my view that the Police Department should not respond to these incidents at all, unless specifically requested by the Fire Chief or his agent for crowd or traffic control. Finally, our Fire Department response should be limited as follows: 1. Not more than 5 firefighters 2. A response not sooner than 20 minutes prior to the helicopter ETA 3. Two pieces of apparatus (Airport truck and pumper) and possibly the Chief's vehicle 4. A specific request from the McCall Hospital to attend the event 5. Release from the scene within 5 minutes of take-off by the helicopter. While at the scene, the Fire Department may assist the hospital staff in removing parked vehicles, will control traffic on Hewitt Street and through the hospital parking area, and will be appropriately outfitted and prepared for the exposure. We have asked the Hospital~and Lifeflight to limit these landings to truly critical situations and to have such landings authorized and ordered by the medical staff. Those agencies will also attempt to secure FAA certification of their heliport. That process will identify and f.ur~ther mitigate risks in the area. The Hospital may also install some lighting for the heliport. Since the helicopter service does not require our presence, they are not inclined to pay fees. Our presence will be public cost. We will be present to minimize potential loss or damage to the public,~ therefore, this cost will have to be supported by tax monies.