"Officials upset over changes to MSP noise plan"

Thursday, July 29, 2004

Eagan upset over changes to airport noise plan 
'It really is appalling and it's really a blow to the integrity of the
Part 150 plan as we know it for Eagan.' 
- Tom Hedges, Eagan city administrator 
By Joshua Nichols 
The Eagan (MN) Sun Current


Even with the changes made by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC)
to its noise abatement proposal, Eagan officials are still upset over
what they say is a broken promise. 

"What really bothers me is that they made a commitment to the
communities in 1996 and they really reneged on that in my opinion,"
Eagan Mayor Pat Geagan said July 22. "They've really let us down and I'm
trying to be nice there." 

The MAC uses a map of contours showing the average impact of airport
noise to decide what areas will be able to take part in the Part 150
program designed to lessen the impact of airport noise on surrounding
communities. 

The contours mark the Day-Night Average Sound Level, or DNL, with all
homes in the 65 DNL or beyond receiving full insulation packages. 

A July 19 vote by the MAC would negate a 2002 plan to offer that same
package to homes within the 60 to 64 DNL contours, including 492 homes
in the northern part of Eagan. 

The amended plan would cover only air conditioning installation for
those homes while also requiring homeowners to cover part of the cost,
based on a sliding scale. 

The earlier noise abatement plan called for more extensive insulation
choices, including window and door treatments, acoustic storm doors and
windows, and wall and attic insulation. 

The vote sends the plan to a public meeting set for Sept. 9, after which
the commission will make a final decision. 

After the Eagan City Council heard about the potential changes to the
plan, it and the Eagan Advisory Airport Relations Commission sent a
letter voicing disappointment over the decision. 

The letter pointed out that Eagan supported efforts in 1996 to keep the
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at its current location based
on a MAC commitment that homes in the 60-64 noise level (DNL) would
receive mitigation. 

Eagan officials also point out that the noise mitigation program adopted
in 1996 specifically states, "In no case should unreimbursed financial
impact fall on residents or their local governments." 

Eagan City Administrator Tom Hedges said the decision was especially
disappointing given the $2 billion MAC saved by expanding the airport at
its current location instead of building a new one. 

"It really is appalling and it's really a blow to the integrity of the
Part 150 plan as we know it for Eagan," Hedges said. 

In a press released issued by the city July 15, Geagan said that if the
MAC doesn't live up to its promises, he would ask the council to
consider all its options, including suing MAC. 

"It's kind of sad that to get them to live up to what was promised we
may have to go to court," Geagan said in the release. 

While he stressed it will take some time while the city considers its
options, Geagan said litigation remains one path the city could take. 

The Eagan City Council plans to discuss the issue during a future
workshop session, Geagan said. 

"The council has to talk about what our options are," he said.
"Litigation is certainly one of them, but I'm not sure if anybody wants
to go that way if we don't have to." 

When the Eagan City Council first heard about the changes after it was
approved July 13 by the MAC's Planning and Environment Committee, the
plan called for an even split in air conditioning installation charges
between the MAC and homeowners. 

Despite MAC's addition of the sliding scale and the potential for loans
to help homeowners pay for the air conditioning improvements, Geagan
said the plan doesn't go far enough. 

Out of the 492 homes that will be affected in Eagan, all but 101 already
have air conditioning. That means the majority of the homes newly
impacted by airport noise won't get any assistance. 

That only about 20 percent of the houses affected in Eagan would be
eligible to take part in the insulation package was especially upsetting
to Councilmember Mike Maguire. 

"It's a classic example of where they not only cut funding, but also set
up the program in such a way so that they never have to use the funding
that is there," Maguire said. "The plan keeps getting ratcheted down,
ratcheted down and ratcheted down for the 500 homeowners in our
community who bear the burden." 

Geagan said he understands financial concerns are at the heart of the
MAC's scaled-back plan, but that the promises they made in the past are
more important. 

The bottom line for Eagan's mayor? 

"I would really like to see the commitment they made in 1996 done for
those 500 homes," he said. "That's what they told us and that's what we
want to see done."


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