Town-Village Aircraft Safety & Noise Abatement Committee

TOWN-VILLAGE AIRCRAFT SAFETY & NOISE ABATEMENT COMMITTEE TOWN OF HEMPSTEAD ONE WASHINGTON STREET • HEMPSTEAD, NEW YORK 11550-4923 516-812-3296 • TVASNAC@TOHMAIL.ORG Meeting Minutes Monday, June 24, 2019 Nathan L. Bennett Pavilion Hempstead Town Hall In Attendance: Carl Bassler, Village of Atlantic Beach Larry Hopenhauer, Executive Director Kurt Langjahr, Village of New Hyde Park Akiva Lubin, Village of Lawrence Adam Weiss, Village of Floral Park The meeting was called to order and all recited the Pledge of Allegiance.  The minutes of the meeting for May 20, 2019 were presented for approval. Motion was made to approve by Carl Bassler and seconded by Akiva Lubin. Motion passed unanimously.  Larry Hoppenhauer reported on the press conference held by Rep. Thomas Suozzi announcing new regulations to help Long Island communities with noise reduction coming from arriving and departing flights from JFK. This was a result of a meeting of Rep. Thomas Suozzi and Rep. Kathleen Rice with local TRACON and JFK Tower personnel. o JFK will need to adhere to new rules aimed at noise reduction related to low altitude. o Planes west of Deer Park will fly at a minimum of 4,000 feet. o Arriving runways 22R and 22L are not receiving equal use. Runway 22L sees a much higher volume. When 22R is not in use, planes must be a t a minimum of 3,000 feet in elevation until 15 miles or less from the airport. o This was slated to take effect on June 24, 2019, however, the FAA postponed the implementation of these changes stating the need for additional internal evaluation. o Rep. Suozzi is asking for this review to take place immediately.  The Nassau County Legislature formed an Aircraft Noise Abatement Committee. This committee is composed of seven legislators whose districts are impacted by aircraft noise. TVASNAC committee members also received an invitation along with Plane Sense 4 LI and the Nassau County Aviation Committee to attend a meeting with Presiding Officer Nicolello. The Legislature will be holding sessions at a later date that will be inclusive of the general public and representatives from the FAA and Port Authority.  Andrew Weiss reported to the committee on the JFK Airport Committee meeting which took place on June 3rd. o DNL Standard: The goal is to see if the DNL standard can be lowered. o JFK Runway 13L / 31R: The construction taking place on this runway has resulted in a large increase in usage of the 22’s. It is double what it was prior to construction. After construction, we should see an improvement if they mandate planes going back to runway 13L/31R Villages of Atlantic Beach • Cedarhurst • Floral Park • Garden City • Lawrence • Malverne • New Hyde Park • Stewart Manor • Valley Stream • Woodsburgh  Page 2 o There is a need for more equitable distribution of runway usage. Therefore, another possibility to explore is to find out if runways can be closed for maximum usage. The fact that the numbers spiked when 13L / 31R are under construction, when normally in use for 15% to 20% of arriving flights. Why are 80% of flights using only one pattern??  A more realistic view will be revisited at the end of the summer when the high volume of the travel season evens out. o Overall and in conclusion, there should be some percentage of room to make even small changes that will bring positivity to what seems to be a relentless pattern of ‘no change”. o The Glide Slope vs. Step procedure for landing should be visited with a team to lobby legislation to mandate.  Larry Hoppenhauer announced there will be a NYCAR meeting that will take place at Queens Borough Hall on June 27th at 7pm. He will email the details and the agenda to the committee.  Larry Hoppenhauer requested suggestions for meeting venues located in the vicinity of the Nassau/Queens border with access to public transportation, preferably train. Andrew Weiss advised that Creedmoor may be a good possibility since the location and space fit the needs required  Per Larry Hoppenhauer, there is a need for increasing Nassau County representation at the round table. Politicians that are not on the round table can submit requests to Barbara Brown, co-chair of NYCAR. Contact Larry for email address.  Commentary on a June 18, 2019 article titled Shiff, Sherman Ask Government Accountability Office to Investigate Noise Impacts of FAA’s New Flight Routes. The Members of Congress are calling for a review on how the FAA evaluates and mitigates noise impacts in major metropolitan areas by the Government Accountability Office. Local sponsors include: Grace Meng (D-NY), Kathleen Rice (D-NY), and Nydia Velazquez (D-NY)..  Joe Grahm from Assemblywoman Judy Griffin’s office spoke regarding sponsoring Bill S5855, to increase quality of life through an environmental study followed by future mitigation to correct. Leo Meyers from Senator Todd Kaminsky’s office stated that Senator Kaminsky co-sponsored this bill. The Senate version has passed. The next step is for the Governor to sign it. They will report on the outcome at the next meeting. A motion to adjourn was made by Andrew Weiss and seconded by Carl Baessler. Motion passed unanimously. Prepared By: Gail Rosenbaum Secretary, TVASNAC ___________________________________________________________________________________________ The next regularly scheduled TVASNAC meeting will be held on Monday, July 22, 2019, at 7:00 PM Villages of Atlantic Beach • Cedarhurst • Floral Park • Garden City • Lawrence • Malverne • New Hyde Park • Stewart Manor • Valley Stream • Woodsburgh