Overview

1.    Call to Order / Roll Call / Declaration of a Quorum Present

Roundtable Chairperson, Cliff Lentz, called the Regular Meeting of the SFO Airport / Community Roundtable to order, at approximately 7:06 p.m., in the David Chetcuti Community Room at the Millbrae City Hall.  James A. Castañeda, AICP, Roundtable Coordinator, called the roll.  A quorum (at least 12 Regular Members) was present as follows:

REGULAR MEMBERS PRESENT

Doug Yakel – City and County of San Francisco Airport Commission

David Takashima – City and County of San Francisco Mayor’s Office

Dave Pine – County of San Mateo Board of Supervisors

Adam Kelly – C/CAG Airport Land Use Committee (ALUC)

Elizabeth Lewis – Town of Atherton

Cliff Lentz – City of Brisbane

Ricardo Ortiz – City of Burlingame

Raymond Buenaventura – City of Daly City

Sam Hindi – City of Foster City

Deborah Penrose – City of Half Moon Bay

Ann Schneider – City of Millbrae

Sue Digre – City of Pacifica

Ann Wengert – Town of Portola Valley

Janet Borgens – City of Redwood City

Bob Grassilli – City of San Carlos

Deborah Gordon – Town of Woodside

 

REGULAR MEMBERS ABSENT

City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors (Vacant)

City of Belmont

Town of Hillsborough

City of Menlo Park

City of San Bruno

City of San Mateo

City of South San Francisco

 

ROUNDTABLE STAFF

James A. Castañeda, AICP – Roundtable Coordinator

Cindy Gibbs – Roundtable Technical Support (Consultant)

Harvey Hartman – Roundtable Technical Support (Consultant)

 

SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT STAFF

Bert Ganoung, Noise Abatement Manager

Ara Balian, Noise Abatement Specialist

David Ong, Noise Abatement Specialist

John Hampel, Noise Abatement Specialist

William Brown, Noise Abatement Specialist

 

2.    Election of Roundtable Chairperson for Calendar Year 2016

Chairman Lentz opened the floor to nominations for Chairperson.

ACTION:  Sue Digre MOVED to nominate Brisbane representative and current Roundtable Chairperson Cliff Lentz for the position of Chairperson of the Roundtable. Sam Hindi seconded the nomination. Bob Grassilli MOVED to nominate Atherton representative and current Roundtable Vice-Chairperson Elizabeth Lewis. Ann Wengert seconded the nomination. A roll call vote was taken, with a total of 9 votes casted for Cliff Lentz, and 4 for Elizabeth Lewis. Two votes were in abstention. The acceptance of Cliff Lentz as Roundtable Chairperson was CARRIED with the majority votes.

 

3.    Election of Roundtable Vice-Chairperson for Calendar Year 2016

Chairperson Lentz opened the floor to nominations for Vice-Chairperson of the Roundtable.

ACTION:  Chairperson Lentz MOVED to nominate Town of Atherton representative Elizabeth Lewis for the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Roundtable.  Sue Digre seconded the nomination.  Hearing no additional nominations, a vote was taken and acceptance of Elizabeth Lewis as Roundtable Vice-Chairperson was CARRIED, unanimously.

 

4.    Approval of Resolution 16-01:  Designating Roundtable Meeting Dates, Times and Place for Calendar Year 2016

ACTION:  Janet Borgens MOVED the adoption of the resolution.  The motion was seconded by Sue Digre and CARRIED, unanimously.

 

5.    Public Comments on Items Not on the Agenda

A total of 8 members of the public spoke to express concern over aircraft noise over their communities. The communities represented were Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, Woodside, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Pacifica, Brisbane, Los Altos and Millbrae. Representation from the newly formed Save Our Skies East Bay also in attendance. Concerns raised by those who spoke focused on increased noise from aircraft traffic over their respective communities, noise insulation, and ongoing impacts to health and the environment.

CONSENT AGENDA

 

6.         Review of Airport Director’s Reports for September 2015

ACTION:  Elizabeth Lewis MOVED approval of the Consent Agenda.  The motion was seconded by Ann Wengert and CARRIED, unanimously.

 

REGULAR AGENDA

 

7.    Review of SFO FlyQuiet Report for Q3 2015

Bert Ganoung, Noise Abatement Manager, provided an overview of the third quarter Fly Quiet report for 2015.

DISCUSSION: Redwood City representative Janet Borgens asked for explanation of the trend lines in the charts provided. Noise Abatement Manager Bert Ganoung explained the charts on the Fly Quiet presentation are the quarterly averages where high scores for an airline indicates a satisfactory adherence to the fly quiet program. Some members encouraged the Noise Abatement Office to consider making the reports easier to read and understand for the benefit of both the Roundtable members and the public. Millbrae representative Ann Schneider questioned the type of noise that’s experienced by her community during the night time hours. Bert Ganoung responded that the noise associated in the immediate vicinity is most likely ground run ups from aircraft, as well as back blast noise from take-offs.

 

 8.    Airport Director’s Comments

Airport Public Communications Officer Doug Yakel provided a brief update on the airport’s current operation. Mr. Yakel indicated that the Monday following Sunday’s Super Bowl 50 event will see higher than normal operations. Mr. Yakel also pointed out a recent San Francisco Chronical article featuring Airport Director John Martin and the work at SFO over the years in the lead up to his retirement this summer.

 

9.    Consideration of amending the Roundtable’s Memorandum of Understanding and Bylaws to include the City of Palo Alto as a voting member

Roundtable Coordinator James Castañeda introduced the item, and pointed out a recent letter submitted by the City of Palo Alto regarding the matter, as well as a letter from Congresswoman Eshoo’s office to the FAA regarding creating a new Select Committee representing the South Bay and Santa Cruz County. Roundtable Chairperson Lentz explained the purpose of bring this item to the Roundtable.

DISCUSSION: San Carlos representative Bob Grassilli indicated that the item is moot considering the letter received from the City of Palo Alto indicating they will be pursuing their own studies and investigation on aircraft noise impacts to their communities. Portola Valley representative Ann Wengert expressed that integration has always been issue, but agrees with Congresswoman Eshoo’s suggestion in creating a Select Committee. Burlingame representative Ricardo Ortiz indicated that this becomes a question of the Roundtable’s purview as being either local or regional in scope. The item was tabled.

ACTION: No action was taken on this item.

 

10.  Consideration of allowing Supporting Cities Liaisons on the Roundtable

Roundtable Coordinator James Castañeda introduced the item and explained the general purpose of it would be to encourage participation and inclusion from cities outside of the Roundtable member cities (per the MOU) and have a “seat at the table” minus voting privileges.

DISCUSSION: San Carlos representative Bob Grassilli express concern with the idea, and questioned the value for supporting cities liaison if they have no voting power. Burlingame representative Ricardo Ortiz reiterated his earlier statement that this also raises the question of the Roundtable’s purview as regional group. Redwood City representative Janet Borgens agreed with the statements made thus far and indicated that while the intentions are well, the liaisons wouldn’t have any teeth. The item was tabled.

ACTION: No action was taken on this item.

 

11.  Consideration of a resolution regarding the FAA Initiative to Address Noise Concerns

Chairperson Lentz introduced the item and explained the purpose of the resolution. Roundtable Coordinator James Castañeda indicated that it’s a working draft, but if the Roundtable choose to support it, the language could be edited.

DISCUSSION: Woodside representative Deborah Gordon expressed concern that the resolution needs to proclaim what the Roundtable wishes to resolve in order to be considered a resolution. Chairperson Lentz provided additional background on the purpose, which was to show support for the FAA’s initiative, and along with other cities adopting similar resolutions, could perhaps add some accountability for the FAA to work with stakeholders. Pacifica representative Sue Digre indicated that the resolution would need to express urgency in addressing concerns. Vice-chair Elizabeth Lewis commented that perhaps this isn’t the right tool for the objective, and the Roundtable should perhaps consider other ways to accomplish the intended goal.

ACTION: No action was taken on this item.

 

12.  Consideration of a creating an online petition for public support of FAA Initiative to Address Noise Concerns

Roundtable Coordinator James Castañeda introduced the item, and Chairperson Lentz explained the purpose and goal of creating an online petition.

DISCUSSION: Burlingame representative Ricardo Ortiz asked others present at the meeting if there were other petitions available for people to sign. Member from the audience responded yes. Vice-chair Lewis questioned what would the Roundtable do with the data collected from the petition, and if one were to be released from the Roundtable, it would need to be wordsmith further before being made available. After additional discussion, the item was tabled.

ACTION: No action was taken on this item.

 

REGULAR AGENDA – WORK PROGRAM ITEMS

 

13.  Status, Departures Technical Working Group

14.  Status, Arrivals Technical Working Group

Roundtable Technical Noise Consultant Cindy Gibbs provided an overview of the two Technical Working Group meetings that occurred in December and January. The Roundtable was directed to the list of goals and metrics contained within the packet that came out of those meetings which were broken into short term and long term goals.

DISCUSSION: County of San Mateo Board of Supervisor representative Dave Pine questioned who would be working toward following up with the short term goals listed. Ms. Gibbs responded that staff and the Noise Abatement Office would be the ones communicating to TRACON and other on the recommended actions, and following up with them periodically to evaluate progress and outcomes. Members of the public spoke on the short term recommendation regarding use of the BIGSUR arrival between the hours of 10pm to 5am instead of SERFR arrival procedure, specifically stating that anything less returning to 100% use of the BIGSUR would unacceptable.

 

15.  Budget for FY 2015-2016

Roundtable Coordinator James Castaneda pointed out the areas of the budget tables that were unclear from the last meeting, and as a result continued in order.

DISCUSSION: None

ACTION: Ricardo Ortiz MOVED approval of the Budget for FY 2015-2016. The motion was seconded Ann Schinder and CARRIED, unanimously.

 

 

OTHER MATTERS

 

16.  Airport Noise Briefing

No briefing was provided due to time.

 

17.  Member Communications / Announcements

DISCUSSION: None

 

18.  Adjourn in memory of Carol Klatt

The meeting was adjourned in memory of long time Roundtable representative from Daly City Carol Klatt at approximately 9:45 p.m.

 

Roundtable meeting overviews are considered draft until approved by the Roundtable at a regular meeting.