Agenda Packets - 1999/11/15 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Honorable Jesse Ventura November , 1999 Page 2 of 3 The amount of public resources proposed to be spent on the expansion of the suburban minor use airports is astounding and can be better spent on enhancing St. Paul's Holman Field and on much needed noise mitigation funding for communities impacted by the expansion of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport. For example, the MAC proposes to spend $52 million to add 1,100 feet to the primary runway (this includes the land acquisition) at the Flying Cloud Airport. As a public policy matter, the issue of whether or not this expansion really needs to be made has gone unaddressed by the MAC and the Legislature and is something that your administration should scrutinize. In addition, in Eden Prairie alone, the taxpayers will be forced to forego over $8 million per year in lost property tax revenues due to the inability of the city to develop around the airport site consistent with the city's comprehensive plan. More importantly, however, is the issue of whether MAC's proposal to expand our smaller airports into bigger ones in the suburban areas encourages "dumb-growth" and a foolish waste of the State's airport resources. The MAC's plans to expand the smaller airports in the suburbs encourages disorderly development in light of the fact that St. Paul's airport is not fully utilized and communities around the MSP Airport are struggling with redevelopment issues to deal with increased airport noise. Indeed, the MAC should be utilizing its public funding sources to strengthen our urban core and not abandon it. By expanding the minor use airports to accommodate intermediate use traffic, MAC is essentially taking away airport related economic development from the urban core and causing it to occur in the suburbs more quickly than planned and desired by residents living around minor use airports. Growth will eventually occur and all of the minor use airports may need to be expanded someday; but right now, there is no such need. We urge you to develop a system of airport growth that is based upon the following principles: (1) Use of airport revenues for expansion of airports should only be used when absolutely necessary. Increased development, demand and capacity issues should dictate expansion of minor use airports — not the other way around. Minor use airports should not be expanded when there is existing capacity at the intermediate use airport. (2) The public funds raised by our airport system should be spent wisely and should be scrutinized by the Legislature and the Governor in the same way that other State and Metropolitan agencies budgets are scrutinized. (3) The legislature and the metropolitan agencies should strengthen and revitalize communities who must deal with increased air traffic from the expansion of the MSP International Airport. (4) The Legislature, an elected body, should have oversight over the MAC when it deals with issues involving the expansion of airports that will result in increased air traffic JJC-168371 MU210-33