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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - City Council - 11/23/2012 • Ay -14014 {• 1t:2� saC-Y V'.7 south • ;rr,=,M0N I • AGENDA SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL City Hall 575 Dorset Street SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT Special Session 2:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, 2012 *** Review and possible approval of letters in response to the GBIC and Vermont Chamber of Commerce regarding petitions submitted requesting City Council alter its position on the F-35A. Respectfully Submitted: Sanford I. Miller City Manager *** Attachments Included South Burlington City Council Meeting Participation Guidelines City Council meetings are the only time we have to discuss and decide on City matters. We want to be as open and informal as possible; but Council meetings are not town meetings. In an effort to conduct orderly and efficient meetings,we kindly request your cooperation and compliance with the following guidelines. 1. Please be respectful of each other(Council members, staff, the public). 2. Please raise your hand to be recognized by the Chair. Once recognized please state your name and address. 3. Please address the Chair and not other members of the public, staff, or presenters. 4. Please abide by any time limits that have been set. Time limits will be used to insure everyone is heard and there is sufficient time for the Council to conduct all the business on the agenda. 5. The Chair will make a reasonable effort to allow everyone to speak once before speakers address the Council a second time. 6. The Chair may ask that discussion be limited to the Councilors once the public input has been heard. 7. Please do not interrupt when others are speaking. 8. Please do not repeat the points made by others, except to briefly say whether you agree or disagree with others views. 9. Please use the outside hallway for side conversations. It is difficult to hear speaker remarks when there are other conversations occurring. November 23, 2012 Mr. Chris Carrigan Vice President, Business Development PO Box 37 Montpelier,VT 05601-0037 Re: Petitions for the Basing of the F-35A • Dear Mr. Carrigan, We received your letter and petitions at our City Council meeting on November 19, 2012, and welcome the opportunity to respond. Members of the City Council of South Burlington carefully analyzed the United States Air Force F-35A Operational Basing Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The City Council's response and vote was based on the findings in the DEIS and the concerns of South Burlington residents. We based our response not on subjective opinions, but rather on the facts as stated in the U.S.Air Force DEIS; and we believe our position promotes the best interests of South Burlington and the region. We concluded that the negative consequences to the current and future residents living within or near the noise contours areas far outweighed any benefit to what is actually a very small minority of individuals who do not live close to the airport. Using 2000 census data, the DEIS concluded that 6,675 individuals would be living within the 65dB DNL or higher noise level area. The 2010 census increases this number by several thousand. There was no information presented on what your actual online petition said, so it is difficult to respond with specifics. However,your letter spoke about the economic impact to our area, and seemed to imply that if the F-35A is not based in South Burlington that the Vermont Air National Guard Station will close. This is not stated in the DEIS, nor has any senior military or political official ever asserted this. Even were the Air Guard Station to close, we assume that approximately 400 full- time jobs held by Vermonters might be lost. And we assume that might happen sometime after the year 2030, since the F-16 is projected to fly at least that long. Job losses are concerning; but need to be considered in context. Our area created over 4,200 new jobs in the past three years. We are equally concerned about job losses in the more immediate future should the F-35A be based here. MG Dubie, in April 2010, said that half of the full-time Air Guard jobs are maintainer jobs. He further stated that maintainer and avionics jobs would be lost at the VT Air Guard Station if the F-35A were to be based here, because the F-35A will be maintained elsewhere. How many full time Vermonter jobs will be lost if the F-35A does come to South Burlington? We believe the current situation,which so far has resulted in the loss of up to 200 affordable homes around the airport,has already passed levels of acceptability to our community. This is a considerable impact to the residents who lost their homes, to the residents who remain in very different neighborhoods, and to the City of South Burlington in general. Please refer to our official response to the Air Force DEIS, and to the DEIS for a more complete explanation of the negative impacts to our area. The DEIS states that there will be negative impacts to our area in nine of the fifteen environmental aspects studied. A brief response to some major points follows: Noise: The DEIS says that the F-35A will be four times louder than the F-16 (ES-11), and that five schools--two more than the F-16 currently affects—will be within the 65dB DNL area. The DEIS also states that 2,635 acres of land (672 over baseline); 2,944 households (1,366 over baseline); and 6,675 people (2,863 over baseline) would be affected. "The total population affected by noise levels equal to or greater than 65dB DNL would increase by 48 percent." (BR4-77) More current 2010 census data raises the number of households to over 4,200 and the people to over 9,000. Protection of Children: The noise level from the F-35A at Chamberlin would be 68 dB DNL-- 13 dB higher than what the EPA says is "requisite to protect the public health and welfare." (C-14) The DEIS cites numerous studies showing aircraft noise has negative physiological, psychological, and cognitive effects on children. These include increases in blood pressure and stress hormones, hearing losses, negative effects on reading comprehension, attentiveness, puzzle-solving, memory/recall ability, and overall academic performance and learning. (C-30-32) Operations: According to the DEIS,the F-35A will generate 5,486 (scenario 1) and 7,296 (scenario 2) operations per year. (BR4-3) The Air Force expects the flying days to increase from 228 days per year to 260 days per year. (BR4-4) This will result in 21 to 28 operations per flying day, or approximately two operations per flying hour. Please refer to the DEIS page (2-3) for definitions of sorties, operations, and events. In brief, "the term (sortie) receives rare use (in the DEIS) since it provides limited analytic and descriptive value." (Page 2-4) Moreover,the DEIS states any reduction in flying would be offset by the increased noise. "The effect of the reduction in flight operations would be offset by the F-35A producing a single- event departure SELs 7 to 17 dB greater than the F-16s at Burlington AGS." "The contribution of civilian aircraft would be negligible to the military aircraft contribution." (BR4-30) Air Pollution: The DEIS says there would be decreases in four of the seven pollutants and increases for the other categories. (ES-12) In our response,we questioned the Air Force on this. It appears that since we are currently in attainment, an analysis of the additional pollutants was not conducted for our area. (BR4-38) Safety: We are quite concerned about this risk. New military aircraft crash more frequently than older aircraft. And aircraft crash most often on take-off and landing. (3-26) The safety projections of the F-35 are based on the safety record of the F- 22A—an aircraft which was introduced in 2002, and which has had serious safety issues (another one crashed just last week). "...it is possible that projected mishap rates for the F-35A may be comparable to the historical rates for the F-22A." (BR4- 46) Biological Resources: In discussing the noise effects on domestic animals and wildlife, the DEIS repeatedly admits that there is limited to no research to back up their assessments. Some of the wording relating to the lack of research include "little concerted effort" "has not been well developed" "conflicting data" "studies not done""been poorly studied" "long-term significance is less clear""have not been thoroughly studied" "not well understood." (C-32, C-33, C-40, C-45, C-46) Socioeconomics: The DEIS states there is no economic gain under scenario 1 and there would be no increase in jobs. (BR4-72) Under scenario 2, there would be only "minor"economic effects resulting from 266 additional military persons -- 83 full- time and 183 part-time. (BR4-73) All full-time military will be transferred here from other places. (BR4-74) Ground Traffic: "...traffic would be expected to increase by 366 trips per day. The proposed increase...would increase peak period travel demand by 24 percent." This level would exceed the primary level of service threshold. (BR4-84) Other Resources: The DEIS cites concerns over climate change impact on the F- 35A proposed action and mission, and cites temperature changes, drought, and air quality conditions that might require the ANG to shift training and maintenance schedules. They specifically address future scarcity of water supplies. (BR4-43) A more thorough coverage of each of the following topics can be found in Volumes I and II of the DEIS. Some have said that the South Burlington Council's position is wrong. We do not believe that it is ever wrong to speak up for our residents and our community. The majority of the people who would be directly affected by the basing of the F-35A are of moderate to low income (the average Vermonter). These people are at a distinct disadvantage compared to those who support the F-35A. The F-35A proponents have far more financial and organizational resources than individuals or communities. If we do not speak up for the average resident, who will? This is what we have done, and what we will continue to do, even if it means going up against industrial, military, and political interests. We support the Vermont National Guard, and are willing to work to continue their presence in our area. However,that does not mean we support basing the F-35A weapon system in South Burlington. We believe the best way to "Save the Guard" is to insure their operations are compatible with the surrounding community and region. Respectfully submitted by the following Council Members: Rosanne Greco, Chair Helen Riehle, Vice-Chair Sandra Dooley Paul Engels