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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07 21 1989 Rondeau letter criticizedRondeau letter criticized Votapka says airport master plan OK'd legally By George Ricker A letter from Councilman Lloyd londeau to the Aircraft Owners and 'ilots Association (AOPA) drew a onciliatory response from John .odice, general counsel for the WPA. It also drew some criticism from iebastian Mayor Richard Votapka at ae July 12 council meeting. Rondeau's letter, dated June 9, was ent to John L. Baker, president of the kOPA, and detailed some of the air- rort controversy's history in Sebas- ian. "The problem here is noise impact ihd noise pollution in our formerly luiet, rural community," Rondeau's etter stated. Rondeau told City Council mem- )ers he had met recently with a nember of the AOPA and City Man- tger Robb McClary at Sebastian City fall. "The AOPA said they would try' to )e helpful," Rondeau said, "but that iothing could be done until the law- suit (recently filed by Burt Snell of iebastian) is settled." He added, "Of course, you must ieep in mind that aviation is their primary concern." McClary confirmed that he had met Nith Rondeau and the AOPA repre- ;entative. "He said the AOPA felt the city was on the right track," McClary said, "and that they wanted to work with as, and not against us." Yodice's response to Rondeau's letter, dated June 21, stated,"Mr. Baker has directed us to renew to you personally our commitment to try and help the city resolve its problem short of litigation." Votapka took issue with several Lloyd Rondeau statements in Rondeau's letter. Noting Rondeau's letter said there had never been an effort on the part of Citizens Airport Watch (CAW) to close the airport, Votapka said he recalled John Evans, attorney for the group, agitating to have the airport moved from its present location and have a new airport built somewhere else, or have a capacity swap to free up the airport property for some other use. He also took exception, Votapka said, with the statement in the letter that indicated the airport master plan called for a "tremendous airport ex- pansion and activity by the year 1992. Finally, Votapka said he strongly objected to Rondeau's statement that the Sebastian City Council had committed "an illegal act' when it approved the master plan and passed it along to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for review. Richard Votapka had been incorporated in the master plan before it was forwarded to the FAA. "There was nothing illegal about it," he said. "That's your opinion," Rondeau countered. It should be noted that the 1988 charter amendment, which was ap- proved by 75 percent of those who voted, provided that before any ex- pansion of facilities could occur at the airport - such as the construction of new runways or taxiways the voters would have to give their approval. Although Rondeau's letter declares that, in approving the charter amend- ment, those who voted for it were voting against the master plan, the charter amendment did not mention the airport master plan at all, nor did it ask the voters to express approval or disapproval of the master plan. Before the airport master plan was approved by a 3-2 vote of the City Votapka noted that all of the provi- Council, the language of the charter sions of the 1988 charter amendment amendment was included in an ap- pendix to the master plan, and those items affected by the charter amend- ment were so indicated. It was the council's passage of the master plan that triggered the cam-' paign to pass a second charter amend- ment, imposing more stringent re- strictions on the airport, in the March election. That election also saw a changing of the guard on the city council as three incumbents lost their re-election bids, and Rondeau, Councilman Robert McCollum and Councilman Frank Oberbeck were elected. Since both McCollum and Rondeau" were endorsed by the CAW, and were members of the organization's steer- ing committee before the election, their election also signaled a shift in the balance of power on airport issues. The triad of McCollum, Rondeau and Vice MayorRobert McCarthy has generally voted together on airport issues. Soon after the election, they voted to disband the airport advisory board. They were joined by Votapka and Oberbeck in a unanimous vote to re- call the airport master plan so the language of the newly passed charter amendment could be added to it. In view of the recently approved agreement between the City Council and the FAA to conduct a new study of the airport, the master plan is regarded by most people in the city to be "dead in the water." Votapka quipped, during another discussion in the July 12 meeting, that the city of Sebastian will probably have the best studied airport in the nation before the process is com- pleted, but "...we won't have any money left to do anything."