1 CITY OF
2 LAND USE AND ZONING and PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY
3 JOINT COMMITTEE MEETING
4
5
6 Proceedings held on Tuesday, November 6,
7 2007, commencing at 5:10 p.m., City Hall, Council
8 Chambers, 1st Floor,
9 Diane M. Tropia, a Notary Public in and for the State
10 of
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12 LUZ MEMBERS PRESENT:
13 MICHAEL CORRIGAN, Chair.
CLAY YARBOROUGH, Vice Chair.
14 RICHARD CLARK, Committee Member.
MIA JONES, Committee Member.
15 E. DENISE LEE, Committee Member.
ART SHAD, Committee Member.
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PHS MEMBERS PRESENT:
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KEVIN HYDE, Chair.
19 MIA JONES, Vice Chair.
JOHNNY GAFFNEY, Committee Member.
20 RAY HOLT, Committee Member.
STEPHEN JOOST, Committee Member.
21 DON REDMAN, Committee Member.
CLAY YARBOROUGH, Committee Member.
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Diane M.
Tropia,
2
1 ALSO PRESENT:
2 BILL BISHOP, City Council Member.
JOHN CROFTS, Deputy Director, Planning Dept.
3 SEAN KELLY, Planning and Development Dept.
KEN AVERY, Planning and Development Dept.
4 FOLKS HUXFORD, Planning and Development Dept.
5 JESSICA STEPHENS, Legislative Assistant.
MERRIANE LAHMEUR, Legislative Assistant.
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Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 I N D E X
2
3 ITEM/FILE NO.
2007-984 RESO OF OPPOSITION TO EXTENSION OF ANY
4 RUNWAY AT CRAIR AIRFIELD; DIRECTING
DISTRIBUTION OF RESO TO
5 AVIATION AUTHORITY AND DIRECTOR OF PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT.
6 (COUNCILMEMBERS YARBOROUGH & BISHOP)
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Diane M.
Tropia,
4
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 November 6, 2007 5:10 p.m.
3 - - -
4 THE CHAIRMAN: Good evening, ladies and
5 gentlemen.
6 Tonight we have a little something
7 different. We're actually going to begin
8 tonight's meeting with a joint Land Use and
9 Zoning and Public Health and Safety Committee
10 meeting to consider one bill. The bill number
11 is 2007-984. If you have an LUZ agenda, it's
12 item number 24 on your agenda.
13 Several people have already asked me if
14 there's a public hearing tonight, and there is
15 not a public hearing on this bill tonight. That
16 public hearing was heard on October 23rd before
17 the entire City Council, so your input was
18 received by all the council members.
19 The bill tonight will be debated by both
20 the Land Use and Zoning and the Public Health
21 and Safety Committee members.
22 I know we have members of the Airport
23 Authority board of directors that may be joining
24 us, and we welcome them.
25 We also have members of the public, and I'm
Diane M.
Tropia,
5
1 sure that my fellow council members -- and the
2 planning staff is here, as well as experts in
3 the audience, and if you want to ask one of them
4 a question during the debate of the bill, please
5 feel free to ask them up.
6 Having said that, I will let you know on
7 the Land Use and Zoning Committee, the following
8 members are present: I am chairman, Michael
9 Corrigan. My vice chair, Clay Yarborough, is
10 here. Councilmember Richard Clark is here.
11 Councilwoman Denise Lee is here. Councilmember
12 Art Shad is here.
13 Councilmember Jack Webb has been excused,
14 and I anticipate Councilwoman Mia Jones joining
15 us in a minute.
16 The chairman of the Public Health and
17 Safety Committee is Councilmember Kevin Hyde,
18 and I will now turn the floor to him for him to
19 introduce his committee.
20 MR. HYDE: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
21 Mr. Redman; Mr. Holt; myself, Kevin Hyde;
22 and Mr. Yarborough are here from our committee.
23 Ms. Jones and Dr. Gaffney were upstairs and I
24 think are on their way down as well, but we do
25 have a quorum now.
Diane M.
Tropia,
6
1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
2 Now that we have the formalities out of the
3 way, we need to get in the proper posture to be
4 able to consider this bill, so I would entertain
5 a motion on 2007-984.
6 (Dr. Gaffney enters the proceedings.)
7 MR. YARBOROUGH: Move 2007-984.
8 THE CHAIRMAN: We have a motion.
9 Do I have a second on the bill?
10 MR. SHAD: Second.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: We have a motion and a
12 second from the Land Use and Zoning Committee.
13 Councilmember Hyde.
14 (Mr. Bishop enters the proceedings.)
15 MR. HYDE: I'll entertain a motion on -984
16 from the committee.
17 MR. YARBOROUGH: Move the bill.
18 MR. REDMAN: Second.
19 MR. HYDE: Motion and a second on -984.
20 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. We are on the bill.
21 I have a queue for only Land Use and Zoning
22 committee members, so if will you raise your
23 hand, I will just do a handwritten queue as we
24 move forward. So if you would like to speak on
25 this bill, raise your hand.
Diane M.
Tropia,
7
1 Councilmember Yarborough.
2 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you, Mr. Chairman
3 and Mr. Chairman. I appreciate the time to be
4 here to talk about this.
5 I guess to get started, I've got several
6 documents here and I did have some questions
7 to -- could we just ask who we have here from
8 the Aviation Authority that may be willing to
9 answer questions that we might have?
10 Mr. Stewart, are you able to answer -- not
11 just yet, but you -- or is Mr. Clark here
12 tonight?
13 MR. STEWART: Mr. Clark is not here.
14 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. So will you be able
15 to answer questions if we have --
16 MR. STEWART: (Nods head.)
17 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. I appreciate it.
18 Thank you.
19 Okay. First, I just wanted to read into
20 the record -- I mentioned this at our Rules
21 Committee meeting yesterday morning,
22 Mr. Chairman -- a letter that we -- a letter
23 that was sent to
24 Carlucci in May of 2001, and it was written by
25 Mr. Fiorentino, who was the --
Diane M.
Tropia,
8
1 MR. BISHOP: Excuse me, Mr. Chairman, real
2 quick. I'm sorry to interrupt real quick.
3 You had asked for Mr. Clark to identify
4 Airport Authority members that are here. I
5 wanted to recognize that John Falconetti is in
6 the audience tonight.
7 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you, Councilman
8 Bishop.
9 And let the record reflect that
10 Councilmember Bishop has joined us,
11 Councilman Gaffney has joined us. I think
12 that's it.
13 Okay. Go ahead, Councilman Yarborough.
14 Sorry.
15 MR. YARBOROUGH: That's all right.
16 Okay. I just wanted to read into the
17 record, just as we get started here, a letter
18 that Mr. Fiorentino had written as chairman of
19 the board, May 29th, 2001, and this was four
20 months after the Port Authority had done the
21 resolution which said that they would
22 discontinue all of their efforts to lengthen the
23 runway at Craig Airfield, which was unanimously
24 adopted by the Port Authority board at that
25 time.
Diane M.
Tropia,
9
1 The letter says, "As board chairman, let me
2 reiterate that there are no plans, either now or
3 in the future, to extend the runway at Craig
4 Airport. In fact, at today's board meeting, we
5 voted unanimously to return $469,500 to the
6 Florida Department of Transportation for land
7 acquisition
at
8 have been used for future development of Craig
9 Airport and additional land acquisition to be
10 used as a buffer to protect the boundaries of
11 the airport should there have been a runway
12 expansion.
13 "As to the notion that a new board would
14 not be bound by the attached resolution, which I
15 might add was unanimously adopted by the board,
16 I believe that any review of the issue would
17 result in the same conclusion by a new board.
18 Personally, I hope both new boards will honor
19 the past actions of the previous board."
20 And I'll read the final paragraph before I
21 comment on this.
22 "Over the past year, the board has worked
23 hard to improve communications and credibility
24 with the City Council and the community. We are
25 sensitive to the concerns of the community.
Diane M.
Tropia,
10
1 "In the case of
2 listened to the community, and that is the
3 reason we have abandoned efforts to expand the
4 runway. The board is dedicated to being good
5 fiduciaries of the public trust and we intend to
6 maintain that trust."
7 So basically what this letter does -- and,
8 again, it was drafted over the board chairman's
9 signature -- is establish that the board, even
10 though, knowing how the system works and even as
11 a City Council, when new members come in and new
12 councils continue on into the future, obviously
13 legislation can be changed that was enacted, you
14 know, prior to future councils coming.
15 But this basically establishes, colleagues,
16 that it was the intent then of the board at that
17 time that they would also put something in place
18 that would -- they said they would like it to be
19 in perpetuity, but that was factored into their
20 reasoning for opposing it at that time as well.
21 And we'll get into some of the reasons of that
22 in just a minute, but that was factored in, and
23 I just thought that would be important to
24 mention as we get into this debate.
25 (Ms. Jones enters the proceedings.)
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 MR. YARBOROUGH: The other thing that's of
2 paramount importance here -- or that's fairly
3 important is the fact that it says at today's
4 meeting we voted unanimously to return nearly a
5 half a million dollars to FDOT for land
6 acquisition
at
7 could have been used for future development
8 should there have ever been a runway expansion.
9 So not only was the word given by the Port
10 Authority board at the time that they wouldn't
11 expand the runway, money was also sent back to
12 the Department of Transportation that then could
13 have been used to provide more buffer space or
14 more land acquisition, if they had needed that,
15 if they had decided to move forward.
16 Now, if that money was given back, a few
17 questions, I guess, would be -- just for us to
18 percolate on a little bit would be, how much
19 would that be in today's dollars? Are they
20 going to try to get more land now if they expand
21 the runway to use for that development to put
22 around the boundaries of the airport to protect
23 it? Where will that money come from? And just
24 issues like that.
25 And we don't have answers to those
Diane M.
Tropia,
12
1 questions. In fact, we haven't even heard
2 anything about that.
3 So I just wanted to mention that first, and
4 then, Mr. Stewart, if you would come up to the
5 microphone, I've got several questions I would
6 like to ask you as we get into the issue a
7 little bit.
8 (Mr. Stewart approaches the podium.)
9 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you for being here
10 too, by the way.
11 MR. STEWART: Michael Stewart, 10218
13 32218.
14 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you.
15 THE CHAIRMAN: And, Councilman Yarborough,
16 before you start --
17 MR. YARBOROUGH: Yes, sir.
18 THE CHAIRMAN: -- let me, for the record,
19 indicate that Councilmember Joost has joined us,
20 and he's on the Public Health and Safety
21 Committee, and Councilwoman Mia Jones has joined
22 us, and she is on both Public Health and Safety
23 and LUZ.
24 Thank you.
25 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you.
Diane M.
Tropia,
13
1 Mr. Stewart, thank you, again, for being
2 here. Appreciate it.
3 The master plan that Craig Field is
4 operating on right now, is there a 2006 or a
5 2007 plan or what plan are we operating on for
6 what takes place at Craig Field right now? If
7 you could answer that question.
8 MR. STEWART: I'm sorry. Would you repeat
9 the question, please.
10 MR. YARBOROUGH: Is there a master plan for
11
12 MR. STEWART: Correct. It was approved, I
13 think, in 2001.
14 MR. YARBOROUGH: In 2001.
15 Was it before or after the resolution and
16 action were done by the board to not extend the
17 runway at Craig Field?
18 MR. STEWART: I couldn't give you the
19 specific date of the approval of the master
20 plan.
21 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay.
22 MR. STEWART: You probably have that there.
23 MR. YARBOROUGH: On the bottom, it says
24 October 2001.
25 MR. STEWART: Okay. Mr. Chairman -- or
Diane M. Tropia,
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1 through Clay Yarborough, I know there's been
2 some conversations with a board member, John
3 Falconetti, with Councilman Bill Bishop, and I
4 don't know if it would be appropriate at this
5 time for Councilman Bishop to talk about that or
6 if Mr. John Falconetti would come up.
7 MR. YARBOROUGH: Mr. Stewart, I believe I
8 was asking you some questions, if I could
9 continue with that, if that would --
10 MR. STEWART: Yes, that would be fine.
11 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you. Okay. Thank
12 you for answering that.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Councilman Yarborough, just
14 to clarify.
15 MR. YARBOROUGH: Yes.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: If Mr. Stewart doesn't know
17 the answers or Mr. Falconetti, then --
18 MR. YARBOROUGH: Sure. That's fine. Just
19 so we can -- we can do that. That's fine.
20 Mr. Stewart, if the Aviation Authority were
21 to lengthen the runway at Craig Field, would the
22 Authority purchase any more land as part of
23 that? Would it need to acquire more land or
24 purchase more --
25 MR. STEWART: No property would be needed
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 for the purchase -- I mean, for extension of
2 Runway 32, even inclusive of the runway
3 protection zones associated with that runway
4 extension.
5 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. What is the primary
6 reason for the Authority wanting to extend the
7 runway at Craig Field?
8 MR. STEWART: The primary reason is safety.
9 MR. YARBOROUGH: Has that always been the
10 reason that the Authority has wanted to increase
11 the runway at Craig Field?
12 MR. STEWART: Yes.
13 MR. YARBOROUGH: It's always just been
14 safety?
15 MR. STEWART: Not just safety, but it's --
16 safety has been the primary reason.
17 MR. YARBOROUGH: Well, I guess in years
18 past, what other issues have factored into
19 wanting to extend the runway if it's not just
20 safety?
21 MR. STEWART: In addition, to take care of
22 the growth in general aviation that is coming to
23 the airport. The airport has grown and the
24 infrastructure has to be improved to accept that
25 growth.
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 MR. YARBOROUGH: If the runway were to be
2 extended, would it allow for larger craft to
3 come in at Craig?
4 MR. STEWART: Larger --
5 MR. YARBOROUGH: Larger airplanes.
6 MR. STEWART: Not any larger than can come
7 in right now.
8 MR. YARBOROUGH: So they would not be
9 larger than the current --
10 MR. STEWART: Well, the current craft are
11 rated for 60,000-pound dual wheel, and that's
12 the rating of the actual runway, and that rating
13 will not change. The design of the extension
14 will be six inches of asphalt, the same as the
15 existing runway is today.
16 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. I have a -- thank
17 you for that answer.
18 Again, going back to 2000 just for a
19 minute, members. There was a letter sent by a
20 lady, Ms. Plummer (phonetic), who lived in the
21 community over there near the airport, to
22 Mr. Gary Duncan, who, at the time, was the
23 aviation manager at Craig Field, and one of the
24 questions that she asked was noise related, but
25 in answering her question about noise -- I'll
Diane M.
Tropia,
17
1 read you the paragraph. He did say that if the
2 runway was extended, then larger craft would be
3 able to come in.
4 It says, "Aircraft departing Runway 14
5 heading southeast will start their rollout at
6 the same point they do today, with or without an
7 extension, and will be near or at the same
8 elevation they are today when they cross the
9 airport boundary."
10 And here's the sentence here, it says,
11 "Factoring in larger aircraft, which will be
12 able to use Craig in the future with a longer
13 runway, the noise study indicates that the noise
14 will remain the same as it is today near the
15 southeastern point of the airport."
16 And, again, that was the general aviation
17 manager of the Authority at that time. So,
18 according to that letter, if the runway
19 extension were to happen, then larger airplanes
20 would be able to come in.
21 MR. STEWART: Well, I can't comment on the
22 letter not having it, but I know what is being
23 proposed as far as the runway extension includes
24 a displacement of a thousand feet at each end,
25 which will definitely impact the noise contours,
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 and they would be different than the time frame
2 of what you were looking at.
3 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. Thank you,
4 Mr. Stewart.
5 Just for a few minutes, members, I'd like
6 to -- from the 2006 statistical package from the
7 City's Planning and Development Department --
8 you know, we've heard from the Authority that a
9 lot has changed over time because, you know, we
10 need to do -- we need to be open to the fact
11 that maybe there should be a runway extension
12 now because times change, sometimes things need
13 to be done differently.
14 Well, a lot has changed in the East
15
16 that said the airport runway would not be
17 extended. We now have -- you know, before the
18
19 here. The
20 were completed back before it was necessary to
21 pay tolls on the Mathews and
22 Bridges. Now the time and ease of reaching JIA
23 are considerably changed, at the current time,
24 because we have quicker ways to get there.
25 The other thing is we have spent -- I don't
Diane M.
Tropia,
19
1 know how much it's been, but over the past
2 several years we've invested heavily into the
3 infrastructure and the transportation system out
4 near Cecil Field, and so that should also be
5 considered as opposed to lengthening the runway
6 at Craig Field if more runway is needed. And if
7 it's for safety reasons, that's also a viable
8 option that should be considered as well.
9 But just a few of these statistics quickly
10 and then I'm sure Mr. Bishop would like to speak
11 for a few minutes.
12 Just between 2000 and 2006, 12,000 new
13 residential building permits were issued for
14 this area. This is in the vicinity of Craig
15 Field. These are new houses; these aren't just
16 people. So 12,000 new residential building
17 permits.
18 And the fact remains that the Port
19 Authority did do this resolution. A letter was
20 written, it said we're not going to extend the
21 runway. And I guess the big sticking point on
22 this with me, more than what all the numbers may
23 say as far as that is, a word was given that the
24 runway would not be extended, and residents and
25 others have now moved into this area under the
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 notion that the runway would not be extended.
2 I know times change. I know things
3 change. I know it's part of a growing city. We
4 need to be open to new ideas and economics and
5 all of that, but the point is a word was given.
6 And if safety was so important back in
7 2000, then why did the Authority do a resolution
8 saying we will abandon our efforts to extend the
9 runway if safety was so important? If it was
10 that important, it wouldn't have mattered what
11 the political unrestlessness of the day was,
12 they would have stuck with the safety argument
13 back then.
14 And we have heard that safety is the
15 primary issue, safety is the number one issue.
16 Well, then, why wasn't that adhered to? Why
17 didn't they stay with that before? That's one
18 thing to think about.
19 So people -- you know, people moved in.
20 The other thing is we had a debate not long
21 ago about how Cecil Field may change if the Navy
22 were to return. If that was something --
23 Actually, that does bring a question to
24 mind, Mr. Stewart. Did the Aviation Authority
25 take a position on whether or not the Navy
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 should return to Cecil Field?
2 MR. STEWART: Not to my knowledge.
3 MR. YARBOROUGH: There was no position
4 taken?
5 MR. STEWART: Not to my knowledge.
6 MR. YARBOROUGH: Okay. And yet the --
7 okay. I appreciate that. I wasn't sure, so
8 thank you.
9 Mr. Chairman, I'll relinquish some of my
10 time here just for a minute if Mr. Bishop or
11 other members would like to jump in, and then
12 I'll speak again in a few minutes.
13 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
14 The only other --
15 MR. YARBOROUGH: Thank you, Mr. Stewart.
16 THE CHAIRMAN: The only other speaker I
17 have on the queue right now is Councilmember
18 Bishop.
19 MR. BISHOP: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
20 The issues that Councilman Yarborough have
21 talked about are a lot of the issues of why this
22 is such a hot topic in our part of the world
23 over there.
24 What I would like to talk about at this
25 point is something that has been -- I have
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 had -- Mr. Stewart alluded to something at the
2 beginning of his talk when Mr. Yarborough was
3 asking questions that -- over the last week
4 I have had a couple of conversations with
5 Mr. Falconetti, and -- if you wouldn't mind
6 coming up to the microphone, I would appreciate
7 it.
8 MR. FALCONETTI: (Complies.)
9 MR. BISHOP: Because of the nature of
10 Sunshine laws, obviously I haven't been able to
11 apprise Councilman Yarborough, my cosponsor on
12 this resolution, fully on this just due to the
13 nature of timing. And so I apologize if any of
14 this is a surprise, but I think it's important.
15 Because of the issues that we've just been
16 talking about, you can see why this is such an
17 important issue. And in the discussions that
18 I've had with Mr. Falconetti, I believe that
19 he's in a position to talk about some,
20 hopefully, new developments on this issue with
21 the idea that we could hopefully resolve some of
22 these problems in a less acrimonious manner and
23 hopefully be a little more productive on how we
24 use our time for the betterment of the city.
25 Mr. Falconetti, do you have anything you
Diane M.
Tropia,
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1 want to add to that?
2 MR. FALCONETTI: Councilman, thank you very
3 much.
4 Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the
5 council, thank you for allowing us to be before
6 you this evening.
7 Councilman Yarborough, I --
8 THE CHAIRMAN: Mr. Falconetti, if you'd
9 give your name and address for the record,
10 please.
11 MR. FALCONETTI: I'm sorry.
12 THE CHAIRMAN: You've given your name.
13 Just your address, please.
14 MR. FALCONETTI: I've been here so often
15 lately, I figured you-all had me on speed dial.
16 John Falconetti,
17 Councilman Yarborough, I respect and admire
18 your passion, and that certainly came through in
19 this proceeding and so forth. I feel equally as
20 passionate about this issue in supporting a
21 runway extension at Craig Field. And I stand
22 before you confident in the fact that we have a
23 proposal that answers many of the questions, if
24 not all -- in fact, all of the questions that
25 you and many others might have throughout this
Diane M.
Tropia,
24
1 process.
2 However, I think we can all acknowledge
3 that the process is as important as the
4 indecision. Whichever way all of you may vote,
5 I think it's important to each of you,
6 especially those of you that either don't reside
7 in the district or even far from the district,
8 feel comfortable when you put your head down on
9 the pillow at night that you've made the
10 decision that's best for this community.
11 So in conversations with Councilman
12 Bishop -- and certainly it's been a feeling of
13 his and perhaps others that are in opposition of
14 the extension, that the Aviation Authority has
15 not proceeded with a fully transparent and
16 engaging process with the public.
17 While I feel as if we have had community
18 forums, and I -- and I certainly feel as if we
19 have reached out, we have agreed to do more.
20 And Councilman Bishop and I have begun dialogues
21 and we'll continue on a very aggressive time
22 line to create a structure that will allow for
23 this kind of fair and open debate and dialogue.
24 And while the Aviation Authority will not
25 delay in its activity in bringing this extension
Diane M.
Tropia,
25
1 before you, I hope that this good-faith effort
2 on both of our parts will certainly illuminate
3 this process and we hope will bring value.
4 So those are the conversations that we've
5 had. And, you know, again, as equally as proud
6 and as much as I admire Councilman Yarborough's
7 passion for this, Councilman Bishop, I
8 appreciate you reaching out to us and wanting to
9 look at this -- look at this box from all sides.
10 Thank you.
11 MR. BISHOP: Thank you.
12 Just to put some of this in perspective, I
13 believe that the process we're going through
14 right now is highly unproductive for both sides
15 of the fence because at the end of the day if
16 the process goes through as it's going now and
17 we win, then I'm confident in a very short time
18 the Airport Authority is going to be back again
19 with this issue. Once again, we'll have to
20 fight it all over again.
21 If we lose, then we've got a whole 'nother
22 subset of issues out there that I even -- I
23 hesitate to even fathom where that would go.
24 Regardless of the end result, it's an
25 unproductive exercise and it's not good for the
Diane M.
Tropia,
26
1 City.
2 What I take Mr. Falconetti's offer as is an
3 extension of the offer that I offered to
4 Mr. Clark back -- at this point, I guess
5 probably close to a month ago, that -- I believe
6 that if both sides can take a step back without
7 hammers over each other's heads, we might reach
8 some sort of a mutually-agreeable solution here
9 that gets both sides maybe not everything they
10 want but certainly what they need for the
11 long-term benefit of the city.
12 I'm also understanding, because of the time
13 line of things, that Mr. Falconetti cannot
14 commit the Airport Authority unilaterally to
15 things. He's one board member. I trust what
16 he's saying is that he will take this back to
17 the Airport Authority to get them to come to the
18 table in a mutually-beneficial manner.
19 And because of that belief, I'm willing --
20 what I would do is suggest that we postpone this
21 resolution or defer it one cycle to give us the
22 opportunity to have those discussions. And
23 if at the end of that time we reach a
24 mutually-agreeable methodology to move forward,
25 then I think that's in the benefit of
Diane M.
Tropia,
27
1 everybody.
2 If we don't and we agree that we're not
3 going anywhere, then we're right back where we
4 are and we can proceed along the lines that
5 we're doing right now with full gusto that we've
6 demonstrated thus far today, because while you
7 passionately believe the runway is the right
8 thing to do, I'm equally passionate that I don't
9 think it is.
10 And I think at this point we're both in a
11 posture of trying to convince each other of the
12 merits of our argument, and -- but at the end of
13 the day -- I've said this before, aviation is a
14 viable industry, it's a necessary industry for
15 this city. How do we go about doing it properly
16 so that we protect the interests of all citizens
17 of this city, not just those that fly planes and
18 fly jets out of the airport or not just those
19 that live somewhere else.
20 The people that live around that airport
21 have a vital stake in this issue, to the same
22 degree as anybody else in the city, and their
23 interests need to be protected as well and we
24 need to make sure that they are.
25 And so that's why I welcome this
Diane M.
Tropia,
28
1 opportunity and look forward to working with
2 you, Mr. Falconetti, and the Airport Authority
3 going forward over the next couple of weeks,
4 hopefully, that we can establish the ground
5 rules for this dialogue and make a productive
6 exercise of it.
7 And I guess in closing, then, I would
8 suggest to the joint committees that we defer
9 this bill for one cycle and let that process
10 play out.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. I do have
12 Councilmember Hyde on my queue. So we'll go to
13 Councilmember Hyde, and then I have a question
14 for Mr. Falconetti.
15 MR. HYDE: Thank you.
16 Mr. Bishop, I appreciate your offer and I
17 think that the spirit of compromise that both
18 parties are showing here is exactly what needs
19 to happen.
20 As chairman of the committee, I will defer
21 that. And I will look to my committee members,
22 is there any strong opposition to me deferring
23 it for one cycle?
24 COMMITTEE MEMBERS: (No response.)
25 MR. HYDE: We defer it in PHS.
Diane M.
Tropia,
29
1 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Mr. Falconetti,
2 before the Land Use and Zoning Committee defers,
3 do you concur with the deferral and support the
4 deferral as described by Councilmember Bishop?
5 MR. FALCONETTI: We do.
6 Just to reiterate and really just to,
7 again, restate the conversations that Councilman
8 Bishop and I have had. If nothing else, I hope
9 the community, certainly the Aviation Authority,
10 and the City Council sees that this is a
11 good-faith effort on both parties to realize
12 what hopefully would be a win/win for the City
13 of
14 So we recognize that -- hope it's
15 recognized as that, and we'll pursue this in
16 good faith. That I promise you.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you,
18 Mr. Falconetti.
19 Based on that request of one of the
20 cosponsors and the confirmation by the Airport
21 Authority board of directors member --
22 Councilman Yarborough, I know that you're a
23 cosponsor of the bill. Obviously, as cosponsor,
24 let me give you the right to give your opinion
25 on the deferral.
Diane M.
Tropia,
30
1 MR. YARBOROUGH: I support the deferral,
2 Mr. Chairman.
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. Thank you.
4 This item will be deferred in LUZ as well,
5 and I appreciate Councilman Bishop, Councilman
6 Yarborough and the Airport Authority willing to
7 get together and try to work out a compromise on
8 this issue.
9 Based on that, the joint meeting between
10 the Land Use and Zoning Committee and the Public
11 Health and Safety Committee is adjourned and we
12 will convene the Land Use and Zoning Committee
13 meeting at this time.
14 Thank you, everyone, for being here. Thank
15 you, Mr. Falconetti and Mr. Stewart.
16 MR. FALCONETTI: Thank you.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Okay. We're going to wait
18 just a couple of minutes and then we'll start
19 back up again.
20 (The above proceedings were adjourned at
21 5:35 p.m.)
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Diane M.
Tropia,
31
1 C E R T I F I C A T E
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3
STATE OF
4 COUNTY OF DUVAL :
5
6 I, Diane M. Tropia, certify that I was
7 authorized to and did stenographically report the
8 foregoing proceedings and that the transcript is a
9 true and complete record of my stenographic notes.
10 Dated this 11th day of November, 2007.
11
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14 Diane M. Tropia
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Diane M.
Tropia,