City Manager’s Weekly Report
for week ending January 3, 2020

Comprehensive Plan Public Engagement. Notice was published in the Seattle Times and mailers were sent this week and the once-a-year, 2020 Comprehensive Plan update docket is now open. Proposed Public Engagement Plan outlines and contact information for city staff, as well as how to sign up for the City e-notice, were included with the notice. As provided to City Council on Monday, December 30th, 2019, an updated draft of the public engagement/participation plan has been put together, which includes the Planning Commission’s requested additional outreach events and timelines. Per code, the public engagement plan will be before the City Council for approval at the next regularly scheduled City Council meeting. Additional items in the plan include:

    • Coffee with Staff (proposed for 8:30am, January 17th at Empire Coffee)
    • Mid-March Manhattan Village pop-up event (QFC has been the proposed location)
    • Early April – additional roundtable discussion
    • April Planning Commission Meeting – Work Session to review all revised and new 2020 amendments
    • Investment Interest. There has been some interest communicated to city staff regarding development of the property for sale on Normandy Road near 1st Avenue. An interested party is putting together conceptual information for city staff to review. For more information talk to Holly or me.

A note from Quiet Skies. Please read the copied email below, and then read the attachment. Good work by local activists.

All as 2019 comes to a close we have an exciting update,

On December 20th 2019 Eighteen Members of Congress, including our Representative Adam Smith, sent a letter to Stephen Dickson administrator of the FAA. The letter extensively references an August, 2019 Department of Transportation (DOT) Inspector General (IG) report about the implementation of NextGen (see link below).

Here are few quotes found in the attached letter:

“As you know, since its introduction of Metroplexes in 2010, the FAA has concentrated flight paths over neighborhoods, schools, and national monuments in order to make the airspace more efficient. This heavy air traffic produces constant noise and particulate matter that has yet to be deemed safe by the FAA or any other government agency.

“The FAA boasts of profits for airlines, shipping companies, and other industry stakeholders, but the burden of noise, health risks, and declining property values falls on the backs of hard-working Americans.

“We would appreciate your review of the [DOT IG] report and a detailed timeline of your plan to implement procedures that will mitigate harm to the communities we represent.”

This audit by the OIG of the NextGen program is currently underway; the attached is for Metroplexes only, Sea-Tac Airport is a single site. So, while this report does not include our airport, much of the information applies and again Congressman Smith has direct involvement and recently sent a letter to the GAO, at my request, which outlined that single site airports also be studied, the GAO said YES! See https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/37487.

Also, the National League of Cities Resolution to Reduce the Economic, Noise and Health Impacts of Overflights of Cities from Implementation of NextGen Airspace Redesign is underway. For those Cities that are members of the national league, please track and help us provide updates.

We thank you all for the continued support and partnership, 2020 is going to be a exciting year!

Kind regards,
Sheila Brush
Founder
Quiet Skies Puget Sound
206-501-9553

Bicameral Letter to FAA

– Mark E. Hoppen, City Manager
City of Normandy Park
801 SW 174th Street
Normandy Park, WA 98166
(206) 248-8246 (Direct Phone)