2008 Noise Complaint Log

1.    February 10 @ 10:30. Joe Wylan, who lives at McIntosh Lake, 776-4555, called to complain that a low flying, yellow airplane buzzed the lake at about 10 feet above the ice. The plane only made one pass and then departed. He didn’t have any identifying marks so I told him I would see what I could do. I called him back Monday morning at 10:15.
2.    March 1, @ 13:25, Rob, who lives near Sherman Street, 776-3662, called to complain about a low flying aircraft over the City by Sherman Street. He said the aircraft was below the minimums and asked that I remind the pilots to keep it at a 1,000 feet.
3.    March 6 @ 09:30. Tom Zweck called to complain about a small, yellow airplane that flew over his mother’s house and his grain silo. He said the plane was too intrusive, too low and downright rude. He also complained about the speeding traffic on Airport Road saying it is out of control and he is sick of it.
4.    April 2 @ 14:45. Kelly, 823-5448, who lives in Pinewood Springs, called to complain about a twin engine aircraft flying low back and forth. She said it was very loud and the plane just kept going back and forth. She wanted to know what it was doing. I called her back to get more info.
5.    April 2 @ 14:55, Dave Stien, 823-6730, called about the same as above.
6.    April 2 @ 14:57, 352-3110, called about the same as above.
7.    April 23 @ 12:37. Tom Zweck called to complain about a light colored helo that kept flying over his farm property out to the west while he was trying to plant veggies.. He said the pilot had total disregard for the good neighbor policy and was a rude person. He wanted to know where I was and why I didn’t prevent it from happening. He said he needs a cell phone number for either me or Phil so he can call when ever this happens and have it stop immediately. He said he lives in a situation that is not respectful to him. He said there is also a plane that is making too many passes and he wants it stopped to. He3 said the airport is a bad neighbor.
8.    May 3 @ 09:20. Charles Warren, 359-3544, 7431 N. 73rd St. called to complain about a white Cessna flying very low over his house and buzzing him. He said he is used to plane traffic, but this one was extremely low. I called him back to get more info.
9.    May 3 @ 12:05. Dan Hill, 684-8262, called to complain about low flying, noisy aircraft. I called him back to get more information but he did not return the call.
10.    May 16 @ 10:35. Audrey Ross, 682-9384, who lives in the Gaynor Lake area called about a low flying yellow airplane that keeps making low passes over the neighborhood and lake. She said it is a safety concern and nuisance.  I called her back to get more information.
11.    May 17 @ 14:30. Dale McDonald, 823-5721, who lives in Lyons, called to complain about a low flying aircraft that he wanted to report to the FAA. He said he realized it might not be from Longmont Airport. I called him back and gave him the procedures to report to the FAA.
12.    May 18 @ 19:05. Kathy Hibbard, 579-4974, who lives west of the airport, called about a white, small air plane, that was flying way too low over her pasture. I called her back to get more information.
13.    May 24 @ 11:30. Bob, who lives in Lyons, 823-5042, called to complain about the skydiving plane. He said he and a bunch of his neighbors are unhappy with it and want to talk to Frank about it. I called Bob back and set up a meeting with Frank and I at Bob’s house to discuss the issue.
14.    May 24 @ 11:45, Kathryn Friese, who lives west of the airport, called to complain about several low flying aircraft that were buzzing her farm, scaring her livestock and flying 20 feet above her trees. She said one plane has already made 10 passes over her house. She did not leave a return number to call.
15.    May 30 @ 11:00. Jamie Taylor, 543-1455, who lives in the Clover Basin area called to complain about the skydiving airplane flying to low over her subdivision. She said it was really bad today and asked me to call her back to discuss it.  I called her back and gave her the particulars.
16.    June 16 @ 14:47, Tom Zweck called to complain about a Long EZ that flew low over his farm and made a couple of “swoops.”  He said he still wants to be able to contact someone immediately when he has complaints so they get resolved right away.
17.    June 21 @ 15:00, Roxanne Bailin, who lives at 6374 Trevarton Lane, called to complain that in the last two weeks the air traffic over her neighborhood has increased as well as low flying aircraft. She said it has been good the past two years but is starting to pick up again. I called her back and told her I would get the word out again and asked that she call me back in about 10 days to give me some feed back.  441-3743.
18.    July 4 @ 15:40, Tom ZweckEZ that he said was flying too low and buzzing him today. He said he will wait till Phil gets back next week and wants me to remind people.
19.    June 28 @ 13:45, Tom Zweck called to complain about the small and big skydiving plane making obnoxious power turns over his farm and not following the RR tracks. He said it is becoming too frequent. He said I need to stay on top of the good neighbor policy and that Phil told him to call me.
20.    July 6 @ 10:00. Tom Zweck called to say he read an article in the newspaper about an ultralite crashing in Gunnbarrel in today’s edition. He wanted to know who it was, what happened and how it could be avoided on his farm.  I read the paper (Longmont) and looked at the Daily Camera on line and couldn’t find anything. I don’t know what he was talking about.
21.    July 8 @ 09:40. Larry Bellman, 776-7167, who lives in Hygiene, called to complain about several aircraft buzzing his neighborhood. He said it is especially irritating on Sunday morning at 7 a.m. He said he has noticed it more and more this summer and wanted to voice his concerns.
22.    July 19 @ 11:00. An anonymous lady who works at a horse therapy stable called to complain about a small yellow plane that was buzzing the stables and scaring the horses. She wanted me to find out who it was and talk to the “geek.”
23.    July 21 @ 11:00. Tom called to complain about the skydive plane flying right down the river at a low altitude and buzzing his farm. I passed his complaint to Mile-Hi. He also complained about another plane that was “hot dogging” it over his farm and being a jerk.
24.    July 28 @ 09:40. Dianne, who lives at 6149 St. Vrain Road, 678-7456, called to complain about a loud airplane this morning around 07:30. She said she spoke to the FAA and they didn’t help and so she called me. She wants all the planes to have mufflers. I called her back to get more info.
25.    July 29 @ 07:25. An anonymous lady called to complain about planes departing to the west and then turning north which she says is illegal. She said they are supposed to fly until they get over the mountains and then turn north. She said it is inappropriate and unacceptable.
26.    August 14 @ 06:45, Cyntia Weir, who lives near Table Mountain, 444-5861, called to complain about early morning flights this week saying they are way too often. She said the planes are flying way to low and non stop. She has small children who are being woken up and also has farm animals that are being spooked. She said there is no need for this and wants it stopped. She asked that I call her back. I called her back to discuss the situation with her.
27.    August 8 @ 10:55. Phil called saying Tom called him with a complaint that he was being buzzed by a blue ultralite helicopter and wanted to know if I knew anything about it. Phil asked me to log the call.
28.    August 9 @ 11:54. Tom called to complain about a small white plane that came in “hot.” He also  complained about the big skydiving plane coming in south of the railroad tracks. He said this is a breach of the Good Neighbor Policy. He wants to know why this only happens on Saturday mornings and not the rest of the week. He said he is also going to call council members to get them on board.He said he has put up with it over a decade now. He also wanted to know why in the past there were ever off site landings on his property.
29.    12:03. He called again to complain about a yellow bi-plane that buzzed him. Also, there was a red plane with sliver stripes that buzzed him too. He said it is way too noisy and wants to know whats happening and why I can’t enforce the good neighbor policy.
30.    13:30 He called again wanting me to get the bi-planes under control. He also called Phil and Gordon. I happened to be watching three of them over fly the city at an altitude of at least 1,000 ft. I also saw them flying north of the river where they were supposed to be flying.
31.    13:36. He called again to say he has been buzzed two more times and that it is as bad as a loud motorcycle. He said this shouldn’t be happening and he is going to call Councilman McCoy. He is also going to call Gordon.  Gordon and Phil both called me later in the day and I explained to them what I saw.
32.    August 11 @ 19:00. Phil forwarded me a message from Tom stating it was a bad weekend. Late last night there was a “pus/pull” airplane that made a power swooping circle over his house. It wasn’t noisy, but he could see it and the wings were wavering. He said he wasn’t being a good neighbor and that it was dangerous and low. He said Tim needed to get on people and enforce the good neighbor policy and that lately it has only been the vintage and experimental planes that bother him.
33.    August 12 @ 15:40. Phil passed on a message from Tom that consisted of him being buzzed by a yellow bi-plane and then a small blue plane and Phil asked that I log it.
34.    August 13 @ 13:20. Tom called wanting to know why the Pedrow administration allows the airport to harass him. A helicopter that is yellow,bigh, high in the air and not noisy has flew over him 6 times and he wants it to stop because it is nonsense. He also wants to know why all the lights haven’t been turned off at the airport because it is a problem again. He wants people at the airport to respect him. He is losing his patience and disappointed.
35.    August 17 @ 10:37.  John Britton e-mailed the following complaint:
Hi Tim,

It's been a while, but rest assured that the  airplane noise problem has, if anything, worsened this Summer. Today we were  buzzed 3 times by the lowest flier I think we've ever witnessed - sort of like a  boy-racer on a motorcycle circling through your neighborhood a few times and  making you jump onto the sidewalk. As you can see in the attachment, the last  flight over us pretty much filled the frame of my camera. That's NOT a  crop. The time was right around 1:00pm, Sunday, August 17, number N787EC. The  number was easily visible with the naked eye, even on its earlier, higher,  fly-over. Please let me know that you can open the attached image.

A  couple of weeks ago, the Mile-Hi jump plane  (the most constant source of noise in our neighborhood) came _very_ low over  Table Mountain, W. to E., South of us, with the big door clearly visible on its  side. My wife sent an e-mail though their web-site, and someone called back and  left us a message saying that the pilot assured him he never left the proper  flight path, 1000 feet above the ground. It's clear to us that either the pilot  was lying, or the caller was lying. We didn't bother to call back, and we  usually don't bother to call and complain, given that we'd end up doing so every  weekend, and the usual response is to hide behind the skirts of the FAA. That  plane projects a swath of noise from Tom Watson park to the South, to Heil  Valley Ranch to the West to who knows where to the East.

Thank you,
John Britton
8701 N 55th St
Longmont, CO 80503

36.    August 17 @ 09:37. Rick Brant e-mailed the following complaint:  once again from airwest
this plane did touch and go landings at bma sunday at  930  am then departed directly over my house.   please advise this company to advise again its instructors and renters of  bma noise abatement.  regards,
37.  August 17 @ 12:07, Ron Korsh, 772-9521, who lives in Chance Acres, called to complain about the skydive plane making too much noise today. He said it’s usually not a problem and they need to mix it up a bit.  I called him back and he said he already talked to Frank and that Frank would try to help him out. I asked him to keep me posted.

38.  August 23, @ 15:40, an anonymous woman who lives at the intersection of Nelson and Airport Roads called to complain about air traffic and the noise it was making this afternoon. She said planes just keep circling.

39.  August 23 @ 11:08, Joe Lemon, who lives west of the airport called to complain about a shite plan that was going very fast that buzzed his property. He wanted me to know and said it wasn’t necessary to call him back.

40. August 24 @ 11:36, am man named Clark called. He lives by Hwy. 52 and I-25 and called to complain about an aerobatic plane that fly’s in the vicinity everyday. He said he works nights and can’t sleep during the day. He said it is like a buzz saw. He wants me to get in touch with the pilot to let him know. I called him back. I know this airplane and it is based at Tri- County. I gave him Tri COuty’s phone number and contact info.

41. August 26 @ 07:00, Bea Rose, who is visiting from Michigan and staying in the Longmont Estates neighborhood called to complain that airplanes were flying over at 6:30 this morning and woke up the baby. She wanted me to make sure the rest of her stay would be pleasant with no planes flying over head.

42.    August 28 @ 08:45, Tom called to complain about the PA system for the swoop event. He said it is not as bad as last year, but still audible and asked that we please turn it down a little bit.  Phil also called advising me Tom called him too. I called Frank and had him turn it down a bit. Phil called later in the day and said Tom was o.k. with it.
43.    August 31 @ 08:08. An anonymous man called using excessive profanity to complain about a blue ultra lite helicopter buzzing him and his house at 200 feet. He said I should penalize him.
44.    August 31 @ 08:09. Mike Kirkland, 68 Baylor Drive, 682-9244,  called to complain about the above saying it was way too early and noisy and shouldn’t be over neighborhoods.  I called him back to get more info and discuss the problem with him.
45.    August 31 @ 08:13. An anonymous woman called to complain about the above. She said it is way too early to hear that buzzing noise, it’s the only day she has to sleep in and it is terribly rude. She said she was going to call the City Manager.
46.    August 29 @ 09:00. Tom called to complain that the PA system from the swoop event was too loud. He also called Phil and complained about the same thing. I talked to Frank and he agreed to turn it down. When I was on site, it didn’t seem to be that loud.
47.    September 8 @ 10:00. Tom called about a blue helicopter that was at least 1,000 feet high but was obnoxiously noisy. He said he has been complaining about it for several months. He also said the lights at the airport still bother him and that all the fire fly’s in the valley have left because of light pollution from the airport. He said he wants more environmental protection from the airport.
48.    September 12 @ 08:40. Tom called to complain about a royal blue ultra light that was extremely noisy and has made 9 passes over his house. He wants to know why this pilot hasn’t been informed about the NAP. He said it sickens him. He said from the top down the City administration has to change and wants to know why I can’t control the problems. He said it should never happen again.
49.    September 12 @ 16:00. Tom called about a plane and didn’t give a description or any indication of what it was. He said he doesn’t want to listen to this idiot anymore. He said he won’t come over to the airport because the “airport people” will call the cops on him.
50.    September 17 @ 10:36. Clar Eneta, who lives near Hwy. 52 and I-25, called about a stunt plane doing aerobatics near his house. He wants the plane to go some where else and wants it stopped. We didn’t have any stunt planes up this morning and it was most likely out of the Erie Airport.
51.    September 18 @ 10:30. Tom called about a helicopter that made multiple passes over his farm. He said it circled him 3 times and is completely disregarding the NAP. He said the obnoxious behavior of the airport is mind boggling. He wants to meet with Phil in October.
52.    September 19 @ 17:49. Lynda Smith, who lives off Nelson Road, 651-5690, called to complain about way too much noisy traffic over her house. She said planes buzz there all day long and she has never noted this much traffic.  She also e-mailed the City. I e-mailed her back and forth and got more information and told her if it continued I could meet with her to discuss it further at her house.
53.    September 21 @ 18:45. Bill Rivet, who lives out by the museum, 444-7797, called to complain about constant air traffic, especially those planes flying north to south. He said they are pretty high, but doesn’t understand why they fly there.  I called him back to discuss the situation.
54.    September 22 @ 17:00. Tom called to complain about a blue ultra light flying north of the river. He wants to know how many times this pilot has been contacted and why he keeps doing it.
55.    September 26 @ 08:12. Tom called to complain that a balloon took off from the airport. It didn’t fly any where near his property or any where close to him but wanted to know whats up with that. He thinks balloons should be illegal and wanted to know if I gave the balloon permission to use the airport. He said he thought there is a policy in place where I wouldn’t let balloons use the airport.
56.    September 27 @ 12:03. Don Cahillin, 7901 Plateau Road, 918-9142, called to complain about constant buzzing for the past three hours and wanted to know what was up. After investigation, I determined he was being bothered by airplanes using the antique airfield for their annual BBQ.  I called him back and explained what was happening.
57.    September 27 @ 12:21. Tom called to complain about a plane that was ugly, had a yellow fuselage and ugly red wings. He said it was very unattractive and very noisy. He also said it made too many passes and he wants me to remind him of the NAP and GNP.
58.    September 27 @ 13:11. Steve Bailin, who lives at Goose Point Drive, 747-3981, called to complain about constant air traffic using his house as a marker today for the past three hours. He said it is very noisy and constant. I called him back and he said he followed the planes back to the antique airfield and talked to them. He told me he realized they didn’t come from Longmont Airport.


"Karen Benker" <karenbenkerlg@earthlink.net>
10/13/2008 12:51 PM
Gordon and Tim,
Any suggestions?  Have you responded to this  person yet?
Karen

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Glenn  DeAtley
To: roger_lange@qwest.net ; seanmccoylcc@q.com ; karenbenkerlg@earthlink.net
Sent: Friday, October 10, 2008 4:23 PM
Subject: Citizen Concern for Flight Safety and Noise Abatement -  Vance Brand

Esteemed Mayor and Council Members -

I am writing to request your assistance in addressing  what appears to be a safety issue and a nuisance which affects a significant  number of Longmont residents.  The issue is the failure of many aircraft  pilots who are flying in and out of Vance Brand Airport to give proper  consideration to flight safety and published "Good Neighbor" policy provided by  Vance Brand Airport.

I have addressed my concerns on numerous  occasions with Mr. Tim Barth, Manager of Vance Brand Airport and Staff  Liaison for the Airport Advisory Committee.  Mr. Barth has always been  cordial dealing with me and has indicated he communicates citizen complaints to  the flying public.  It seems Mr. Barth's influence with those whose  aircraft are flown out of Vance Brand, however, is rather limited.  My  primary complaint is that many aircraft, especially those being used for "touch  - and - go drills," are flying very low over populated areas around the  airport.  My own residence is on the west end of Spruce Avenue between  Roger's Grove and Sunset Golf Course.  On any given day of the week  aircraft buzz around and directly over my property, often flying much lower  than 1000 feet.  Besides the obnoxious noise that disturbs the peaceful  environment of the neighborhood, the concern for safety remains a constant  factor.  Many airplanes are flying so low over my neighborhood and the  general area nearby that if the pilot of one of these subject aircraft were  suddenly faced with an emergency the likelihood of being able to safely land the  aircraft is doubtful.

Perhaps City Council could work with the Airport  Advisory Committee in reviewing current Air Traffic Control for Vance Brand  Airport to address my stated concerns.  Increasing population of our  community may lead to more air traffic in and out of Vance Brand in addition to  more people being affected by this activity.  With growth comes increased  responsibilities -- it seems the time is ripe to review Vance Brand policy to  ensure those flying in and out of Vance Brand Airport operate aircraft with  consideration and respect for their neighbors.

I thank you for your consideration of my comments and  observations.  If you require further information or have any questions,  please feel free to let me know.

Respectfully -
Glenn DeAtley
P.O. Box 1998
Longmont, CO 80502
(303)356-5089

Karen and Gordon:
Just a quick update on this particular issue.  I have spoken to Glenn about 5 times in the past four to five months about his concerns regarding low flying aircraft. I have provided Glenn with copies of the Noise Abatement Procedures and some maps to help him better understand how the airport traffic pattern works. After I sent Glenn the information, I asked him if he would like to meet with me either at the airport or at his house.  I extended this offer about three times and he has never taken me up on it.  After the third time he called, I went to his neighborhood to observe for myself in the event something unusual was happening. I found that the air traffic was complying with our normal procedures and I didn't observe anything unusually low. Of course, I am sure Murphy's Law applied, because I hardly observed any traffic.  I know Glenn just moved into the area this past year and I believe he didn't realize he was living as close to an airport as he is.

I will follow up with him again to see if he can still meet with me. I haven't heard from him in the last 6 weeks.
Thanks for passing on this information, I appreciate it.
Tim Barth
Airport Manager

59.  October 19 @ 10:15. Scott, who lives in Berthoud, 970-532-0406 called to complain about a red helicopter that was flying very low in the area and wanted to know what the rules were. I called him back to discuss and gave him the information he required.