TC Line

Below are comments submitted to the Times-Call TC-Line in 2010.

4/6/10 Airport Runway I read with interest the thought about lengthening Vance Brand Airport runways, and I feel that, for the few planes that would get the advantage of a longer runway, why not save our taxpaying money and have the planes just land at Jeffco and then the people drive 20 minutes to Longmont.  It doesn’t seem worth it to spend our money to lengthen a runway just for a couple of planes.
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4/7/10  Airport Master Plan (2 comments)  I feel like the residents of Longmont are simply a source of taxes, fees and fines.  No one cares what we think, now that we have a business-oriented City Council.  Why would the city be updating the Airport Master Plan and applying for FAA grants before talking to the residents, before opening the Airport Master Plan to the public?
I’m calling in support of lengthening the runway at the Longmont airport, and I can’t see how making Longmont more attractive to both large and small businesses will have a negative affect on our property values.  More jobs means more demand for housing and a stronger local economy.
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4/13/10 Noise pollution Something needs to be done about the airplanes running out of the airport from the skydiving (company) that … really affects the quality of life here in Longmont … Boulder County spends millions of dollars for open space and the money to take care of them.  And you cannot even go to Pella Crossing or even walk around McIntosh Lake without being bombarded by the noise pollution being produced by these airplanes.
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4/14/10  Aviation symphony I love the sound of the small airplanes and the skydivers.  It’s not noise pollution.  That is an aviation symphony.  Beautiful, Beautiful.
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4/18/10  Dogged by noise  I got dogs to the left of me, dogs to the right of me, dogs behind me.  People complain about a little airplane noise.  If you want to trade, you can have my dogs and I'll take your airplane.
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4/19/10  No runway for execs  I think corporate executives can use the ... Jeffco airport easily enough.  No need for an expansion ... And I don't want to pay for their convenience, and I don't want my quality of life ruined.
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4/20/10  Noise pollution  It's just outrageous that the city of Longmont allows that airport to use that thing as skydivers.  It's just awful to pollute the air all weekend long with that constant noise.  How do they get away with that?  Can't they use a different plane?
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4/21/10  Interesting question  I'm just wondering how many of the people expressing concern over the new proposed runway at the airport are the same people that found no particular problems with the train noise on the opposite side of town.  Interesting question.
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4/24/10  Corporate jets  I would like to suggest the city of Longmont pursue a corporate jet flyover day so the residents of Longmont can experience the noise level associated with corporate jet landings and takeoffs.  The corporate jets can fly a normal approach and takeoff pattern to the airport without touching the runway.  Once the noise level is more understood, informed decisions can be made by city officials with citizen input.

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4/28/10  Airport runway  Bigger, or longer in this case, isn't always better.  Longmont should not allow the airport to extend their one runway.  Those corporate jets are real noisy.  Keep Longmont quiet.  Let the execs fly into Loveland.  Their employees would rather live here in a quiet town and watch the parachutists than watch a noisy jet.
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5/1/10  Runway at airport  People spouting the benefits of a longer runway to allow jet traffic are talking baloney.  Very few people will benefit from this.  Once jets start flying over Longmont neighborhoods, the quality of life will be forever ruined.  And there will be no shortening the runway and going back to the way it was.  Property values throughout the area are going to take a massive nosedive.
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5/2/10  Streets vs. runways  How about fixing Longmont streets before we think about extending runways?
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5/10/10 Skydiving plane  I think the skydiving plane should share the noise wealth with the entire city of Longmont by climbing to altitude over southwestern, eastern and northern Longmont.  The plane could rotate sections and allow everyone to experience the constant drone of the plane on weekends.
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5/11/10  Skydiving plane  I'm calling in reference to the comments on the skydiving plane and how the caller thought they should share the noise wealth in the entire city of Longmont.  You chose to live where you do in the area of the airport.  I chose not to.  Maybe you should have thought about that prior to making your choice.
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5/12/10  Airport noise (2 comments)  I hear you guys crying about the airplane skydiving plane that is loud.  I live right next to the hospital, and I've got helicopters circling my house constantly.  But I moved here afterwards, so I accept it, and I know they're helping people.  But, you know what, if I had to listen to them stinking planes all day, I'd shoot myself, so I agree with you.  They don't need to extend that runway.  If you ever heard an executive jet take off, they sit at the end of the runway, and they blast for awhile before they shoot off.  It would be a terrible thing to create more noise at that airport.
     The noise from the small planes is loud and aggravating, even for people who do not live by the airport.  How about requiring mufflers for the planes?
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5/13/10   Airport noise (2 comments)  We live south of Pike, about 5 miles from the airport.  We have to deal with the skydiving planes droning over our neighborhood constantly as he gains altitude.  I think he's here just as much as he's at the airport.  Extremely annoying.  You don't have to live near the airport to be affected by this plane.
     I live in the central part of old town and am annoyed by the skydiving plane, even on Mother's Day.  You don't have to live "near the airport" to be subjected to the awful noise pollution.
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5/14/10  Airport noise (3 comments)  I'm just calling in reference to airport noise.  I live directly into the pattern of the Longmont airport, and I get a lot more noise from 119 and Nelson Road and Clover Basin than I do from the airport.  Most of the airport noise I hear is for the airplanes flying to DIA.  I don't know how we'll ever stop that.  I support airport noise, and I support growth in Longmont.
     We've been reading the newspaper and we see that people are complaining about the skydivers, and I was just wanting to say that the people that are complaining about the noise of the skydivers - because I don't think they make that much noise - ought to get up and thank God they can hear.
     I just wanted to say that we live close to the airport, and one of the things that we do enjoy is watching the skydivers every weekend.  So in response to all the people that complain about the noise, it does have an entertainment value.
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7/29/10 Airport noise About the airport noise, sometimes it's all in our attitude. When I first moved to town from the farm, I couldn't stand the traffic going by and the dogs barking all the time, but I soon started counting my blessings and I got used to all that, and it doesn't bother me now.
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8/11/10 Train quiet zones It's amazing that people continually buy houses next to railroad tracks and airport traffic areas and are amazed and mad that they see trains, hear trains, and see and hear airplanes. Where is the common sense?
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9/21/10 Airport expansion I live near the airport. I knew it was there when I purchased my home, and I have been a good neighbor for 18 years. But now our City Council seems determined on a major expansion at Vance Brand. More and noisier airplanes are naturally a big concern to those of us who live nearby.
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9/21/10 Airport noise I've lived in west old town Longmont for the better part of my 55 years in a house built in the early 1900s. I live miles from the airport but am annoyed every weekend by the constant droning of the skydiving planes. They send up an obnoxious harmonics that reverberates throughout the entire area. Never had this problem before those planes arrived.
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9/22/10 Airport critics The constant droning from a group of airport critics has grown rather annoying. I'd rather watch and enjoy my airplane viewing in peace. Can someone please tell them that their voices have become disruptive to my daily life and are a source of noise pollution to many in Longmont who enjoy all the great things our airport has to offer? Why do they think their rights are more important than ours?
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9/24/10 Airport noise (2 comments)
     If folks are weary of complaints about the turboprops, they have a choice to just not read the Times-Call Line. My choice is not so easy. Sell my home? Which is, by the way, miles from the airport? In this economy? After my employer has cut benefits and frozen my salary for three years? The best choice for all concerned is just use quieter planes.
     To the person who thinks that his rights to watch the airplanes are being violated by people opposing the airport expansion, he might wish to remember that if he has a headache or desperately needs sleep or some other problem, he can choose to not go to the airport that day. People whose homes that were never in the flight path of the airport that will be if the airport is expanded, because longer runways mean longer approaches, will not have that choice, and they do have a right to defend themselves.