Broomfield announces plans to leave community noise roundtable with RMMA
For years, communities surrounding our regional airports have used roundtable discussions as a tool to try and come up with solutions on issues like noise, and more recently lead.
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and surrounding towns have been meeting for several years with no real progress, which is why the city of Broomfield has put in its notice to leave the roundtable.
"It's every 10 minutes before the sun rises and after the sunsets that they are flying really low right over us," said Broomfield resident Don Etscheidin.
It's one of the things I like," said Anna Langess about the planes flying overhead.
Despite mixed feelings from the community about flight traffic, the city is firm on its plan to end its involvement in the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airports Community Noise Roundtable also known as the CNR.
"Because of the dysfunction, the lack of community support, the distrust that is not only with the former airport director but also within our communities. Ultimately just saying there's got to be a reset, a pause in this process," said Broomfield Mayor Pro Tem Deven Shaff.
Schaff has been the city's representative at the meeting since joining the roundtable three years ago.
A move he says the FAA recommended they try as concerns were growing.
"We as a council directed, to balance the needs of our community along with the business interest that surround the airport and along with that we heard more opposition for us joining the community noise roundtable then support for joining it but we really wanted to support our neighboring jurisdictions," Shaff added.
Langess has lived in Broomfield for 26 years and questioned the value of the roundtable from the beginning.
"They did due diligence in listening to people and checking it out to find out what the community really felt I think the community knows the reality that airport is serving all the businesses in this area and what's keeping this Broomfield, Louisville area viable," she said in support of the city's decision to leave the CNR.
Others like Don Etscheidin who live directly in the airports flight path said, "that's a quiet one but you see how low he is right there," as he pointing to a plane overhead.
They are still hoping, without the CNR there will be changes.
"They've bene fighting back in forth for years I just don't know if we have enough population over here to make a difference," he added.
Shaff says while they may be out of the CNR they will be looking at other tools to address community concerns around RMMA, including potential routes through the courts similar to what Boulder County and Superior are doing.
