Time for more facts. Amazing the misinformation offered by what I will call SAEOE. Scarier? The City Government actually believes it. Sad.

Fact 1: Noise tests at Sanderson (KSHN) paid for by the contractor were bogus. The test was done with a turbofan airplane. NOT a “jet.” FYI, jets have been banned for years. Turbofans are quieter than some of the single engine piston planes presently operating out of KHSN. Plus the test was done on a “sound-absorbing” foggy, wet day with the aircraft merely making low passes over the field.

Fact 2: The 65 Day Night Decibel Limit contour touted by the city is actually the AVERAGE measurement limit required by the FAA for OVER a year. This means an earsplitting 130 decibels for half the time and silence the rest is okay? It is best described by a telephone call to the FAA from a resident in a similar situation that goes in part…”….but why, since I live outside the 63 DNL contour line, do I have to stop talking on the phone when a plane flies over?”

Fact 3: To answer to the SAEOE rebuttal to Paine Field’s woes, please google the January 22, 2010 edition of the Everett Herald for an article by Oscar Halpert. http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20100122/NEWS01/701229863 titled “Paine Field Commercial service Public Hearing Gathers Full House.” Keep in mind the dates of these events.

Fact 4. Friedman Memorial has been in its’ present position with most of the existing amenities since starting my 60-80 flights a year in there for thirteen years beginning in 1981. Thirty years ago. It now has to be moved. An EIS is in progress at great expense. To see why, google http://www.flyma.com. Select, “Friedman Memorial Airport”. Enlarge the map and witness all the housing that was allowed to be built in past thirty years forcing the airport out. You judge.

Fact 5. Blaine field was closed for land development. Period. And 2500 feet of runway is very viable and not at all uncommon. I’ll be back.

Jack Krause, Shelton
 

Hupp in his most recent comments asserts the Port has “legal obligations to protect the airport”. Actually, the Port’s primary legal obligation and the purpose of its very existence, as stated in its charter, is that of promoting economic development. Economic development, in turn, is crucial to survival of the airport. Without economic development and growth in the region, the airport will suffer the slow death other airports around the state have experienced due to the negative economics of the increasing costs of airport operation, maintenance and insurance. If Mr. Hupp and his associates stick to their current path of obstructing economic development, the result will be zero airplanes flying over zero homes.
Most significantly, it has not been proven that any residential development we may propose is “inappropriate” or will harm the airport in any way. All noise impact studies to date prepared both by consultants for the City of Shelton, as well as the Port itself, show that the airport and residential development on our property will be compatible with each other. The Growth Management Hearings Board has already rejected the Port’s claims of safety and other concerns. Indeed, the Growth Board has been careful to emphasize that it has not concluded there is any incompatibility between the airport and our development. Mr. Hupp is simply voicing an opinion without the facts to back it up.
Mr. Hupp says we “already have substantial residential zoning” to build homes. To say that we already have substantial residential acreage is not much different than us saying that he already has substantial airspace. Mr. Hupp would like you to think that pilots can only fly in a very restricted “traffic pattern” over the homes we intend to build. But as he well knows this is not the case. Airplanes fly in all directions around the airport, not just over our property I have flown into Sanderson Field many times in a private plane, and never once have I flown over our property. The pilot has always flown straight into the runway and then straight out.
As Mr. Hupp points out, we already have substantial residential acreage (zoned to accommodate at least a thousand homes) in the same “traffic pattern”, as is most all of northerly Shelton. This zoning was in place at the time the overlay zone was adopted. Mr. Hupp claims the adoption of the overlay zone, which he supported, was “based on the zoning” then in existence. His current opposition to homes in this area is inconsistent and nonsensical. If we build on the already zoned acreage, those residents will not complain, but if we build on rezoned acreage they will complain? The fact is our project as proposed is absolutely consistent with the overlay zone designed to protect the airport. But now Mr. Hupp wants to change the rules of the game and ignore the overlay zoning which was put in place to provide certainty landowners could rely on.
If there is any “fog of misinformation” in this debate, it is emanating from the Port of Shelton. Mr. Hupp seeks “veto power” over decisions about property that fall under the traffic pattern. Yet, the Port’s actions prove it is not the right entity to make these decisions. Instead, the authority to make land use decisions lies, as it should, with the elected officials of the City of Shelton, who are accountable to the citizens of Shelton. Can you imagine if the railroad had veto power over land use decisions within earshot of the railway?
Mr. Hupp provides more misrepresentation by stating that the “Western Washington Growth Management Board has twice agreed with the Port’s position.” Readers should be clear on what is really going on with the litigation. The Port has mounted a legal challenge against us and the City, at a very substantial cost to local taxpayers, and in this challenge they have argued on numerous issues of both substantive and procedural grounds. At the present time, the Port of Shelton has lost all arguments of substance, including those of noise impacts and compatibility of uses, in front of the Growth Board. The only outstanding issue is strictly procedural in nature, and we are presently working to cure the procedural defect.
One other little fact about the Port’s “traffic pattern”: historically the pattern that Hupp refers to was located north of the runway, on the opposite side from the City of Shelton to the south. This was the “traffic pattern” in place when we bought our property and when the overlay zone was established. It was only when the Port attracted the Kapowsin Air skydiving company that the Port unilaterally shifted the traffic pattern to the south over our lands and most of northern Shelton, without consulting with us or the City of Shelton. They shifted the pattern to the south so that parachutes had a nice clear field to land in, un-encumbered by air traffic, on the north side of the runway. Irony is an understatement to observe the Port now fighting to protect what they perceive to be a problem, when they themselves created it.
So if one were to believe the hysteria coming from the Port of Shelton, our project will cause the airport to close down.. And I might travel to Mars before I leave this life. I might even start my Journey from Sanderson Field. I face a lot of risk in my line of work, and speaking from that perspective, I would say the odds of these events actually occurring are about even.

Mark Hall, Shelton Hills

Alice wa enjoying a wonderful warm summer afternoon in her garden. The soft breeZe, filtered sunlight and sweet flower perfume were making her sleepy. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice a the edge of the garden. The March Hare was hurring by in an agitated way muttering, "Poor, poor , poor", and then stopping. He was trying to carry a dictionary and a thesarus while tyring to balance a large pile of papers. When he stopped, he scratched out something on the top sheet saying "No, no, no". After writing something down he continued on at an accelerated speed still mumbling. Alice jumped up and folllowed him. Once again he went to the hole by a certain tree, Alice could never find it on her own, and quickly jumped in. Alice followed and again fell and fell and fell until she landed on the dictionary the March Hare had lost. He went through a door. Alice approached it and read. "Please enter quietly and take a seat." Alice obeyed and found herself in a classroom. There were many people seated in front of a podium. The Cheshire Cat sat in the first row. He kept trying to make some convoluted explanation about his actions on something, but kept disappearing and reappearing. Next to him was the Mad Hatter who was making profound statements that no one paid any attention to except the person next to him who agreed with everthing and kept bobbing his head up and down. A side door opened and a very professorial looking caterpillar made his way to the podium. He wore a waist coat with a very large watch, spectacles and carried a huge red pen. The March Hare gave the pile of papers to him and he began to read and mark the papers in red. He then spoke. "All of you are commanded to take a letter wiritng class 101, before sending more letters to the editor Apparently upi have mot learned the three basic rules when composing a letter. Number one: Lookup words in the dictionary or thesarurs so you understand what they mean. Two: Make sure you have your information correct.
Three: Don't make accusations you can't substantiate.

"One Letter has been chosen as an example of what not to do. The writer used the word 'anarachist' which is defined as "one who believes all forms of government interfer unjustly with individual liberty and advocates terrorism to overthrow organized government." He also uses the word vilifying meaning to use abusive and slanderous language about or to revile or defame or to spread false and harmful statements about another. "The objects of this tirade are a group of citizens actively trying to monitor local government Port activities, who he calls "Cave People" These are people living in Mason County who are concerned about open and transparent government. These so called "CAVE People" are not against government, but to make it honest. They want to be involved it as is their right in a democracy. They have not provoked anarchy, vilified anyone or slandered any one. And no proof was given in this letter of such actions. There are no facts to back up these allegations. "

He then said " This letter is graded as a D-. Actually, it is slanderous which means 'The uttererance in the presence of another person of a false statement or statements, damaging to a third person's character or reputation' A rather portly man in the back of the room grew more and more re in the face and started to say something, but having received a very severe look from the caterpillar held back an did a big "Ha-rumph" and stopped out of the room. The cattrerpilar then said , "Take this to heart and learn from it. Class dismissed."

Alice also left and mused as she made her way home, "Strange things happen in Wonderland, but they always have a truth to be learned."
THE END