Field Regina Northrop Neighborhood Group

Ward 11 Update

Jul 19, 2002

by Council Member Scott Benson

New Noise Contours
At a May hearing, the Metropolitan Airports Commission voted to withdraw the noise-contour lines that were submitted for approval to the FAA and to redraw the lines based on perceived changes in the amount of air traffic and carriers' fleet mixes. This action was taken in spite of the fact that Northwest Airlines (NWA) admits they will be up to 95 percent of their pre-9/11 traffic by later this summer and NWA's statements that they will continue to rely on the older and noisier DC-9s rather than purchasing newer, quieter airplanes.

McKinsey Report
On June 14, McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm, released the results of a six-month study about better ways to manage the development operations of the city. The full report and related information are available on the city Web site: www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/news/communitydevelopment. The study identified several major issues to improve development in the city. To correct these problems, McKinsey recommends three broad changes be made as part of an integrated package they hope can be adopted and implemented within the next 18 months. Public discussion has started. See the Web site for information on how to participate.

Graffiti Update
The City was hit hard with graffiti the first two months of the year. It is mostly due to our mild winter. For this first quarter of the year, the City was down 43 incidents (4.3 percent decrease in graffiti), but the call load from the graffiti hotline increased by 1,017 calls for the same period.

If you have questions or comments or want to learn about something more in depth, please feel free to email me at scott.benson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us or call my office at 673-2211. I am planning to start an electronic newsletter. If you would like to receive this update, please e-mail me and put the words "E-mail Update" in the subject line.