Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A memo from the FAA says the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan
Airport in Broomfield has had the most safety incidents than
any other airport in the country.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The Mayor of Superior sounding the alarm when it comes
to rising concerns about our MMA and joining us now
in the KA Common Spirit Health Hotline is the mayor
of Superior. It's Mark Lisis. Mister mayor, appreciate you coming
on with us this morning. What concerns have you shared
about the airport and when it comes to this FAA report, Well, good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Morning, thanks for having me. We've been having issues with
this airport for a number of years. We've had residents
that have been complaining about the noise and the lad pollution,
but safety issues have always been paramount. And you know,
we're questioning what can be done because unfortunately the airport
is not taking any accountability or ownership for the problem
that they have.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Cost.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, mister mayor, when you talk about what can be done,
is there things that can be done on a local
or state level, or is this changes that need to
be done with the FAA's assistance.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, let me.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Put it clearly, Jefferson owns this airport. And the Border
County Commissioners for Jefferson County are responsible for causing this problem.
I'll put it this way. My house sleeps a family
of four comfortably. If I rented my house to twenty
five to thirty people, it'd be bursting at the seams.
My neighbors would be complaining. They'd certainly notice the same
(01:18):
thing as happened at the airport. The Jefferson County Border
County Commissioners has aggressively grown this airport least every square
inch of land to as many flight schools as possible,
and now the FAA is concluding that they lead the
nation in potentially significant events including runway incursions and airborne
safety incidents. There've already been a number of fatalities from
(01:39):
crash crashes this year, and at the end of the day,
flight training operations are incompatible with densely populated residential areas.
So this is a problem of the Jefferson County Commissioner's
creation and they could fix it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So basically, not to put too fine of a point
on it, you're saying, the airport was built for a
different set of uses, and now it's overcrowded in the
use as it's for, and that's part of the issue.
It's like it was built truly as a small commuter airport,
but it's not that anymore one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
We have coexisted with this airport for decades without any problem.
Over the past three to four years after the aggressive
expansion from the county, the more these flight schools to
make Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport a destination for flight training
operations in the country. All of a sudden, we have crashes,
All of a sudden, we have noise complaints, All of
(02:31):
a sudden, we have these airborne safety incidents that the
FAA is now sounding the alarm on as well. So
this is totally a problem due to the congested airspace
that they have themselves caused.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
In your opinion, what would you like to see as
a short term solution, maybe the fewer flight schools like
you're mentioning, and then what could possibly be a long
term solution in order to ease some of the concerns
about the airport.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I think as a policy matter, the FAA can
and should conclude that flight training operations shouldn't be happening
over densely populated areas. That's common sense. We don't have
flight training operations over downtown Denver. We don't have them
over downtown Colorado, springs over over Boulder. They shouldn't be
over densely populated residential areas. We've got a lot of
(03:19):
land in the state, and there are landing shields that
are able to accommodate these training operations.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
And then if there's a safety incident.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Where somebody needs to ditch into a field, they can
do so safely without landing on a school or a house.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Is this some money move you think by Jeffco. They
are expanding this because they're taking the money from these
schools and operators that want to use it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, not only are they getting money from the schools
from the leases, but they're getting money from the FAA.
The FAA gives grants based on the number of operations
that an airport has, and so Jeffco Has been able
to artificially inflate the size of their airport from these
training operations and get more money from the FAA to
(04:03):
fund their runway projects, their.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Taxiway projects, or hanger projects.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So they are benefiting from this growth substantially.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Mary lisis with the minute we have left and speaking
of money pivoting topics here, talking a little bit about
your overall reaction to Excel Energy. And that's six hundred
and forty million dollar settlement that we saw over the
Marshall Fire. What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Well, you know the Marshall Fire and December thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Of twenty twenty one was the most destructive wildfire in
Colorado history. Here in Superior, we lost one out of
every seven homes. Trials are difficult. I'm a lawyer by
trade that they take a lot of time, money, and effort.
They're always uncertain. You don't know what the jury is
going to do. And settlement, whether you like it or not,
provides certainty and allows people to move on and gives
(04:48):
them closure. So I think that this is an important
moment in the healing and recovery process and allows people
to get some money and be able to rebuild and
continue to move on with their lives.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And I know it doesn't change the reality. But are
you bothered or troubled that Excel doesn't have to admit
any accountability or culpability for what happened?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Well, I mean they're certainly paying a lot of money,
So I'll let that speak for itself.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
The Mayor of Superior It's Mark Laces. Thank you so
much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Thank you for having me
A memo from the FAA says the Rocky Mountain Metropolitan
Airport in Broomfield has had the most safety incidents than
any other airport in the country.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
The Mayor of Superior sounding the alarm when it comes
to rising concerns about our MMA and joining us now
in the KA Common Spirit Health Hotline is the mayor
of Superior. It's Mark Lisis. Mister mayor, appreciate you coming
on with us this morning. What concerns have you shared
about the airport and when it comes to this FAA report, Well, good.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Morning, thanks for having me. We've been having issues with
this airport for a number of years. We've had residents
that have been complaining about the noise and the lad pollution,
but safety issues have always been paramount. And you know,
we're questioning what can be done because unfortunately the airport
is not taking any accountability or ownership for the problem
that they have.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Cost.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Yeah, mister mayor, when you talk about what can be done,
is there things that can be done on a local
or state level, or is this changes that need to
be done with the FAA's assistance.
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, let me.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Put it clearly, Jefferson owns this airport. And the Border
County Commissioners for Jefferson County are responsible for causing this problem.
I'll put it this way. My house sleeps a family
of four comfortably. If I rented my house to twenty
five to thirty people, it'd be bursting at the seams.
My neighbors would be complaining. They'd certainly notice the same
(01:18):
thing as happened at the airport. The Jefferson County Border
County Commissioners has aggressively grown this airport least every square
inch of land to as many flight schools as possible,
and now the FAA is concluding that they lead the
nation in potentially significant events including runway incursions and airborne
safety incidents. There've already been a number of fatalities from
(01:39):
crash crashes this year, and at the end of the day,
flight training operations are incompatible with densely populated residential areas.
So this is a problem of the Jefferson County Commissioner's
creation and they could fix it.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So basically, not to put too fine of a point
on it, you're saying, the airport was built for a
different set of uses, and now it's overcrowded in the
use as it's for, and that's part of the issue.
It's like it was built truly as a small commuter airport,
but it's not that anymore one hundred percent.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
We have coexisted with this airport for decades without any problem.
Over the past three to four years after the aggressive
expansion from the county, the more these flight schools to
make Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport a destination for flight training
operations in the country. All of a sudden, we have crashes,
All of a sudden, we have noise complaints, All of
(02:31):
a sudden, we have these airborne safety incidents that the
FAA is now sounding the alarm on as well. So
this is totally a problem due to the congested airspace
that they have themselves caused.
Speaker 1 (02:44):
In your opinion, what would you like to see as
a short term solution, maybe the fewer flight schools like
you're mentioning, and then what could possibly be a long
term solution in order to ease some of the concerns
about the airport.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Well, I think as a policy matter, the FAA can
and should conclude that flight training operations shouldn't be happening
over densely populated areas. That's common sense. We don't have
flight training operations over downtown Denver. We don't have them
over downtown Colorado, springs over over Boulder. They shouldn't be
over densely populated residential areas. We've got a lot of
(03:19):
land in the state, and there are landing shields that
are able to accommodate these training operations.
Speaker 4 (03:25):
And then if there's a safety incident.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
Where somebody needs to ditch into a field, they can
do so safely without landing on a school or a house.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Is this some money move you think by Jeffco. They
are expanding this because they're taking the money from these
schools and operators that want to use it.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
Well, not only are they getting money from the schools
from the leases, but they're getting money from the FAA.
The FAA gives grants based on the number of operations
that an airport has, and so Jeffco Has been able
to artificially inflate the size of their airport from these
training operations and get more money from the FAA to
(04:03):
fund their runway projects, their.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Taxiway projects, or hanger projects.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
So they are benefiting from this growth substantially.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Mary lisis with the minute we have left and speaking
of money pivoting topics here, talking a little bit about
your overall reaction to Excel Energy. And that's six hundred
and forty million dollar settlement that we saw over the
Marshall Fire. What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Well, you know the Marshall Fire and December thirty.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
Of twenty twenty one was the most destructive wildfire in
Colorado history. Here in Superior, we lost one out of
every seven homes. Trials are difficult. I'm a lawyer by
trade that they take a lot of time, money, and effort.
They're always uncertain. You don't know what the jury is
going to do. And settlement, whether you like it or not,
provides certainty and allows people to move on and gives
(04:48):
them closure. So I think that this is an important
moment in the healing and recovery process and allows people
to get some money and be able to rebuild and
continue to move on with their lives.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And I know it doesn't change the reality. But are
you bothered or troubled that Excel doesn't have to admit
any accountability or culpability for what happened?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Well, I mean they're certainly paying a lot of money,
So I'll let that speak for itself.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
The Mayor of Superior It's Mark Laces. Thank you so
much for your time this morning.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Thank you for having me
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