The City Council last night approved a plan to retrofit 27 homes near the southeast runway of the Long Beach Airport with sound-reducing insulation, leaving some homeowners near the northwest runway upset according to this article by the Press-Telegram‘s Paul Eakins, who explains the situation thusly:
The QuieterHome Program will retrofit the homes with sound-insulating treatments such as acoustic windows, new exterior doors, caulking and sealing of gaps, attic insulation, mechanical ventilation, and upgrades to or installation of air conditioning systems.
The noise contour map, which was created by the Federal Aviation Administration based on data from 18 noise monitors around the airport, outlines areas that averaged 65 decibels or higher from aircraft noise in 2008. Normal conversation is about 60 decibels, 70 decibels is the equivalent of a vacuum cleaner, and noises louder than 80 decibels are considered potentially hazardous, according to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
Last night, all the Council was doing was approve the plan created by the FAA to fund retrofitting for homes that it had identified itself as being affected by the aircraft noise. If there is a desire to outfit homes northwest of the airport with the same materials, it will need to come from the City’s general fund – and we all know how that looks at the moment (it will cost $2.8 million to provide the upgrades to the 27 homes selected). Still, isn’t it odd to provide the service to homes on the southeasterly “landing” side and not the northwesterly “takeoff” side?
A website with more information on the Quieter Home Program will be launched today and letters will be sent to those homes who qualify for the funding, according to airport spokesperson Sharon Diggs-Jackson in a phone interview this morning.
The Council did not reach decisions on either the issue of borrowing more money from the Harbor Department to be included in the Tidelands Fund, nor the issue of instituting Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) during next April’s election.
CLARIFICATION: The $2.8 million in funding for the program will be provided by a “passenger facility charge,” an additional fee that is assessed to travelers who use the Long Beach Airport, according to Diggs-Jackson. The money is not provided directly by the City or taxpayers.
UPDATE: Here’s the Quieter Home Program website (click here).