The city of Westminster will stay on course and remain a member of a group charged with bringing the noise complaints from neighbors to managers at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport.
But the city’s continued support of the RMMA’s Community Noise Roundtable appears shaky at best as does the continued existence of the panel.
Councilor Amber Hott repeated a persistent complaint about the effectiveness of the CNR at a council work session Monday night. Noise from by low-flying aircraft operating at the airport persist while the facility brings on more and more aircraft.
“The airport continues to grow flight schools,” Hott said. “While we have a voice on the (CNR), the noise problems continue to get worse.”
A slim majority of councilors Monday night voted to stay on the roundtable, which meets Thursday. However, the panel could be disbanded altogether by its members at that same meeting.
In March, the Broomfield city council voted unanimously to pull out of the roundtable. Broomfield officials also said they would vote to dissolve the eight-member group should it come to a vote on Thursday.
“What concerns me is that Broomfield wants out and lot of our constituents want us to leave,” Hott said. “Clearly, the (CNR) is not providing any value to our residents.”
The CNR was formed to allow local government officials from Jefferson, Boulder, and Broomfield counties to address noise concerns.
Westminster left the roundtable in 2022 but later returned. In January, some city councilors said they wanted to abandon organization again, saying the roundtable has done little to quiet the noise from stop-and-go air traffic at the airport.
Councilors also targeted the expense of maintaining membership on the roundtable, which was $12,000 in 2023. This year, it will cost Westminster $3,600 to stay as a member.
The early 2024 bid failed by a 4-3 vote.
Councilor Obi Ezeadi said Westminster could form working groups with other communities to take on complaints of noisy aircraft from RMMA that also spew lead fuel on homes and schools.
“We need to try something new,” Ezeadi said. “We need a change.”
Other councilors worried Westminster could lose influence with the FAA if it left the roundtable.
The city council’s representative on the roundtable – David DeMott – bristled at the suggestion the CNR has done little to abate noise. Progress has been made but it’s a slow process, he said.
“I know, I am a small government guy,” DeMott said. “But I’ve seen the hard work that has gone into this…we’ve been diligent to make this work.”
DeMott also said Monday he would resign from his slot on the CNR if the council told him to vote Thursday to remove Westminster as a member.
“I am not going to be the one to take that voice away,” DeMott told the councilors. “You guys can figure out who is going to deliver that message on Thursday.”