Class action lawsuit settlement rankles City officials

(The following is a statement from Andrea Jenkins, policy aide to City Council Member Elizabeth Glidden.)

After years of hedging on their obligation to protect people from airport noise pollution, lawyers for the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) have now negotiated a backroom deal with the attorneys for the class-action lawsuit. The class-action lawsuit is separate from the lawsuit filed by the cities of Minneapolis, Richfield and Eagan and the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority.
Because the deal was drafted without any input from the City of Minneapolis, and we have only recently been provided a summary of the deal, we know very little about it.

Here is what we know:
No homes would be eligible for the full 5db noise reduction package that was the basis of noise mitigation efforts to this point.

Using the best numbers we have, the city estimates that only 54 percent of the 8,100 affected homes (approx. 4,400 homes) would be eligible for any of the limited noise protection options from the MAC:
At most, 21 percent (1,760) of the 8,100 affected homes would be eligible for the maximum protection available which is air conditioning and $1,750 for certain limited noise insulation options.

The rest of the eligible homes (approx. 2640 with air conditioning, would receive $9,250 for certain limited noise insulation options. By MAC estimates this is less than one quarter the average cost of the full 5 db noise reduction package.
By our estimates, 46 percent of the 8,100 affected homes (approx. 3,700 homes) in Minneapolis, Richfield and Eagan would not get any protection from the MAC – now or in the future.

Since the Cities case is separate from the class-action suit, Judge Aldrich has asked the Cities of Minneapolis, Richfield and Eagan to develop our own settlement proposal to reflect what we believe is a fair settlement. In order to help develop what that settlement should look like, we need your input. Do you think that the proposed settlement outlined above is fair? What do you think a settlement should look like?

Please e-mail Elizabeth.glidden@ci.minneapolis.mn.us or call the 8th Ward office at 612-673-2208 with your suggestions and ideas.

Your input is urgently needed!