20210872 Ver 1_Pre-Filing Meeting Information_20210426

Pre -Application Meeting Summary — Foothills Regional Airport Partial
Parallel Taxiway
Attendees: Sue Homewood (NC Division of Water Resources — Dept of Env. Quality), Amanda Jones
(USACE-Asheville), Brandee Boggs (USACE-Asheville), Amy Amino (USACE-Asheville), Pat
Turney (Talbert, Bright & Ellington), Chris Daves (S&ME, Inc.), and Brent Brinkley (Foothills)
Summary By: Chris Daves — S&ME, Inc.
Cc: Brent Brinkley, Foothills Regional Airport
Date: January 16, 2020
Project ID: SAW-2017-01033
Subject: Individual Permit Discussion for Stream/Wetland Impacts
Conference Room
At 10:30 AM on January 16, 2020, a Pre -Application meeting was conducted at the Foothills Regional Airport
terminal conference room. Staff from the appropriate permitting agencies (USACE, NC DWR)for 404/401 impact
decisions were invited to discuss the future plans for a partial parallel taxiway at the airport. The following major
items were discussed during the meeting:
S&ME — An Environmental Assessment (EA) had previously been prepared by TBE for the project and
was granted a FONSI by the FAA in April 2018. USACE indicated this would be helpful to include as
some of the items would need to be addressed in their NEPA EA process.
USACE (Amanda Jones) - Alternatives would be similar but would vary slightly in the number of
different alternatives investigated. Since the project is relatively straightforward in terms of where a
taxiway should go, it would not be challenging to explain why the project was needed and where it
needs to be located.
USACE (alternatives) — Consider the selection criteria for the project; steeper slopes the better to avoid
additional impacts but might not apply to this project due to stream/wetland locations. Use opposite
side of runway? Turnaround point shorter possible? Leaving stream in place and jump over?
TBE — Impacts to 1,500-1,800 LF of streams were possible, but engineering techniques and
methodology was still in the planning stages. A combination of piped stream and leaving the
remaining northern ends of the streams daylighted was mentioned as the likely site plan. Per
agencies, only piped portions would be considered impact and need compensatory mitigation.
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USACE (Amanda Jones) - Check for mitigation banks on RIBITS for compensatory mitigation needs,
but use DMS ILF program if none available. Suggested updating DMS letter since old one was about
to expire.
USACE (Amanda Jones) — asked if previous studies had been done regarding ESA, JD, and Section 106:
Answer was YES and these were included in EA/FONSI. Protected species assessment had been
completed and USFWS responded with concurrence. Previous JD was issued by William Elliott. Nearby
cemetery would be avoided with no archaeological sites noted in cultural survey.
USACE (Amanda Jones) — suggested providing a brief history of the airport.
NC DWR (Sue Homewood) — all construction should be done in the dry to avoid downstream impacts.
Discussion between TBE and Ms. Homewood included stormwater requirements/post construction for
airport project. TBE to look into. SH requested inclusion of way the stream will be protected during
construction. Sediment and erosion control was important to water quality. Length, slope, and size of
pipe requested if known.
USACE and NC DWR on General IP Questions — 6 months typical, 30-day public notice, Joint process,
Mailing labels or spreadsheet for adjoining property owners would be helpful. Get all adjoining
property owners, not just ones that directly touch the impact area, is needed as airport activities could
change on property as a result of the agencies permitting the impacts.
Field Visit
Following the conference room meeting, attendees visited the project area to observe the stream/wetland areas
to be potentially impacted. Discussions included the potential to lessen the mitigation ratio for streams (2:1 to 1:1)
based on the condition of the features.
Per visual and tactile observations, the streams had minor impacts due to sediment and prior straightening but
had intact biological/in-stream macrobenthos as well as crayfish/salamanders. Unless NCSAM/NCWAM sheets
stated otherwise, default ratio was 2:1.
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