 |
| Fritz Flying field in Beulah, home of the NorthWest Florida Modeler's RC flying club since 2004 |
The term dogfight refers to aerial combat between two aviators. Full Disclosure: I'm using extreme hyperbole here when I describe the ongoing strife between a handful of neighbors in Nature Trail and the NW Florida Modeler's RC Airplane flying club over noise levels as a "dogfight"--obviously nobody is engaged in combat, nobody is dying. Not being literal here....
But lately, there has been tension. And it is reaching a boiling point. Yet to their joint credit--members of the RC club and the handful of Nature Trail residents that are upset have engaged in dialogue and have tried to reach a compromise.
They even reached a tentative, informal, "back of a bar napkin" written agreement in April of 2016--which until very recently has maintained the peace between the opposing sides. I believe this is due,
 |
| "Written agreement" between two Nature Trail residents and the president of the NorthWest Florida modelers RC Flying Club. |
in part, to the fact that activities at this field until recently had been halted due to a bridge on the property over 11-Mile creek being washed out and unusable until it was repaired recently by the county. Now that the bridge has been repaired, activities at the field have resumed full speed and the neighbors are upset.
The NW Florida Modeler's club has utilized a small air strip located in Beulah off of Jamesville lane for various model flying events for the last 14 years (construction of residential housing in Nature Trail began several years after the RC club began flying their aircraft at Fritz Field). The area is large, open, and conducive to this type of activity. I went out to the field yesterday, I took pictures of the area and I took readings of the sound levels at the corner of the property adjacent to Nature Trail.
The loudest reading I picked up, at the edge of the property County's property line was 73 decibels. (I estimate the distance from the edge of the field's property line to the first of the houses in Nature Trail to be 100 150 yards.) The average reading I picked up, even as the planes were flying, was 60 decibels.
I spoke to a representative of the club yesterday at the property. "We're good people out here, we are trying to be respectful of the neighbors--but they are trying to shut us down and that's not right."
A resident I spoke with from Nature Trail, one of the residents that has reached out to work with the club in the hopes of working a compromise, contacted me Saturday and Sunday to let me know that the club was not living up to the agreement about starting times for flying.
 |
| The average decibel reading from my visit yesterday to the corner of the Fritz Field property, was 60 dB |
"They are violating the rules. They began flying before 9:00 AM Saturday and the airplanes are already flying at 8:15 today [Sunday]"... "Two days in a row they fly before 9:00 AM. The club just does what they want and nothing happens."
I called the club president this morning to ask him about why they started flying before 9:00 AM today, Sunday. Initially, I got no answer. Later in the morning I did get a call back from the President who said that he would talk to the club about why they started earlier than 9:00AM. "When we made that deal we did it under duress" he stated. "We had to give in on every demand because we thought the County was going to shut us down if we didn't give in to all of these demands..."
My intention going forward, because I believe a solution can be brokered that allows both parties to amicably coexist, is to have our Administrator and also our Director of Parks and recreation sit down with these two residents and the club members representatives to hammer-out an enforceable agreement that is fair and reasonable.
I think this can be accomplished.
That's what I'm going to do.
.
17 comments:
I would not mind being a public servant but there is no way I could put up with the people myself, seriously.
As a Club Officer I can tell you that both Bob Ferguson and Justin Farrier of Nature Trail were told that any agreements made while under direction of the Landfill Authority are null and void. The model park came under direct control of Escambia Co. Parks and Rec. just last year while the bridge was being repaired. Everything you saw out there yesterday was a direct result of the same complaintants. They agreed that this reconstruction of the whole place would correct the problem. Now they want more? And by simply contacting you, made you decide to call Charles this morning and tell him 9am start? That paper napkin means nothing Jeff and you know it. The use agreement with Escambia County that we are operating on states 7:30am to dark. We adopted the 8am start time on our own just to be good neighbors. Why do 147 clubmember/taxpaying citizen voices fall short of two Nature Trail resident voices? Help me explain this to my 6 year old why the Government treats certain people differently and without investigation into what is really happening? This has been going on for a long time Jeff. It is ridiculous and has become nothing more than a vendetta. Is this what would happen if someone moved in next to a ballfeild and didnt like the sound of the game. 8am is not too early for us to start when at any minute someone in that neighborhood can start a lawnmower or a power blower right outside thier window. Construction and all the noises that come with it can start at 7am. No rules about lawn care, both of which are much louder and more constant than anything we do at Fritz Field any day. Please reconsider your position on our starting time or at least consider a compromise of 8:30am. Give us something man instead of the cobnstant taking we have dealt with.
And what about that bridge ? Hmmm
What ever happened to Caveat Emptor? Let the buyer beware? That club was flying there long before those houses were built. I am very familiar with the "negotiations". This was all one sided and not reasonable. The final agreement to flip the field was their idea, not the club. The club was told that would solve all the problems. Decisions were made and costs were incurred, now this! It is my understanding the HOA is not supporting the complainers. This club is VERY active in our community. They participate in Relay For Life, Toys for Tots, Veterans Flight, and almost anything they are asked to help with. Many are retired veterans who love the hobby. This is the best option for a closed landfill and is probably the best RC park within 150 miles. Professional aviators have spoken before the Commission in support of the field and its location. Please be reasonable.
I totally agree with the above comments as they are 100% factual. I am a long time club member and citizen of Escambia County for over twenty years.
Fact: Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Farrier agreed with all parties involved in a face to face meeting that the huge expenditure and labor intensive project which is now underway based in part upon their agreement to "flip" the field so that all flying is done to the south of the field and thus much further away from the homes would be sufficient and met their approval for a "compromise" to resume normal Escambia Model Park activities.
Fact: Mr. Ferguson and Mr. Farrier have stated in the past that "any noises we can hear from our homes are unacceptable".
Fact: I can run my chainsaw, weed eater, mower, power washer, or any other yard equipment at any time if I was either of these gentlemen's neighbor in Nature Trail as long as I met the Escambia County noise ordinances. These ordinance FAR exceed those sought by these gentlemen.
Fact: They have never noted that the vast majority of time there is zero activity at the park and thus zero "noise". The park is typically used on weekends and on occasion a member or two might use it for a couple of hours during the week.
They have never had any intent to accept our activities at the field. Never. They are the only two that ever show up and complain and "negotiate" each and every time in bad faith and apparently have nothing better to do than devote their lives to this cause.
A 0730 start time as has always been in the use agreement is the correct time to approve as it falls in line with other County parks with operating hours beginning as early as 0600 and as late as 0800.
It is my recollection that you, Mr Bergosh, performed sound assessments at the field yourself this past Saturday. It is also my recollection that you requested that a model be flown at full throttle in the northwest corner of the field for sound assessments...an area that we will
never be flying in and are forbidden from flying in due to proximity to the homes. Were the homeowners notified first? If not then this action is certainly what caused the immediate complaints resulting in the unneeded and unacceptable change in operating hours. Thoughts?
I also just happened to stop by on Saturday with my kids. We do not fly RC planes, but have been going to Fritz Field for probably a decade. We were excited to see it reopened. EVERYTIME we go, there is someone there that welcomes us and allows my kids to ask questions and get to know more about the hobby. On many occasions, they have even allowed us to "buddy box" and attempt to fly the aircraft along side them. These men are a dying breed as far as I'm concerned. They appear to be genuinely good-willed and enjoy time outdoors away from a television or screen- exactly the direction I want my kids to go. I fully support their mission to continue to keep this airfield alive and growing.
(By the way, the aircraft are pathetically quiet in my opinion. I was impressed on the lengths the club has gone to appease a few disgruntled people that should probably just go ahead and move to East Hill.)
Sir, thank you for taking the time to investigate the goings on at Fritz Field. All the comments above are absolutely true. I do feel that for some reason Mr. Ferrier and Mr. Ferguson will accept nothing less than having the field closed. NFMI has made every concession only to have more and more complaints made against them. Nothing has appeased these two gentlemen. I implore you to research the whole chain of events and the steps NFMI has taken to pacify two people. Yes there were agreements signed (under depress). Flipping the field was Mr. Ferrier and Mr. Ferguson's idea and they agreed that would satisfy them. It is my understanding that they were informed that all past agreements would be voided. Again, please fully investigate the full history before taking action. Thank you.
As 32 year member of the Northwest Florida Modelers I have never seen the likes of the conditions being imposed on the membership of NFMI. We have bent over backwards over the last three years to be good neighbors and every time we give/gave an inch, the two individuals would want more to the extent of closing Fritz field completely. We have been flying at this site for close to two decades now, and even enjoyed the support of the Governor of the state of Florida. Most of our neighbors love and support what we do and how we do it.... This model club supports N.W. Florida by holding fun flies, toys for totes, an open house once a year, we fly and support the relay for life, by holding a flight display at the annual American Cancer Society's walk for life. We sponsor the Civil Air Patrol's annual Rocket and plane flying, and give the cadets a chance to fly model planes and A RC flight Sim, and we hold a annual swap meet that brought folks from at least 4 states.....With all this said Please take a long hard look at giving much weight to a few peoples complaints. I know you saw what kind of a group the we are. Just please know from the track record established by the complainants they will not stop complaining and will always want a little more restriction on us until the field is closed. Please know that if the start time is backed up to 9 AM he will be demanding it be backed up 10 AM very soon..and so on !!! that is how he rolls !!!
“The Napkin” that is pictured was what was agreed upon while a long lasting solution was researched. “The Napkin” was the club’s attempt to move the flying as far as possible from the neighbors PRIOR to the final agreement that was reached. The expensive, time consuming agreement that was reached eliminated “The Napkin” restrictions as the final agreement WHICH WAS PROPOSED BY THE COMPLAINANTS was to flip the entire field layout and to fly to the south of the east/west runway. Thousands of dollars and YEARS of planning are currently being executed as agreed upon so as to remove the “Napkin restrictions” and restore the park to full time use and original hours of operation. The ship has sailed! If not, then the complainants have an $80,000 bill to pay so as to reimburse for monies expended to satisfy THEIR agreed upon requirments which they now are not honoring. We fly nowhere near that neighborhood any more. Sincerely, an angry, tax paying, voter who is passionate about sharing the love for radio control aircraft at the Escambia County Model Park which was designed for exactly that.
So why not change the start time to the normal county park start time? If the club CAN start at 0730, but chooses to wait until 0800, seems like they HAVE already been good neighbors.
"My intention going forward, because I believe a solution can be brokered that allows both parties to amicably coexist, is to have our Administrator and also our Director of Parks and recreation sit down with these two residents and the club members representatives to hammer-out an enforceable agreement that is fair and reasonable."
Both parties DID sit down with the Director of Parks and Recreation quite some time ago after control of the land in question was transferred from the Landfill Department to Parks and Recreation as originally intended. Both parties DID agree to a brokered solution that allows both parties to amicably coexist. What you see happening at Fritz Field today is a result of that agreement. The agreement was/is that IF the entire operation was "flipped" as you saw Saturday then that was acceptable to all parties and the normal/historic hours of operation and design of intended use could once again resume. IF that was not passed along or properly documented due to personnel changes then shame on those that should have fully documented the agreement. That agreement is why you see what you see at Fritz field with thousands of dollars and countless man-hours being invested.
Mr. Ferguson and Farrier have zero intention of letting any of us rest until the field is closed down entirely. They seem to have absolutely nothing to spend their time on but reneging on countless hours of discussion leading to agreements and saying anything needed whether true or not to get the field shut down. Exaggerations and fabrications on their end. Good Lord. When will this saga be done with?!
This isn't a dogfight. I was a Navy Fighter Pilot during Vietnam and after. Dogfights start off even and the better aviator wins. I am a member of NFMI, We won and now you are allowing the other guys a rematch and revert back to nullified "Rules of Engagement". It seems to me that professional politicians, and others, involved with government issues have lost or refuse to employ a concept known as "common sense". Let me enlighten you. Common sense is "Sound judgement in practical matters". Example: Two persons are determining what is occurring at a location almost .25 miles away from their homes, the other persons (from now on called (NFMI) abided by the redesign of the site dictated by Nature Trail Duo with the understanding that we could return to flying as before. Problem solved. Nope.
You are letting them now dictate more or renewed restrictions. Here is the common sense part. The heavy equipment work out there starts at 0730. Pretty loud. A neighbor starts up a lawnmower to beat the heat, work crew is in the neighborhood, a house is under construction on your block for the next 6 months. Are you getting this? Or, maybe this. The Nature Trail Duo have two votes plus a few friends, maybe. We have 147 votes plus maybe 10 friends or relatives or more. That is 1047 votes or more. We want to be practical, use common sense and enjoy our hobby. We are not bothering the Nature Trail Duo. These folks seem to have nothing to do but push your buttons and sit back and watch the show. We have bent over backwards for the Nature Trail Duo and the County Commission. We are now a little irate and frustrated that again, "Common Sense" is not employed in this decision on your part. Read the clause at the top of the napkin.
Everyone needs a hobby. For the members it is flying R/C planes. For Justin Ferrier and Bob Ferguson it appears their hobby is making agreements and then going back to complain again and farther tighten the noose on their prey
Everyone needs a hobby. For the members it is flying R/C planes. For Justin Ferrier and Bob Ferguson it appears their hobby is making agreements and then going back to complain again and farther tighten the noose on their prey
To begin with, there is NO sound ordnance in Escambia county. However we as citizens and taxpayers assume that any standard that is established by the county's leadership will be enforced equally and without bias. If NFMI is required to operated under time and sound restrictions, all county recreational activates should also abide by the same rules. Over the yeas Five Flags Speedway have received HUNDREDS of complaints from many people regarding sound and hours of operation. During Snow Ball Derby week the sound can be heard at Fritz Field, and assumingly Nature Trail as well. It is also the same type of continues noise that was complained about from Nature Trail. However they are grandfathered in due to their long time presents. NFMI has been a community organization since the 60's and have been utilizing Fritz Field for over 15 years. Point being, if Five Flags is grandfathered in, what is the requirement for NFMI to also meet this status ?
http://podcast.newsradio1620.com/post/5293/Gary_Lee_-_Secretary_for_Northwest_Florida_Modelers_Inc..html
Post a Comment