Mark yer calendars for Tuesday, July 7 · 7 pm - 11 pm
Longmont Civic Center 350 Kimbark St., Longmont, CO 80501

The Longmont City Council will hold an Open Forum, in place of the regular city council meeting. At this forum, members of the public may speak to council for five minutes on any topic. If you would like to speak, plan to come early to put your name on the speaker list.
https://longmontcolorado.gov/event/open-forum/2026-07-07/
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 Why Longmont City Council is hesitant to accept FAA money to fix a crumbling airport taxilane
https://www.dailycamera.com/2026/06/28/longmont-city-council-faa-vance-brand-municipal-airport/
The city needs to repair deteriorating pavement at Vance Brand Airport, but some council members worry the federal funding comes with strings attached
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 The 2030 Deadline for unleaded Fuel is final (take that, whiny pilots!)
https://generalaviationnews.com/2026/06/29/2030-unleaded-avgas-deadline-final/
The 2030 sunset for leaded avgas is coming. Discover why the regulatory and supply chain realities make this deadline final—and how it impacts GA.
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This is important! A victory! Federal Judge Denies Flight Schools’ Request to Block Mesa Landing Fees
We have an important update regarding the lawsuit challenging the City of Mesa’s new landing fee program at Falcon Field. On June 23, 2026, the federal judge denied the flight schools’ request for a preliminary injunction, meaning the court will not stop the City of Mesa from moving forward with its landing fee program while the lawsuit continues.
https://www.change.org/p/protect-mesa-neighborhoods-from-flight-school-lead-exposure-and-excessive-noise/u/34878296 
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 Letters: Boulder airport caters to the needs of a privileged few
https://www.dailycamera.com/2026/06/28/letters-boulder-airport-land-use-noise-pollution-lead-fuel/

In regard to Jan Burton’s opinion piece published in the Daily Camera on June 13 on the Boulder Municipal Airport, a few thoughts:

Across the U.S., fewer than 1% of the population holds a private pilot’s license. In Boulder, a city of ~108,000 people, that equates to no more than 300 residents with private pilots’ licenses.

Labeling the airport a “local treasure” is hyperbole (versus, say, The Colorado Chautauqua, which is enjoyed by tens of thousands of residents and nonresidents year-round).

Asking a firefighter whether he views the airport as essential to emergency response is akin to asking Shohei Ohtani if he likes center-cut fastballs. Since 2010, there have been four emergency events where emergency responders leveraged Boulder Municipal Airport as a staging area. The majority of firefighting aircraft (e.g., heavy tankers and helos equipped to address wildfires) are stationed at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield. And, are we truly and seriously addressing anthropogenic climate change, which is magnifying environmental and health risks?

Leaded fuel is still being utilized by planes at Boulder Municipal Airport, and the noise pollution is especially evident if you live on the East side of town. It’s great to think that we could turn Boulder’s airport into an electrified hub and tech-center for aviation but, at this point, it’s just more talk.

Finally, there’s the fear-factor wafted by Ms. Burton that local taxes will automatically increase if we pursue local control. Is this really true, or are there grant options available to offset the costs?

The needs of the privileged few shouldn’t outweigh the needs of the many. Boulder’s City Council should take an intentional, mindful approach to first meeting the basic human needs of residents today and into the future. It’s not rocket science.

David Laskarzewski, Boulder

Longmont declined to support Superior in its noise appeal before the CO Superior Court. Council says city’s role as airport owner sets it apart from neighboring communities backing lawsuit.
https://www.timescall.com/2026/06/24/longmont-superior-airport-lawsuit-faa/

A redux of the meeting last night, by an esteemed colleague: 
After a remarkable exchange, Longmont City Council has tabled the FAA Grant Assurances vote (R-2026-39) until July 14. On July 14 there will also be a pre-session where Council discusses the vision and future of the airport. Important to note that the grant needs to be signed by July 24th, so we're on a tight timeline if we do in fact decide we want the grant money. Also important to note that we get the rates and charges study on July 28th, so we won't have that data in our hands (obviously) on the 14th.

McCoy was especially vocal, among other things, he and Marsing cited DEI language included in the grant wording. Overall Council comments mentioned that we don't yet have our vision for the airport and until we have the rates and charges study, we don't have what we need to make these critical decisions. Popkin made it very clear he wants to take the grant money, he said he had to make it clear to head off his hate mail (presumably from his pilot buddies). Charlie Shilling, Scott Stewart and Kirsten Boes had great public comments. 

This particular grant request is phase 2 of a project where the FAA has already paid for the planning and design of the taxiway. To turn it down, would be very much jumping off a cliff with regard to how the airport operates, so I wouldn't take this pause in a vote as a done deal by any stretch. But I will also say, it is very evident that Council is feeling the weight of complaints they are receiving about the airport.**

 Go to 2:03:25 in the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8tUIK-psEY

Hi Friends, 

I have a bunch of great things to share with you today. All are worth knowing about and sharing with affected neighbors and City Council.

 First of all, we have two fabulous op-eds printed today. Find these and all of the op-eds here.

 Second, the Longmont City Council meeting this Tuesday, June 23 at 7pm, is full of airport stuff. More on that later. 

 Thirdly: curious what the noise impact is in our area? check out noise-map.com.

Wanna know how the pilot groups respond to their known noise impacts? It's what we're living through. Read this to understand the playbook we are up against.

** this also speaks to what airports can do when the noise gets bad... (that we are being told they can not do). Might want to send this to City Council.... 

Also Important to know about: What do we use to fight fires in the area and what airports are they based at? (Hint: not LMO or BDU...)

Hi Folks -- We've got 2 op-eds printed today: 

In other news, this was teed up: Longmont council to consider backing Superior in airport lawsuit -- see more here.

And, then: the Longmont CC had the executive session last night in which they talked about the amicus brief, and ... We'll have to see what happened / was decided when there's a headline on it.

Meanwhile, Lafayette, Broomfield and Louisville signed on to the amicus brief with unanimous votes on their respective councils. 

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Next up: we have two more op-eds submitted on rebuttals to the "you moved next to an airport" comments, and on avigation easements. hopefully we'll see these in a few days. 

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Buckle up buttercups: One of the runways at RMMA is closed for the next couple weeks, so many more flights are coming up this way.

Do what you can to stay sane! As one wise member of this list said: "I bought a great pair of noise cancelling headphones and crank up the Taylor Swift." 

Hi Folks -- 

** if you haven't yet emailed the mayor and council yet, you can cross that off your list. The window has closed. Thanks to those of you who sent notes in. 

 Now, we need to all manifest a very near future reality in which Longmont gets landing fees.  It sounds like the rates and charges study report will be in the hands of council this month.

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In the meantime, Here are some resources on leaded AvGas: 

 You should be aware of the study that showed evaluated the lead blood levels of kids living in proximity to Colorado airports.

And, the CDPHE page.

And, the CDOT fact sheet on the issue. 

I've also included an op-ed from last year.

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Check out this letter to the editor in the Daily Camera about the airport... by a pilot: 

Boulder airport belongs to the community. It is time to act like it.