By LEONARD GRAY

AMA – It took a little longer, but Ama residents had their say at a recent meeting arranged by St. Charles Parish Councilman Brian Fabre regarding a proposed runway expansion of Louis Armstrong International Airport.

The message local residents delivered was clear.

“Nobody wants to be uprooted,” said resident Nelida Harris. “Retirees don’t want to be moved. Take it somewhere else.”

The forum, held April 26 at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Ama, was arranged by the Federal Aviation Administration to piggyback on three other scheduled public hearings, held April 23-25.

In a letter to residents, Fabre referred to a March 5 meeting, planned for Ama residents to voice their concerns, and stated: “I was unable to attend this meeting because I was in Washington D.C. meeting with our Congressional delegation discussing this very matter. I was unaware that the FAA had made these arrangements, and have taken steps to ensure that all the residents of Ama will be afforded an opportunity to adequately share their views and concerns regarding this important issue.”

The forum attracted an estimated 130 residents to the historic church.

Jimmy Breaux said jets flying over Ama would degrade property and make the community a ghost town.

“No matter how good it is, we don’t want it,” Breaux said.

The meeting drew several local officials, including Parish Council members Terry Authement, Dee Abadie and G. “Ram” Ramchandran. Michael Rose, senior associate with Booz Allen & Hamilton Inc. was joined by Joyce M. Potter of the FAA in making the presentation and answering questions.

Parish President Albert Laque echoed the residents’ sentiments and said, “So far as I’m concerned, until they can convince St. Rose and Ama this is a good project, I’m opposed to it.”

The planned project directly affecting the parish is a north-south runway, to be located entirely in St. Charles Parish, just north of James Business Park.

The project could be completed in the next 10 or 11 years, even calculating the closing of the railroad and accounting for lawsuits, Rose added.

“The bottom line is, this is not a done deal,” Rose said.

The FAA is preparing to draft an environmental impact statement on proposed developments to address future air traffic demands.

The runway is under consideration because the present north-south runway is considered too close to the Airport Access Road and to Interstate 10.

“A new air carrier runway would correct this difficulty, reduce delay during peak periods when the airport is experiencing poor visibility, and provide more flexibility during all weather conditions,” according to an FAA newsletter about the forums.

Placing a runway there, however, could prompt relocation of hundreds of St. Rose families and increase jet noise, especially over St. Rose and Ama.

Rose quickly dismissed the so-called Monteleone proposal for a massive airport complex in the LaBranche Wetlands adjoining Jefferson Parish as one not under FAA consideration.

One project, Alternate One, under consideration for 20 years, would have overflown the north end of Kenner adjoining the lake. Kenner residents protested vehemently and the project was shifted to a more parallel route along the parish line into Alternate Two, still under consideration.

Alternate Three involved construction of a new east-west runway in the area south of Airline Drive, but Rose dismissed the notion, as it would raise “environmental justice” issues.

Alternate Four, building a new east-west runway north of the present airport, would mean removing residents and businesses from the area between the airport and Interstate 10, is now considered “not feasible,” according to Rose.

Abadie commented the possibility remains that New Orleans, which owns the airport, could sell it to the state, which would have the authority to expropriate the land for the new runway and override the parish government.

However, Fabre said the state is much more interested in the Louisiana Airport Authority project for a regional cargo airport, which is now completing an FAA-funded site selection study, due out this summer.

Meanwhile, at Breaux’s prompting, Fabre agreed to form a citizens’ committee to hold regular meetings on the project, and meeting with Aviation Board representative Henry Smith and the parish Planning and Zoning Department to keep residents informed of any developments.

“And I’ll make you chairman of it,” Fabre told Breaux.

The meeting had a light moment when it was briefly interrupted by jets flying over, drowning out the speakers.

“I’m not used to it,” Rose commented. “I’m sensitive.”