A federal appeals court is deliberating whether the Federal Aviation Administration followed proper procedure in approving an expansion at Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO) outside Greensboro.

Federal Express wants to establish a hub at GSO to serve the East Coast. Cargo planes would fly into the airport at night, unload and sort cargo, reload the aircraft, and continue to their final destination. FedEx envisions about 24 aircraft a night passing through the hub initially. The number may later grow to as many as 63 planes per night. The company hopes to begin operations in 2007.

FedEx’s plans, however, are contingent upon a major expansion at GSO, including the construction of a 9,000-foot runway parallel to the existing main runway. The FAA, which recently gave its blessing to the proposed expansion, will pick up a substantial portion of the cost.

As is often the case with airport expansions in urban areas, residents around the airfield strongly object to the prospect of increased noise associated with more flights, especially flights during the middle of the night.

A group calling itself The Alliance for Legal Action has appealed the FAA’s approval to the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va. Specifically, the alliance contends that FedEx had too much influence over the FAA’s decision-making process and that the FAA’s analysis does not adequate examine the issue of noise caused by the flights.

Alliance lawyer Bruce Terris argued before the court that the FAA was remiss in not considering whether the hub could have been located at other airports in North Carolina or South Carolina. “We submit the FAA surrendered its responsibility to make the critical decisions,” Terris was quoted as saying to The News & Record of Greensboro. “The FAA cannot accept that what’s best for FedEx is automatically best for the public interest.”

“FedEx doesn’t want to go anyplace else but your airport,” Judge M. Blane Michael said.

Another issue that arose was the quality of a noise analysis conducted by the FAA, which was premised upon FedEx’s statements that its planes would land from the southwest 95 percent of the time.
A ruling is expected in the spring or summer.

New Charlotte preference program

The City of Charlotte has adopted a new program aimed at helping small businesses land city contracts. The small-business program is specifically designed to meet legal scrutiny after the city was forced to abandon a previous initiative aimed at helping minority-owned business was withdrawn when it was challenged in court.

The new program creates small-business participation goals for each city department and project. It also increases efforts to make small businesses aware of opportunities to apply for city contracts. The new program will have 14 staff members and a budget of $895,000.

The program was not greeted with uniform praised. “We were hoping for a program that would focus on disadvantaged businesses,” Nathaniel Jones, president of the Metrolina Minority Contractors Association, said to The Charlotte Observer. “So many people will qualify for this program that our people will never get a chance to use it.”

Under the city’s old policy, a set percentage of a contract had to go to minority and female-owned subcontractors if subcontractors were used on a project. The policy was challenged in court after the city refused to award a road contract to a low bidder.

The bidder, ironically a minority-owned construction company, proposed to use only a single female-owned subcontractor. The value of the single subcontract was less than that required by the city’s policy. The city of Charlotte settled the lawsuit and suspended the policy after concluding that it could not win in court.

Charlotte is also conducting a study to determine whether minority-owned firms are getting an appropriate percentage of city contracts. If not, the city may be able to legally implement new race-conscious regulations.

Moore water system

After discussions prompted by the recent drought, the various water systems in Moore County do not appear inclined to merge into a single regional system. However, more countywide discussions and mutual assistance options are likely.

The idea behind combining the systems was to better use resources and to guard against possible water shortages. After a few meetings , it became clear that there was little interest at this time in a merger.

“I think it sounded to me like turf protection,” County Commissioner Robert Ewing said to the Fayetteville Observer. “I can understand, for example, Southern Pines, where they have a good water supply and they aren’t too anxious to throw their system into a communal (system).”

Carthage Town Manager Carol Cleetwood agreed. “I don’t think anyone wants to give up any ownership,” she said to the Fayetteville Observer. “If there was a way in which we could all interconnect with each other for use in emergencies, that would be great.”

Along those lines, several towns in the county are working to interconnect their systems. In addition, discussions on rates for temporary or emergency water sharing are likely to occur soon.

Lowrey is a Charlotte-based associate editor at Carolina Journal.