Bake Oven Knob, Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, PA
ACTION ALERT 3
21 October 2005
Proposal Update
A commercial airline pilot and owner of the Flying M Aerodrome, located about a mile from Bake Oven Knob on the Kittatinny Ridge in rural, largely agricultural Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, PA, continues to seek relocation of the much larger Queen City Airport, currently located in Allentown, PA, to the Flying M Aerodrome. This is a disastrous idea for people, wildlife, the environment, farmland preservation, and aircraft.
At a “town meeting” held on 16 October 2005 at the Germansville Fire Company in Heidelberg Township, Lehigh County, PA, at least 100 angry township residents very vocally opposed the expansion and relocation of the Queen City Airport to the Flying M.
Meanwhile, according to the October 20, 2005 issue of Northwestern Press, despite strong public opposition the Flying M Aerodrome owner stated he already applied for a township permit to pave the Flying M’s currently turf runway even if the Queen City Airport is not successful in recoating at the Flying M. This implies plans to greatly increase aircraft use of the Flying M Aerodrome regardless of what happens with the Queen City Airport issue—something the Flying M owner promised would happen.
The Flying M owner also flatly refused to answer how he will overcome a deed restriction on land he wishes to purchase adjacent to the west end of his current turf runway that requires that land to remain as farmland because the development rights already were sold to Lehigh County’s farmland preservation program.
What You Can Do
PLEASE WRITE LETTERS opposing this expansion of the Flying M Aerodrome to the following a key decision makers regarding this issue.
Mr. George F. Doughty, Executive Director
Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority
3311 Airport Road
Allentown, PA 18109-3040
Mr. David O. Fink
Board of Supervisors
Heidelberg Township
6272 Route 309
PO Box 218
New Tripoli, PA 18066
Mr. Forrest A. Wessner, Jr.
Board of Supervisors
Heidelberg Township
6272 Route 309
PO Box 218
New Tripoli, PA 18066
Mr. Roy Afflerback, Mayor
City of Allentown
435 Hamilton St.
Allentown, PA 18102
Also send LETTERS-TO-THE-EDITOR opposing relocating the Queen City Airport to the Flying M Aerodrome to the two newspapers covering this story. They are:
letters@mcall.com for The Morning Call.
dpalmieri@tnonline.com for Northwestern Press.
Finally, insist that a full scale Environmental Impact Statement be conducted for two years to comprehensively evaluate the wildlife, environmental, human and social aspects of the proposal to relocate the Queen City Airport to the Flying M Aerodrome. In doing so, be aware that 45 or more years of detailed autumn raptor migration study data already exists in the ornithological literature along with related overall bird surveys of Bake Oven Knob. Much additional hawk migration information is also readily available in several landmark books published by both university and trade publishers—some as recently as 2004. In addition, other wildlife and environmental data pertaining to Heidelberg Township also exist—especially in publications issued by the Wildlife Information Center, Inc., Slatington, PA. ALL of these publications need to be read and pertinent data included in the Environmental Impact Statement.
Donald S. Heintzelman
Zionsville, PA