David Slayter, the new Vance Brand Airport manager, poses by an airplane at the airport on Thursday.
Longmont's newest airport manager finished up his first five days on the job Friday.
David Slayter, 44, spend most of his first week either in Longmont new-hire orientation or meeting and greeting city staff and Airport Advisory Board members.
Slayter, 44, took the position over from Tim Barth, who was the manager of Vance Brand Municipal Airport for almost 19 years. Barth resigned in December and took a position as the director of aviation at Cheyenne Regional Airport Board.
Monday, Slayter opened his city email to find a backlog of five missives from a resident complaining about Longmont-based noise from planes flying overhead. The new airport manager checked with Assistant City Manager Shawn Lewis on how to proceed and responded to the resident's most recent email.
"I am writing to acknowledge the receipt of your recent complaints," he wrote. "I have not previously done so as today, March 16, 2015, is my first day on the job. The emails to my current (this) email address shows you have filed a noise complaint on the following dates...I appreciate your interest and concern regarding this issue. Respectfully, David Slayter, C.M."
On airport noise, which has sparked a furious debate in Longmont after noise complaints about Mile-Hi Skydiving planes began rolling in in recent years, Slayter said he had experience in Louisiana with similar issues.
"It's interesting there because you have a different fleet mix in Louisiana," he said. "You have a lot of different-sized offshore helicopters — helicopters that are going to offshore platforms — and they made a different type of noise and, in my opinion, a very loud and vibratory noise if I can describe it that way.
"And we had people that were near the flight path ... so I have had experience dealing with tenants and the general public and trying to deal with those issues, and I think we've had (in Louisiana) a lot of good success and good luck in working things out."
Dealing with the general public, Slayter said, involves efforts "to just make sure they know they're being acknowledged and being heard."
Slayter, who served as the executive director at the Houma-Terrebonne Airport in Huoma, La., before taking the Longmont job, said he and his wife were looking for a community to "set roots" and chose Longmont for its impressive views of the Front Range.
"My wife and I had gotten to a point where we started thinking about where do we want to retire, because we felt like we wanted to have about 20 years in a place consecutively prior to retirement," Slayter said. "We honeymooned in the (Georgia) mountains and we liked the Rockies better than the Smokies, so we started looking at the Colorado area for opportunities."
Before working at the Houma Terrebonne Airport, Slayter was a jack-of-all-trades of aviation jobs, including responding to aircraft emergencies as a firefighter, working in flight operations for Frontier Airlines in Los Angeles and spending six years as an aviation program manager and aviation legislation liaison for the state of Louisiana.
When asked about issues surrounding the airport, such as the runway extension proposed in the 2010 Airport Master Plan, Slayter said he sees the airport as an economic engine and plans to follow the city's direction on such issues.
"My goals are the goals of the city," he said. "The city has a direction and I think a vision through the master plan that was approved or adopted. I think there's a lot to be determined yet on that, and it's just getting started."
Slayter said he and his wife are hoping to become a force for good in Longmont.
"One of the things I made a statement or comment on is I want to make a positive difference, I want to make a positive impact and if I can do that, that's what makes me happy," he said.
Story and photos: http://www.timescall.com
David Slayter, the new Vance Brand Airport manager, poses by an airplane mural at the airport on Thursday.
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