Des Moines START representative says SeaTac sound‑insulation effort produced few fixes, urges local advocacy

Joe Dusenberry, Des Moines’s representative to the SeaTac Stakeholder Advisory Roundtable (START), told the Des Moines City Council on May 8 that START meetings are mainly informational and that a recent Port‑commissioned study and pilot program to repair failed residential sound‑insulation packages found very few homes that qualify for FAA‑funded repairs.

Dusenberry said START’s presentations are “information only” and that community members at the START meeting felt the steering committee controlled the agenda. He summarized the sound‑insulation pilot this way: the Port authorized roughly $5,000,000 for surveying and a repair pilot and the work identified only five houses that would qualify for repairs under FAA rules, “and the biggest hurdle is that the FAA rules … just make it impractical.”

Why it matters: the pilot’s limited yield, Dusenberry said, shows federal rules and reimbursement expectations are a bottleneck for residents seeking repairs. He urged the council to press the Port and to form local outreach to make START materials and complaint systems more accessible to residents.

Dusenberry described two main issues from the START meeting. First, START’s information flows from Port and airport staff without a structured community feedback loop: “there’s no part where they say, hey, what would your community like to see?” He recommended a local community airport committee to bring START information to neighborhoods and gather input on flight paths, noise complaint access, air‑quality monitoring and FAA reassessment of the DNL‑65 noise boundary.

Second, he criticized the Port’s $5,000,000 survey and pilot for producing only a handful of eligible repairs. “The net result of this expensive effort funded by King County taxpayers … they found five houses,” he said, adding that many commonly failing items — window seals and storm doors — are treated as warranty issues and thus excluded from FAA repair programs. He told council members that relying on federal funds alone would likely leave the problem unresolved and recommended the City advocate for a locally funded, ongoing repair program.

Dusenberry also referenced a 2018 State Department of Commerce study completed in June 2020, Study of the Current and Ongoing Effects of the Operation of the Seattle‑Tacoma International Airport, and said START had not used that report as a basis for community outreach. He called the study a potentially useful resource with more than 60 recommendations relevant to airport‑area communities.

Council discussion touched on process and remedies. Council member Harris and Deputy Mayor Steinmetz pressed for clarity about whether the Port could directly fund repairs without FAA reimbursement; Dusenberry and others said the Port legally can allocate funds but Port staff and counsel often emphasize reimbursement. Steinmetz said other airports have internal programs funded from airport revenues and encouraged discussion with the Port about creating a similar stable local funding stream.

Ending: Dusenberry offered to answer follow‑up questions and suggested the City consider a local committee to improve community outreach and coordination with START and Port staff.