The DeKalb County Operations Committee voted to advance a request for proposal for Eastside aviation development at DeKalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK) to the full Board of Commissioners for a November 18 hearing and potential final vote.

Administration recommended awarding the RFP to a sole proposer, Sky Harbor LLC. The county presented analysis from engineering consultant HMMH (Harris Miller Miller & Hanson). Jason Stoddard of HMMH said the firm used two primary data sources — a reposition-analysis data set and flight-track/aircraft-identification records from PDK’s Noise and Operations Monitoring (NAM) system — and modeled operations in the FAA’s Aviation Environmental Design Tool (AEDT). "We found a 3 dB, DNL daynight average sound level decrease, which is noticeable," Stoddard said, adding the analysis treated the Sky Harbor plan conservatively by assuming half of the hangared aircraft would generate repositioning flights.

HMMH told commissioners Sky Harbor plans up to eight new hangars that could house as many as 16 aircraft. The consultant identified repositioning flights using a four-leg pattern (inbound to PDK, round trip outside the local area, return to original airport) and, after modeling, reported a roughly 50% reduction in emissions associated with the subset of repositioning flights under the conservative scenario. HMMH cautioned those results apply to the modeled repositioning subset and do not alter a separate, larger study underway at PDK.

Commissioners pressed for clearer public-facing materials and stronger contractual safeguards. During discussion they asked the administration to provide GIS maps of modeled noise contours so neighbors can see whether their homes fall within impact zones, and asked that contract terms consider community benefits, noise-mitigation funding and sustainability requirements (such as incentives or restrictions targeting newer, lower-emission aircraft). Director Hunter and county staff said such contract elements could be incorporated during negotiation and that administration could bring a statement of work and draft contract terms back to the board prior to final award.

Commissioner (Speaker 7) moved to advance RFP #22500625 out of committee for a Nov. 18 Board of Commissioners hearing; the motion was seconded and carried by voice vote.

Next steps: the administration said it would return with a general statement of work and indicate community-benefit and sustainability commitments for the contract negotiation phase. The full board will consider the RFP and any resulting contract at the Nov. 18 meeting.