GTAA wants to monitor airplane noise with device set up in Oakville's Glenashton Park

insidehalton.com
Feb. 23, 2017
By Nathan Howes

Concerns about airplane noise over Oakville has prompted the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to ask to install a noise monitoring terminal (NMT) in northeast Oakville’s Glenashton Park to record airplane noise over Oakville airspace.

The proposal is a step closer to fruition after Oakville’s Administrative Services Committee approved the licensing agreement report, now set to go before Town council Monday (Feb. 27).

The relatively small NMT would be installed inside a utility shed in Glenashton Park, connected to a microphone on the shed’s roof.

The GTAA requires a licence agreement for a five-year period, which was recommended by the committee in the report for Council’s approval.

Staff with the GTAA would be responsible for all costs of installation and maintenance. The Town would only incur minimal energy costs and staff time to meet GTAA at the site, two or three times per year, to inspect the equipment.

Should the agreement get consent from Council, the GTAA will pay the Town an annual fee of $1,000, consistent with other nearby municipalities that have recently installed a NMT on public lands, Parks staff confirmed.

Town staff believes the $1,000 annual fee is a fair and reasonable amount, acknowledging Oakville also benefits from data collected through the agreement.

The licence agreement, woud be comprised of several key components, including the GTAA taking responsibility for the installation, maintenance and operation of the NMT; a five-year term for the licence with either party able to terminate at any time with 60 days notice; the annual fee paid by the GTAA, and upon termination of the agreement, the site restored to the condition it was in when the licence began.

The Town’s Parks and Open Space Department was initially approached by the GTAA to install a NMT to record airplane noise over Oakville, as a result of airplanes travelling to and from Pearson International Airport.

The GTAA’s Noise Management office began a monitoring review process in 2015, which included a six-step process.

The last step is currently in process and includes selecting the final noise-monitoring sites and installing the NMTs with licence agreements in these areas.

Glenashton Park was one of the areas identified by the GTAA for this study. GTAA is also working with Milton, Halton Hills and Vaughan, Ont. to install NMTs in those municipalities.

Monday’s council meeting is at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall council chamber at 1225 Trafalgar Rd. It can be streamed live at www.oakville.ca.