Happy hump day, Longmont! It’s a precious day for Lord of the Rings fans. On this day 72 years ago, the first volume of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring, was published. The eventual trilogy would sell over 150 million copies and spawn three films, which altogether won 17 Academy Awards and made nearly $3 billion (unadjusted for inflation). Adding in the vast number of spinoffs, prequels, and fervent fanfare that followed, Lord of the Rings remains among the most iconic and timeless stories of all time. Like C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, and George R.R. Martin, this occasion reminds us that if you work hard, stay committed, and put an acronym in front of your last name, anything is possible.
Today — We break down last night’s city council meeting, unexpected street flooding in north Longmont, and a family of marmots is rescued.
Let’s dive in.
TOP STORY
🌎 Longmont City Council takes first steps to bolster flight tracking, hike airport fees
“Who said Longmont doesn’t have late-night activities?” Councilmember Matthew Popkin said near the end of another marathon Longmont City Council meeting that didn’t close until 1:24 a.m.
Last night (this morning?), city council voted to initiate the processes to begin raising fees at Vance Brand Municipal Airport and strengthen noise reduction procedures after receiving two long-awaited reports.
The Noise Program Assessment
The first report assessed Longmont’s Voluntary Noise Abatement Procedures and provided recommendations for how they can be improved. The study was conducted by airport analytics company, Airport Monitoring Systems. Spokesperson Jason Schwartz provided the presentation and hailed the extensiveness of Longmont’s VNAP, saying it’s one of the most comprehensive he’s ever seen. Unfortunately, comprehensive doesn’t always equal effective. That was a sentiment echoed by most of city council Tuesday night.
Some of the report’s highlights:
Flight operations grew 8% in 2025 from the year prior.
12% of flights occurred outside of Longmont’s preferred hours, 8 pm - 8 am.
Schwartz says his team reached out to pilots who frequent VBMA and found they showed little resistance to Longmont’s rules.
Recommendations include bolstering flight tracking so data like pilot conformance, altitude assessments, and intrusion into noise-sensitive areas can be recorded. However, compiling this data would cost big money. Per Longmont City Manager Harold Dominguez, the city’s budget is already extremely tight, adding “We’re going to have to have tough conversations.”
Schwartz says the greatest opportunity lies not with more rules but more visibility. Incorporating methods to ensure pilots’ awareness of Longmont’s procedures is paramount.
City council voted unanimously to direct city staff to begin implementing new measures for noise abatement.
Rates and Charges Study:
The second presentation analyzed VBMA’s financial situation as the airport is facing a significant budget shortfall over the next five years. Paul Anslow, a spokesperson for Bolton & Menk — which conducted the study — strenuously recommended the development of multiple new revenue streams to increase the airport’s revenue by 3-5%. Recommendations included:
Increasing ground lease rates and fuel flowage fees.
Consider implementing landing fees. Anslow said these are “phenomenal revenue generators” but controversial and could draw lawsuits.
More unorthodox revenue-generating ideas like offering paid snow plowing and grass cutting services to tenants and hosting more events like fly-ins, concerts, and pancake breakfasts (The latter is our favorite).
The motion to begin the process to raise fees narrowly passed 4-3, with Councilmembers Diane Crist, Matthew Popkin, and Alex Kalkhofer in opposition. Those in dissent wanted to hold off on concrete action after city staff revealed to city council shortly after midnight that there was a miscalculation in VBMA’s budget.
Zooming out:
For what it’s worth, Anslow testified that VBMA’s financial situation isn’t rare — He says less than 20% of airports are self-sufficient.
In other city council news…
Ordinances to add to the November ballot questions on ranked choice voting and additional protections for open spaces passed on first reading.
Headlines
3 Big Things
RTD officially approves new bus route from Longmont to DIA: The Regional Transportation District’s full Board of Directors voted to a approve a bundle of service changes, including one that adds a Longmont-to-Denver International Airport route on RTD’s SkyRide service. Prior to the meeting, Longmont City Council member Matthew Popkin, as well as multiple individuals from the public, advocated to RTD directors in support of the Longmont route’s approval. The route will run every day, hourly from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., and take off from a stop at 8th Avenue and Coffman Street. The changes will officially take effect September 27.
North Longmont slammed by rain: Yesterday afternoon, parts of Longmont saw a sudden and violent burst of rainfall drench the city, even causing street flooding in some areas. Early estimates show certain areas received over an inch of rain. Mother nature is making a last-minute sprint to keep on pace with July’s historic precipitation totals. Through July 28, the National Weather Service had recorded just 0.6” in Longmont, whereas it’s usually at nearly 1.5.”
Longmont wildlife rehab center helps save marmot family: 10 yellow-bellied marmots are safe after hitching a ride to Denver from the high country, building a den underneath a shipping container at the Aurora Post Office, and having several close encounters with vehicles. Concerned post office workers, who noticed the animals, employed the help of Colorado Rescue Rangers who needed two weeks to catch the entire family of elusive rodents. They’re now at Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in northwest Longmont where they’ll recover before being released back into the wild.
Check this out
Longmont hosted a town hall on airport noise. It didn’t work.
Around 60 people and most of Longmont City Council attended a Monday town hall at the Longmont Museum that intended to clarify what the city can and cannot do regarding airport noise. When the night was over, attendees felt they learned a lot more about the latter.
“All you’ve talked about is what we can’t do,” one resident shouted out from the audience.
The town hall was led by John Putnam, part of the city’s special counsel firm contracted to provide legal advice on airport issues. He’s also the same person who led last week’s town hall on the future of passenger rail in Longmont. So, what can and can’t be done?
What can’t be done?
A lot. Even though Longmont owns Vance Brand Municipal Airport, federal regulations are posing a major roadblock.
Any restrictions on flights, whether it’s volume, time, or type, are unlikely. Putnam said that Federal Aviation Administration laws require that restrictions can’t be discriminatory or, in Longmont’s case, solely created to limit noise.
Fees can be raised but must be reasonable and justified by airport expenses. They can’t be used to make the airport into a “profit center,” as explained by Putnam.
Putnam explained there’s a substantial list of legal precedence that would make Longmont’s fight extremely futile. Several airports across the U.S. have attempted to exercise some degree of proprietary authority only to see their efforts left in vain. For example…
2005: The FAA ordered the City of Pompano Beach to stop enforcing touch-and-go bans and other related restrictions after finding it “violated federal obligations to make the airport available to the public on reasonable terms without unjust discrimination.”
What can be done?
A little. But the crux of it comes down to gathering data.
Longmont would have to prove to the FAA that planes above Longmont are posing a safety issue of some kind that affects places like homes, schools, or churches.
Concrete solutions would likely involve the collection of data that aircraft traffic is having a tangible negative impact. This would likely demand the assistance of a professional third party, who can utilize the necessary tracking equipment and provide the proper data to the Federal Aviation Administration.
How the audience responded:
In short, negatively. Event organizers intended for all audience questions to be submitted via an online portal, but attendees often spoke out of turn and outbursts were aplenty. Some quotes from the evening:
“We’re being discriminated against on the ground.”
“Airplanes are more important than humans.”
“Levi [VBMA airport manager] did it. He brought them [airplane traffic] all here.”
When The Longmont Brief asked four Longmont residents whether the town hall was effective, the replies were concise and to the point: “No,” “No,” “No,” “Hell no.”
Last Call
Average gas prices in Longmont-Boulder are trickling down, per AAA. The average is now $4.05 per gallon; a six-cent drop from a week ago.
Forecasts show a mostly sunny Wednesday for Longmont with thunderstorms likely after 4 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
Check out why Longmont Public Safety is painting bowling pins to support the fight against Alzheimer’s.
Longmont Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting for the nonprofit, UpSide Collective, which supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disorders.
Check out how Green Girl Recycling in Longmont can take some of your recyclables for free.
Until next time,
The Longmont Brief
Enjoying The Longmont Brief? Forward today’s newsletter to a friend who loves Longmont news. You can also send them to the link below