Late last week, Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson posted on her official Facebook page a letter sent to the commanding officer at NAS Whiting Field about noise at the Fairhope Airport from military aircraft.

In the letter dated June 15, Wilson informs Captain Todd Bahlau of numerous complaints from residents nearby to the airport

“I wanted to write and formal request a public meeting between the Navy and the Fairhope citizens that are impacted by the military aircrafts (sic) in our community,” Wilson wrote. “I have received an excessive amount of complaints from area residents. The items of concern are aircrafts (sic) flying too low, continuous touch and go training, time of aircraft activity (as late as midnight) and overall frequency of aircrafts (sic) since last spring.”

Wilson wrote the aircraft were impacting people’s decisions to to live in the city.

“The military aircrafts (sic) are driving residents out of Fairhope due to the constant noise, it is seriously impacting the quality of life and will potentially impact the real estate values,” Wilson wrote. “Please let me know how we can support our military, while working to combat this problem, so Fairhope can continue to be the premier community that we love.”

Wilson proposed three dates for public meetings for Bahlau to accept: Aug. 8, Sept. 12 and Sept. 26.

Wilson initially posted the letter June 21, but that post was deleted. In a follow up explanation on June 22, Wilson said the post was accidentally deleted.

“I apologize for accidentally deleting the post and thread addressing the noise pollution at the airport,” Wilson said. “I am traveling to Miami for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and removed it by mistake while using my phone instead of my laptop in an attempt to edit it. I was not attempting to get rid of the comments.”

Wilson explained some of the reasoning behind why the letter was sent.

“The letter was written on my behalf to follow up on multiple email attempts to schedule a public meeting that will include representatives from the Airport Authority, the FAA and military officials,” Wilson wrote. “The letter did not reflect the very positive meetings I've had with Navy officials dating back to November of 2016. I wanted you to hear from the experts too in order to ensure all your questions are answered and I wanted to do this in a timely way.”

On the comments on the post, residents seemed to be split on whether the letter was an appropriate reaction.

“I’ve lived in this town for 15 years, and not once have I ever been bothered by aircraft,” Marcus Moseley wrote. “100 complaints? You can find 100 people here that would complain about pretty much anything. They complain about too many flowers. They complain about timber management at Knoll park. They complain about growth. They complain all day, every day. Wasting time complaining to the Navy about airspace concerns for a bunch of spoiled dilettantes is an embarrassing waste of time. Seriously. There are issues that have actual solutions. This isn't one of those. This is just a production number designed to appear as some sort of executive bravado. But it's just performance art.”

Other supported Wilson’s stance.

“We have only lived here for a few years, but I have wondered about the constant plane noise,” Noah Funderburg wrote. “I work outside in my yard a lot and it is annoying. Sounds like we are about to be strafed at any moment. We can hear the noise indoors too. Is this the most pressing issue for Fairhope? Maybe not, but I would appreciate knowing more about the cause and whether there are limits. When I read some of the previous comments it seems different residents had different notions of what caused the sound. So an informational meeting seems appropriate me. Armed with more information we might be satisfied with the situation. I also suggest that if we ask whether the activity could be modified, limited, or even removed, we might find there are some attractive options. Why should we just roll over and say we have to listen to unnecessary noise if we don't have to?”

On an interview with WABF 1480 AM Monday morning, Council President Jack Burrell and Councilman Kevin Boone said they didn’t see what solutions could be brought to the situation.

“It’s unfortunate the letter was sent out,” Boone said. “I live in Fairhope, and I don’t even notice it. Unfortunately, when you move around the airport, you may have noise that comes about with the practice of these fine servicemen and women.”

Burrell said the Fairhope Airport Authority had meetings with naval officials several years ago, and said he and others had continued to pursue possible ways to fix the issue.

“One of the solutions would be to try to open up air space in areas north of here, but there are obstacles to that process and it’s been an ongoing discussion,” Burrell said. “The military has been flying missions over this way for 50, 60, 70 years, so this isn’t something new to this area.”

Questions and messages to officials at NAS Whiting Field have not been returned at this time.