Airport gives OK to sound insulation program

A $1-million contract to better insulate 30 single-family homes from aircraft noise from the Bob Hope Airport was unanimously approved by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority on Monday.

Fifteen single-family homes in Burbank, 14 in Sun Valley and one in North Hollywood will receive door and window replacements, additional attic insulation and weather stripping to shield airplane landing and takeoff noise, according to an airport staff report.

The latest round of improvements will cost $1.068 million and will be installed by NSA Construction Group, Inc., which has worked on several similar projects in the past and offered the lowest bid for the latest work late last year.

It will take about 210 days to complete the acoustical treatments, according to the report.

This project is the latest phase of an ongoing effort since 1997 that’s, so far, installed acoustical improvements in about 2,300 residential units.

About $92.8 million of mostly federal money has been spent on improving homes, while $11.9 million was spent on schools near the airport, said Victor Gill, an airport spokesman.

A map defined by the Federal Aviation Administration that was most recently updated last year determines which homes are eligible for insulation work.

“The eligibility is governed by federal regulations administered by the Federal Aviation Administration because federal dollars are used to pay for 80% of the insulation program,” Gill said.

About 698 homes are still eligible, with 194 property owners expressing interest in receiving the acoustical treatment, Gill said.

About 1,500 multifamily units are eligible, but an updated program for them still needs to be adopted by the FAA and there will be a significant effort to get them included this year, he added.

“Many of them have not yet been contacted about the program because the FAA put multifamily units on hold several years ago until the program was updated to address them,” Gill said.

For single-family homes, the acoustical treatment program is winding down, but it isn’t clear when the program will end.

“We have been telling the public that we are entering the last stages of the program,” Gill said.

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Follow Arin Mikailian on Twitter: @ArinMikailian.

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