People on both sides of the noise debate attended a Navy scoping meeting in Coupeville Tuesday night.

The anti-Outlying Field Coupeville group Citizens Of Ebey’s Reserve, or COER, attended, but member Paula Spina said she saw the meeting was nothing more than “a dog-and-pony show.”

“They’ve already made their decision; this is just to justify their decision to us,” she said.

Other attendees said they found it informative and helpful.

“There’s a lot of people who know a lot about their fields,” said Coupeville resident Kelly Keilwitz, noting he found the people at the noise display particularly helpful.

Keilwitz said he attended the meeting Tuesday night to learn about the process and possible alternatives for the Growlers.

“It’s a lot better to get involved early in the process, rather than not like what’s happening later and complain,” Keilwitz said.

Ted Brown, public affairs officer from U.S. Fleet Forces Command on the East Coast, said that none of the four alternatives include the possibility of moving the jets off Whidbey Island or finding a replacement for Outlying Field Coupeville, where EA-18G touch-and-go landings are held.

Last year, COER filed a lawsuit against the Navy asking a judge to compel the Navy to complete an EIS on the Growler, which the group claims is louder than previous aircraft. The group is calling for a closure of Outlying Field Coupeville, where carrier landing practices are conducted.

The Navy subsequently announced plans to complete an EIS, saying the study was in the works for some time. The new series of EIS meeting is in response to the Navy’s request for additional Growlers, as many as 36.

“What we’re doing here tonight … is getting input from the public and what they think we should look at in the environmental impact study,” Brown said.

“We’re also able to interact with the public one on one to answer their questions as much as we can at this stage of the project.”

Scoping meetings, held in Coupeville, Oak Harbor and Anacortes, were set up with stations where people could get information about various aspects of the EIS, including the proposed plan, alternative plans, information about the Growler operations themselves, community involvement and noise studies.

Bonnie Curtiss, one of the Navy personnel assigned to the station on noise studies, said concerns and questions included queries about what the Navy will study and whether it will do measurements or rely on a model.

The Department of Defense protocol is to model, taking into account variables like time of day, frequency duration and more, Curtiss said.

“I think some are here to gather information, and some are here to voice their concerns,” Curtiss said.

Anyone attending was able to fill out a comment card or comment via a stenographer. People may also submit comments online, through the EIS website.

COER set up a table outside Coupeville High School where the scoping meeting was held.

Spina, one of the founding members of COER, was inside the meeting saying she would “tell truth to people.”

Coupeville resident Diane Tompkinson said she was not pleased with the meeting.

“This is not a forum where citizens are getting heard,” she said. “I don’t feel that this is at all satisfactory; I think this is a travesty.”

Scott Smith, who said he lives right off the flight path at Ault Field in Oak Harbor, said he fully supports the Navy on Whidbey Island and found the meeting positive.

“I think everyone should have the right to provide information and take a stance and fill out a comment card,” Smith said. “Some folks don’t like the noise, and they have every right to say that.”

NAS Whidbey Public Affairs Officer Mike Welding said the audience on Tuesday night was a mix of people for and against additional Growlers at the base.

“There’s been people who have come in and just want to learn about what we’re doing, and then there’s people that come in and they already have their minds made up about something,” he said.

The Navy also plans scoping meetings in Port Townsend and the San Juan islands.