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Home My WebLink About2003-11-18-HFAC-min HANSCOM FIELD ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES November 18, 2003 1.Minutes : The Minutes were approved with the following correction: Margaret Coppe asked for the number of parking spaces that are now in the parking lot. Richard Walsh reported that the parking lot is currently striped for 639 spots, but there is room for 701 spots, as reported in the Environmental Status and Planning Report. 2.Monthly Noise Report: Sara Arnold distributed the monthly noise report. Total operations decreased. Activity in all civilian aircraft categories declined except business jets, which increased 0.4 percent. Night activity and complaints also decreased. There was discussion about complaints, particularly nighttime complaints. Residents are frustrated when Massport is unable to identify a nighttime noise event. S. Arnold reported that staff looks into every nighttime complaint and tries to identify non-Hanscom events as well as Hanscom events. Some Logan flights go right over the Hanscom area and can sound particularly loud at night. 3.2002 Annual Noise Report: S. Arnold summarized the annual noise report, as follows: a.There was a 6.2% increase in 2002 operations as compared to 2001. The largest increase in civilian aircraft categories was in business jets, which increased 34.8 percent. Military activity increased 13.7 percent because of the June 2002 air show. b.Non-single engine piston civilian activity increased 17.5 percent. c.Business jet operations represented 14.1 percent of the civilian aircraft activity. d.The percentage of Stage 2 civilian jet operations decreased from 11 percent in 2000 to six percent in 2002. Stage 2 jets were manufactured before the current noise attenuation standards were required, and tend to be the noisiest civilian aircraft. e.Activity between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. increased from 1,674 operations in 2001 to 2,170 in 2003. f.There was a 0.8 decibel (dB) increase in EXP, the noise metric used to compare changes in noise at Hanscom Field. g.The EXP change since 1978 indicates an increase of 1.2 to 1.4 dB. There was discussion about noise metrics. Residents feel that the metrics Massport uses don’t represent experience. S. Arnold said that Massport uses the FAA standard, which has been shown to correlate with human response, but Massport supplements this with additional data and metrics. In response to comments about the Noise Working Group’s (NWG) recommended metrics, S. Arnold said that the ESPR included a number of additional metrics requested by the NWG, although it did not include a metric developed by some members of the NWG because Massport is only using broadly accepted noise metrics. Peter Enrich expressed concern about the steady increase in activity by non-single engine piston aircraft and the steady increase in operations between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. John Williams noted the decrease in Stage 2 operations, which helps minimize noise exposure. 4.Aviation Activity Report: Richard Walsh reported the following: a. Shuttle America is making a seasonal adjustment by decreasing from six daily round trips to four daily round trips to Trenton. b.Mont Tremblant International, an airport in Quebec, is planning to offer chartered flights from Hanscom as part of a ski package. Flying in a 9-seat King Air turboprop, passengers will be able to leave on Sunday and return Thursday or leave Thursday and return Sunday. The passengers will use the civil terminal and will probably be serviced by Shuttle America. c.The Air Force issued a press release about using the Navy property on the north side of the airfield for helicopters that will be performing testing exercises during November. 5.Planning Report: S. Arnold reported the following: a.Installation of new windows in the Civil Air Terminal is nearly complete. b.The Bid Documents for the vegetation management project were delivered to the Conservation Commissions in each Town. The project will begin in January. Wetlands work will be conducted after the ground is frozen. c.Plans to upgrade the noise monitoring system’s software at Logan are moving forward. Since Hanscom piggybacks onto Logan’s system, Hanscom’s software will also be upgraded. The available systems are comparable in their capabilities. Massport expects to go out to bid for the upgrade this winter. Harris Miller Miller and Hanson (HMMH) is currently Logan’s general noise consultant and HMMH is assisting in developing an RFP for procurement of the noise monitoring system upgrade. Because HMMH’s contract expires at the end of the year, Logan has gone out to bid for a new general consultant—which was discussed at the October meeting. One of the tasks for the new consultant will be continued assistance with purchasing and using the new system. 6.Capital Projects: Representatives from Liberty Mutual offered to answer questions. They are still developing designs for a new hangar with some office space and don’t expect to be ready to make a presentation for at least six to eight weeks. Liberty has no plans to expand its aircraft fleet, the extent of its aircraft operations, or the number of employees. They handle a modest number of operations. Residents said that their concern is that this project will add another hangar at Hanscom, since the hangar that Liberty now uses will become available for Massport to lease. 7.Meeting Dates It was agreed that there would be no HFAC meeting in December. HATS : will be meeting on Monday, November 24. Colonel Jones from Hanscom Air Force Base will be attending. HANSCOM FIELD ADVISORY COMMISSION DATE: November 18, 2003 HFAC MEMBER ATTENDEES CATEGORYNAMEIN ATTENDANCE ********************** Contiguous Towns (4) BedfordSheldon MollX Bedford Alt.Mark Siegenthaler ConcordAnne Shapiro Concord Alt.Charles Blair LexingtonPeter EnrichX Lexington Alt.Michael Barrett LincolnSara MattesX Lincoln Alt.Sarah Holden ********************** Local Citizen Groups (2) So. LexMargaret CoppeX No. LexGraydon WheatonX ********************** Area Wide Organizations (2) LWVJanet Kennedy LWV Alt. ********************** Other Area Towns (2) Carlisle or ActonSteve LernerX WalthamRep. Tom Stanley Waltham Alt.Michael Squillante ********************** Businesses Basing Acft at Hanscom (2) East Coast AviationTom Hoban RaytheonMichael Burke ********************** Aviation/Aviation Related Businesses (2) Jet AviationFrank DiglioX Signature Flight SupportRick BlazeX Signature Alt.Paul Gamache ********************** Business Aviation Organization (1) MBAAJohn WilliamsX NBAA Alt.Ken HeiderX ********************** General Aviation Organization (1) Hanscom Pilots AssociationThomas HirschX ********************** Ex-Officio Members MassportSara ArnoldX MassportRichard WalshX MassportCedric DanielX HAFBRhonda Siciliano FAADave BayleyX MMNHPNancy Nelson ****************************************************************