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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-03-16-HFAC-min Hanscom Field Advisory Commission Minutes March 16, 2010 Prepared by Massport Staff 1. Minutes: The meeting was called to order by Jeanne Krieger. There were no comments or corrections to the January Minutes. J. Krieger announced that she will be the Chair of HFAC, replacing Hank Manz. 2. State of Hanscom: Barbara Patzner presented the 2010 State of Hanscom. In response to questions, Massport staff remarked: East Ramp development would be in the form of hangars as proposed by third party developers. Massport hired a company to estimate the cost of utility infrastructure required for East Ramp development. The utility work could be performed by Massport or a third party developer. Access to the current East Ramp businesses is through Hanscom Air Force Base, and it is anticipated that any new businesses locating on the East Ramp would use those same access point(s). The demolition of Hangar 24 is listed as a Massport capital project. There are three unoccupied houses on Massport land. Amortization is the depreciation of capital expenditures extended over time. Massport only has twenty employees at the airport. Most Hanscom Field employees work at the Fixed Base Operators (FBOs) or Boston Medflight. The number of jets based at Hanscom fluctuates. Currently there are 68-75 at the airport. Businesses within the Route 495and Route 128 corridors are attracted to Hanscom. The Bedford noise monitor is in the process of being replaced. Massport has met with the property owner about moving the monitor to a more protected location within the area. A survey of the property will be done on Thursday. Businesses with aviation needs have expressed interest in the hangar on the Navy property that is north of the airfield. The property is deteriorating and must go through the Federal disposition process and is not currently available to Massport. Massport is particularly interested in the portion of the property that abuts the field and has traditionally been used for aviation. There is a small area behind the Pine Hill t-hangars that could be developed. The Pine Hill area is located slightly south of the Runway 11 end. The FAA has identified Hanscom in the greater New England transportation system as the general aviation reliever airport for Logan Airport. Hanscom also can accommodate limited commercial service. Worcester Airport is able to serve businesses outside of the Route 495 area. The access issues commonly associated with Worcester are not a factor for these businesses. Currently, Direct Air is providing commercial service from Worcester to Florida and other southern states; however, Worcester is underutilized. 3. Monthly Noise Report: Sara Arnold presented the January and February noise reports. In response to questions, S. Arnold responded: The reports compare January and February 2010 to January and February 2009, which experienced the lowest civilian EXP since Massport started calculating EXP 6.1 in January 2005. Hanscom has seen some increases in business jet activity over the past three months, as compared to the same three months a year ago. This may indicate that the loss of jet activity has bottomed out. noise it is not an acronym. It is a noise metric that was developed by the noise consultants at Harris Miller Miller and Hanson over 25 years ago for use at Hanscom. EXP uses the same algorithms that are used to create noise contours at airports all over the world. Computer modeling is used to generate EXP, which uses a noise level for each aircraft operation; that noise level Integrated Noise Model for a point 15,000 feet from start of take-off roll. The model assumes that all aircraft fly over that point, thus creating a single number for total EXP. That total is broken down into a civilian portion and a military portion for arrivals and departures. EXP is the total noise for an average day over a month or a year. Because it is using decibels, it is calculated logarithmically. Aircraft operations between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. are calculated as if they operated ten times to account for the additional annoyance of night activity. This approach is recognized by the FAA and is an industry standard that is used in calculating DNL. DNL (Day Night Level or Ldn) is the metric that is reported by Massport for the noise monitors each month. The noise monitors capture actual noise measurements of all noise sources, including community noise and aircraft noise. DNL reflects the average noise over a specified period of time, usually monthly or annually; it includes the penalty for nighttime operations. There is an excellent description of noise metrics in the Appendices of the annual noise report, which is available on Massport website. It begins with metrics used to describe single events and proceeds with metrics used to describe cumulative effects. It was recommended that this is a good place to get a 101 introduction to noise metrics. 4. Other: B. Patzner noted that there have been no discussions with commercial or cargo operators. Dorothy Steele confirmed that the State of Hanscom presentation incorporated updates on the capital projects. The next HFAC meeting is scheduled for April 20, 2010, and Massport will report on deicer use at Hanscom. Attendees : Barbara Patzner, Dorothy Steele, Cedric Daniel, Sara Arnold, Tom Hirsch, Jeanne Krieger, Margaret Coppe, Mike Rosenberg, Lou Sideris and Deb Mauger.