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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-02-26-HATS-min Hanscom Area Towns Committee (HATS) DRAFT MEETING MINUTES February 26, 2015 HATS Members. Peter Braun, HATS Chair and Lincoln Selectmen, Carmin Reiss, Concord Selectmen, Michael Rosenberg, Bedford Selectmen, Joseph Pato, Lexington Selectmen Other HATS Representatives: John Wilson, Bedford Conservation Commission Chair, Margaret Coppe, Lexington; Maggie Debbie, Bedford, Dee Ortner, Concord, Robert Domnitz and Chris Reilly, Lincoln Planning Board member and staff. Others in attendance. MassPort. Amber Goodspeed, Ed Freni, Jose Masso, Sharon Williams, Tom Glynn, Nancy Donohue, Jennifer Meltzer, Kati Winchell and Anna Winter, Save Our Heritage; Nancy Nelson, Minute Man National Park; Carrie Rankin, Rep Moulton's office; Gary Davis, Lincoln; Anthony Moreschi and Wade Blackman, Rep Clark's office; Scott Sheehan, HAFB; Mark Siegenthaler, Bedford Selectmen, Jim Henderson, Lincoln, Judy Stein, Lincoln; Robert Grom, Concord; Jane Herlacher, Lincoln; Kate Moore, Sen. Warren's office Mr. Braun opened the meeting at 7:30 p.m. with welcome and introductions at the Lincoln Town Offices, stating it was an honor to have the CEO of MassPort in attendance to give a presentation. Mr. Braun briefly reviewed Mr. Glynn's impressive background before he became head of MassPort about two years ago. Mr. Braun also focused on the reference in Mr. Glynn's on-line biography on enhancing community relations Mr Braun said that HATS appreciates Mr. Glynn's willingness to engage in open dialogue with HATS. MassPort/Air Field - Presentation By MassPort CEO, Tom Glynn, and Other Staff: Mr Glynn introduced his staff and thanked HATS for arranging the discussion this evening He also acknowledged the great work done on behalf of the towns at the state and federal level by our legislative representatives. He then gave an overview of MassPort. MassPort is a $600M agency with 17,000 employees at Logan alone. There exist other maritime facilities of MassPort that are not directly associated with the airports that impact the local economy, including infrastructure for importing car parts and processing seafood. The Mystic River (Tobin) Bridge used to bring in $30M in revenue and had $15M in expenses but was moved to Mass DOT and, therefore, has negatively impacted their financial portfolio. They also have a significant real estate development responsibility/presence in the Seaport area. Mr. Glynn said that one of his first tasks as CEO was to produce a strategic plan for all of MassPort's divisions, including aviation, maritime infrastructure, and real estate. It took two years for them to review and consider all the lines of business and how they relate to the economy, following which they have been reviewing the plan with State and federal legislative representatives. Significant new development at Logan is not currently planned, since Logan has successfully implemented several major efforts during recent years. For example, they have been successful in increasing the variety and number of their International flights. The biggest issue at Logan is parking; there are 17,000 parking spaces, but typically they need over 19,000, even though they have a large scale valet system and offer free parking at Suffolk Downs. MassPort is working toward creating an additional 2,000 space parking facility. $4.5B was already spent redeveloping and building the roadways at Logan. Initially, MassPort was created to preserve the maritime and working port of Boston. They now have a commitment from the Federal government to match spending of $300M for dredging the harbor to further the ability to meet the needs though the maritime businesses Most of the ships coming into the container terminal accommodate up to 7,000 containers With the widening of the Panama Canal there could be the need to accommodate ships with up to 18,000 containers, but the Boston Harbor is not currently deep or wide enough. There may also be expenditures up to $500M for land development to accommodate these larger ships There is great enthusiasm about this, including the creation of blue collar jobs and real estate development of the area. They were given ownership of the Worcester airport (2nd biggest city in New England), and have already spent $100m to make it a first class airport, which could generate $150M of economic activity. JetBlue appears to be succeeding at Worcester, and other airlines are expressing interest to operate there. There are no mission changes or expansions planned for Hanscom Air Field, including no plans to accommodate cargo or scheduled airlines. There are plans to modernize the existing facilities. Mr. Glynn also confirmed that one benefit of upgrading the existing FBO facilities would be to decrease some of the corporate jet usage Today, some jets can only drop off or pick up their passengers at Hanscom, but have to fly to other airports for overnight stays or service, thus adding flights in and out of Hanscom. These extra flights could be eliminated when Hanscom's facilities are upgraded to permit appropriate overnight and service capabilities. Mr. Glynn also commented about the accident that occurred about a year ago, when a Gulfstream 4 crashed during an attempted takeoff and seven people were killed. He first thanked the local area towns, municipal officials, and departments that worked closely with MassPort to assist when this accident happened NTSB is in charge of the investigation and has released some information. One issue is determining how the plane could have been going 190 mph without the ability to lift. One possibility is the gust lock mechanism appeared to be locked into place despite the plane's speed; a possible consequence if the takeoff process is not followed in a particular order. A letter was generated reminding pilots of the ordering of steps in this process along with a reminder of the checklist they are supposed to follow. The docket of data/evidence found will be released within the next 3 months (roughly a year from the accident) Mr. Braun mentioned the meeting held the day after the accident that included many public safety staff, and he emphasized the importance of continuing this level of coordination to anticipate region-wide disaster response Mr. Glynn also commented briefly on the new MassPort Community Advisory Committee (CAC). A voluntary organization known as the Logan CAC was created in the 1970's as an informal group to be watch dog on Logan expansion and flight path impacts In 2009 and 2013 legislation, a new committee with a wider focus and broader composition was authorized but never materialized. A CAC staff will be funded by a MassPort grant ($250,000). The new CAC is now beginning to establish itself in accordance with the legislative authority it was provided The four HATS towns have appointed members of the CAC. CAC activity will include reviewing the MassPort budget and plans and appointing a member of the MassPort Board. Mr Rosenberg asked about the strategic plan and whether it will target specific geographic projects and how town officials and neighbors can learn of potential modernization plans. Mr. Glynn said the capital budget has to be developed for specific projects. Typically information is available through MassPort board meetings with published minutes Projects at Hanscom are also brought to the HFAC and reviewed in their meetings Mr. Rosenberg said the HFAC is an important avenue for communication and information flow at a local level. Ms Reiss asked about ground transportation to and from the Worcester ariport, since it is the 2nd largest airport after Logan Mr. Glynn said there are about 350-400,000 people flying on typically full flights, and he commented that it is apparent that people are getting there despite there being no direct road from the Mass Pike. Residents of the greater Worcester area know how to get to that airport, and education to the wider population should help. He emphasized that Worcester is viewed as a reliever of scheduled flights that would otherwise use Logan, which is already very busy, and that MassPort plans to continue to invest in growing the Worcester airport for JetBlue and other scheduled airlines. There was a brief discussion regarding the revenue realized from operations. Mr. Glynn said the goal is to break even or make a little margin. Hanscom itself does not break even, but Logan offsets this, they are unsure if Worcester will be a profit center but with proper investment could very well be as successful as the investment made in South Boston Ms. Reiss asked if there is an aspect of the strategic plan directed at improving the profitability of Hanscom, and he said that there are no such plans at this time. It is working fine and there are other priorities for remedial efforts. The strategic plan will be posted on the Massport website when available in about eight weeks. The discussion was opened up to audience Mr Domnitz asked about the 1978 Master Plan and if the current plans are consistent with it. Ms. Goodspeed said there is nothing in the 1978 master plan that conflicts with MassPort's current vision for Hanscom. Concord resident Robert Grom, who lives near the airport, reported about recent noise events that woke him up and confirmed through local staff that a majority of them were corporate jets. The 2014 report showed this is an area of growth for MassPort. He inquired about the possibility of curtailing evening flights at Hanscom Ms Goodspeed said it was in the 1978 master plan to assess a surcharge for flights between the hours of 11 pm and 7am but this was written before the 1990 Airport Noise and Capacity Act (ANCA) which made restrictions more difficult to implement. There was a brief discussion regarding the role of the FAA in this despite the importance of Hanscom in their structure Residents were encouraged to attend the HFAC meetings. Judy Stein, Lincoln resident, asked for an update on the Jet Aviation project. It is currently is in litigation and under review by the DEP Concord resident Anna Winter said she realized MassPort is not looking to expand Hanscom borders but asked if they could meet with the communities to solidify the footprint and give assurances. She was told that that is the purpose of these meetings and the meetings often include elected officials Mr. Braun concluded the discussion and said a video of the meeting is available for those who want to review the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. He invited the attendees back when there is more information to share. Community Advisory Committee — Status Report The first meeting is scheduled for some time in April, which will be the beginning of a process to establish its governance, workplan, and staff. There was discussion about establishing a liaison understanding with the four towns' CAC representatives, including one or more of them attending a HATS meeting from time to time, once the CAC establishes itself. Air Force Base Task Force/MassDevelopment— Brief Status Report Ann Marie Dowd provided an email update that Mr Braun read. MassDevelopment met with Governor Baker, Lt Governor Polito and Secretary Ash in January to brief them on the activities of the Task Force and emphasize the need for reengagement HATS will keep this on the spring agenda Mr Braun reported that he has had dialogue with Mass. High Tech Council/DTI head, Chris Anderson, regarding his thoughts about the Task Force and about coming to a HATS meeting soon. Association of Defense Communities — Membership/Individual Access To Newsletter If anyone should be added to the email list, please let Mr. Braun know, so he can notify ADC Community Partnership (P-4) Initiatives — Status Reports There will be another coordinating committee meeting in May. Regulatory hurdles have been cleared to enable Bedford to provide salt brine. Lincoln and Concord continue to work with the Base on the potential addition of the Base into their existing paramedic arrangement. Regional Transportation and Other Concerns Rt. 2 Updates (Crosby Corner and 1-95 Bndae Projects) There is no work going on currently on the Crosby Corner project due to the severe winter weather. The delay was expected in the overall schedule, and work is expected to resume in March. There was a Rt 128 public meeting on Wednesday but no update on the bridge project. Feedback From January 22 Roundtable Discussion Ms. Reiss is a member of the Fiscal Policy Committee for the Mass Municipal Association. They recently had a presentation from ED of the MBTA Advisory Board regarding financial status and history, which included discussion of the possibility of increasing assessments to cities and towns that are part of the MBTA. Ms. Reiss said that the ED would be willing to come to a HATS meeting. There was a brief discussion regarding the impact of the lack of commuter rail service, even on Alewife, as well as planned assessments. Future Meetings There was a discussion regarding the HATS schedule as follows: March — No Meeting April 23 — Appoint Chair; Ms. Reiss to inquire about MBTA Advisory Board ED May 21 or June 4 - members to e-mail their preferences. July 23 — To Be Determined August - No meeting Potential topics include Task Force and Governor's Community Compact Cabinet Minutes — January 22, 2015: Ms. Reiss addressed two typos, and with those changes Mr. Braun asked for a motion to approve Mr. Rosenberg moved to approve. Ms. Reiss seconded the motion. There was no discussion on the motion. Vote: Approved 4-0-0 Mr. Braun will post the minutes on the HATS website. Mr. Rosenberg will look into including the MNP Superintendent in a future meeting with staff to update regarding plans for the National Park. Adjourn Mr. Pato moved to adjourn. Ms. Reiss seconded the motion. Vote. Approved 4- 0-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:47pm.