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Home My WebLink About1976-09-28-GHTF-min.pdf GOVERNOR'S HANSCOM TASK FORCE MEETING MINUTES September 28, 1976 Estabrook Hall , Lexington Town Hall MEMBERS PRESENT Chairman R Langdon Wales , Lincoln Representative Allan F Kenney , Lexington Representative Mike Goulian, Mass Aviation Trades Association Maurice J Nolan , Raytheon, A I M Evan Y Semerjian, Citizen's Aviation Policy Association ABSENT Representative Carol C Amick, 37th Middlesex District Senator Chester G Atkins , Middlesex and Worcester Districts Arthur Barnes , Norumbega Association Senator John W Bullock, 4th Middlesex District Thomas P Callaghan, Massport Director of Community Affairs Michael W Christian, Massport Authority Board Representative Lincoln P Cole, Jr , 35th Middlesex District Representative Genevra R Counihan , 40th Middlesex District Representative Edward M Dickson , 38th Middlesex District Frederick L Hafer, Bedford Representative Senator Ronald C MacKenzie, 5th Middlesex District Jacquie Smith, League of Women Voters , MAC David E, Stephens, Concord Representative Representative Robert A Vigneau, 34th Middlesex District MASSPORT Tim Campbell , Staff assistant Albert V Brett , Jr , Chief, Research and Analysis Frank Hidinger, Hanscom Airport Manager STAFF Rita K Gilbert OTHERS PRESENT Henry J Crouse, Digital Equipment Corporation John Weber, Temple, Barker and Sloane Inc Bud Mathaisel , Temple, Barker and Sloane Inc Peter P Gallinaro, Burlington Dave Emerson, Massachusetts Aviation Education Council Judith Blume, Legislative Assistant Sen MacKenzie Vincent A. Scarano, FAA Manfred P Friedman, Lexington Planning Board and CAPA Bard Crawford , Merriam Hill Association William T Spencer, Merriam Hill Association Samuel Maddox, Minute Man Publications -2- DRAFT FINAL Chairman R Langdon Wales opened the meeting at 7 S 4 p m Al REPORT Brett said the draft final report was to be delivered to him SCHEDULE on October 4 for distribution and he would like to keep the number of copies to a minimum because of their cost The report will be a technical review of the 8 options , and will not make recommendations Copies will be distributed from the staff office to Evan Semerjian, Dave Stephens , Fred Hafer, Mike Goulian, Maurice Nolan, Arthur Barnes , Lang Wales , Jacquie Smith , Allan Kenney, Peter Gallinaro, FAA, the Air Force, Merriam Hill Association/CAPA, 2 to Massport and 1 for the staff office Those receiving the report are to review it for fairness , validity, accuracy and clarity of presentation and send their written comments to Rita Gilbert at the staff office by October 12 Maurice Nolan, chairman of the Master Plan Sub- committee will then meet with Fred Hafer, Dave Stephens , Allan Kenney, Lang Wales and Jacquie Smith to consider the comments , incorporate them, and pull it together This is to be done over the two-week period and then brought to the Task Force meeting on October 26 for review The tentative Task Force meeting for October 12 is cancelled GUEST Wales introduced John Weber and Bud Mathaisel of Temple, Barker CONSULTANTS and Sloane Associates , who made the Logan study on the effects of a curfew Weber said he had not prepared a speech, but rather would share his ideas and look for an interchange of information He said they never assumed an advocacy position but saw their role as fact finders , letting the political process determine positions on issues The Logan report was not a full economic impact study; and he enumerated the 4 aspects they covered 1) an opinion survey (primarily in E Boston) , 2) the impact of a night curfew on shippers , 3) the impact on passengers , and 4) the impact on the airlines themselves They were then able to express in money and jobs the effect of the proposed curfew Massport chose to do the social portion of the study to complete the report Wales said there are 2 levels of economic effect about which the Task Force is concerned, the net public cost or benefit, the tax effect of Hanscom Field, and how businesses are affected in terms of jobs , growth or relocation Semerjian pointed out that there are variables to be- considered at Hanscom that didn' t enter considerations at Logan Here we have many combinations of options affecting future, rather than present operations Dave Emerson emphasized Hanscom Field's role as a part of the national transportation system Mathaisel said their method of operation was to assign dollar values to the 2 aspects social impact of noise, polution and congestion , which lead to a decline in quality of life on the one hand and the airport as an economic machine - jobs , businesses etc , on the other Simplifying the economic analysis task by deleting options having little effect was suggested Semerjian said he saw small point in eliminating parts of the scenarios the Task Force had spent 2 years assembling An option considered -3- expendable today could be vital in the future Mathaisel questioned the validity of the options - could we define "acceptable" levels of operations For any option, can we state a goal? Can we measure whether the goal is met? Wales said the implied goal , that noise impact on neighborhoods must not increase, was primarily in mind in setting most of the alternatives Brett pointed out that there was little noise impact from any option except those that eliminate jets Semerjian said that whereas Logan had existing problems to deal with, the concern here is to plan now so as to avoid becoming locked in to future problems , and it is not now easy to see possible trade-offs Weber said his firm would have no problem establishing a baseline from which to project options , including projected economic impact COST ESTIMATE Wales posed the question of cost and asked - if the Task Force and Massport were able to reduce the options to 4 for the future of Hanscom, was it possible to get a very rough estimate of the cost of an economic impact study? The response was that it would be about $50 ,000 for a report that would cover only the present, and only the economic impact The consultants said that they have found American business to be very flexible; when confronted by obstacles , even those at first thought to be unsurmountable , they were usually able to adjust Although less drastic solutions were usually found, that could mean possibly relocating out of the area GUEST FROM Henry Crouse, Director of Administration of Digital Equipment DEC Corporation (DEC) and responsible for all their flight and ship- ping operations was introduced He is also a pilot and lives in Acton His company favors personal contact, and sees flying as a democratic tool enabling them to use efficiency and speed to get the job done Last year they moved over 20 ,000 people in their own aircraft from Hanscom Field , and want to stay in the area Their operations are world-wide, and they use Federal Express from Hanscom Field every night They recently bought a warehouse in Woburn , delaying that decision until the Logan curfew was decided Although they had considered cites ranging from New York to New Hampshire, they chose Woburn because of its proximity to route 128, Hanscom Field and Logan Their company i-s aggres- sive and competitive, they do not want to de-centralize, and would weigh small inconveniences against long-term advantages if the need for such a decision arose Semerjian said he saw un- certainty at Hanscom as not being in the best interests of DEC and other businesses ; decisions have to be made so industry can plan accordingly Crouse said that their facility in Woburn would mean 350 to 400 jobs for the area DEC has a history of being sensitive to the needs of the community, and he stresses that if life was made difficult for them by bans they would not behave irresponsibly, but clearly they also have to remain responsive to their customers ' needs to continue growing in a highly com- petitive market Wales adjourned the meeting at 9 45 p m