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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-07-10-HATS-minHANSCOM AREA TOWNS COMMITTEE (HATS) July 10, 2024 at 7:00 pm Meeting MINUTES Pursuant to a notice duly filed with the Town Clerks of HATS member towns, the HATS meeting convened virtually by Zoom video conference. Present: Select Board Members: Mark Sandeen, Lexington Select Board and HATS Chair; Emily Mitchell, Bedford Select Board; Jim Hutchinson, Lincoln Select Board; Terri Ackerman, Concord Select Board. Other HATS Members: Margaret Coppe, Lexington at -large; Charles Hornig, Lexington Planning Board Member Guests: Simone Monteleone, Superintendent, Minuteman National Park; Mike Vatalaro, Massport; Jessica Casserly, HAFB Public Affairs; Trisha O'Hagan, Lincoln; Barbara Katzenberg, HFAC; Janet Miller; Bob McClatchey, Bedford; Corinne Doud, Bedford; Kati Winchell, Save Our Heritage; Maureen Richichi, Bedford Board of Health AGENDA 1. Welcome and Introductions: Chair Sandeen called the meeting to order at 7:01pm. Roll - call attendance: Mr. Hutchinson present, Ms. Mitchell present, Ms. Ackerman present, Chair Sandeen present. Ms. Mitchell confirmed she will take the minutes. Chair Sandeen acknowledged that Terri Ackerman has been officially appointed as the Concord Select Board member of HATS. 2. Approve Meeting Minutes from April 25, 2024, and May 23, 2024: Mr. Hutchinson moved to approve both sets of minutes as submitted; Ms. Mitchell seconded. Roll -call vote: Mr. Hutchinson aye, Ms. Mitchell aye, Ms. Ackerman aye, Chair Sandeen aye. The motion passed 4-0-0. 3. Municipal updates: Recent Municipal highlights, MBTA Community Status, and other initiatives. This item was taken out of order. Lincoln, Mr. Hutchinson: The Attorney General approved Lincoln's MBTA Communities plan, but they are still waiting for EOHLC's approval. The town has chosen an architect and OPM for its $25 million community center project, with an expected completion date at the end of 2025. Bedford, Ms. Mitchell: Special Town Meeting on June 11 approved $32 million in construction funding for the new fire station at 139 Great Road. STM also approved a TIF agreement for STR, a defense contractor planning to relocate from Woburn. Bedford recently received a $500,000 state grant to improve signalization and reduce bottlenecks along the Great Road corridor. Lexington, Chair Sandeen: The Select Board released an RFP to build approximately 40 new affordable housing units on Town property for people making 60% AMI; they expect to select a developer in the fall. The new police station is open, with a ribbon - cutting held recently. Lexington's Town Manager, Jim Malloy, will be retiring in September; the search committee is receiving resumes and is hoping to have a new Town Manager in place by October. More developers are presenting proposals under the MBTA Communities zoning, for a total of 760 new units, including 101 affordable units. The Lexington Housing Assistance Board has received legislative approval to become an independent 501(c)(3) organization, for several reasons including to encourage donations to support affordable housing, and they've already received a sizable donation. The Town is undertaking a feasibility networked geothermal feasibility study to determine whether lab and life science buildings and multi -family residential housing buildings can be included on the same networked geothermal heat pump loop. Concord, Terri Ackerman: Concord Town Meeting approved its MBTA Communities zone, and are expecting state approval soon. August 11 is Concord's official launch/countdown event for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, 250 days prior to April 18, 2025. The Concord Select Board and 250th Committee will be requesting a no-fly zone at the Old North Bridge on April 18, and may be asking for HATS support in that request. 4. Hanscom Field North Airfield development project and DEIR—Updates and Discussion: This item was taken out of order. Chair Sandeen summarized Secretary Tepper's response to the DEIR, which determined that the DEIR was insufficient and required the proponents to submit a supplemental DEIR to address issues raised by the secretary and in public comments. Chair Sandeen proposed that HATS members may wish to meet with the developers directly to discuss town concerns. Mr. Hutchinson proposed that HATS plan to prepare a response to the SDEIR whenever it is submitted. Ms. Mitchell noted that no date or deadline for the SDEIR was provided by the secretary. Chair Sandeen suggested that the information requested in the SDEIR was fairly extensive, so it may take a while to prepare. Ms. Ackerman agreed that meeting with the developers is a good idea. Mr. Hutchinson asked if the purpose of the meeting would be to emphasize the concerns raised by the towns and HATS; Chair Sandeen confirmed. Chair Sandeen also suggested that a meeting may be a way to build a relationship with the developers going forward, and to ensure that the developers respond specifically to our concerns in the SDEIR. Mr. Hutchinson suggested that meeting with the developers may not be in our interests, as it may be seen as offering assistance to the developers. Ms. Mitchell noted that the contact people for Massport and their tenants tend to be staff, not elected officials, and she wondered how such a meeting would be received or understood by residents. Ms. Ackerman agreed that a meeting may not be the right course of action. Mr. Hutchinson stated that the developers' response within the SDEIR will be instructive: the hope is that they take the concerns seriously and address them adequately. Mr. Hutchinson noted that concerns about this development are bound up with the proposed changes to Massport's charter, to be discussed later; he expressed interest in meeting with Massport to discuss those issues. Margaret Coppe suggested HATS should invite Massport's new CEO to an upcoming meeting, to discuss concerns that the towns have. Bob McClatchey of Bedford agreed with Mr. Hutchinson's statement that HATS should not be seen as helping the developers in preparing its SDEIR. He also noted that he wrote to Secretary Tepper regarding health issues associated with emissions, based on recent research he had studied. Trisha O'Hagan of Lincoln expressed support for HATS members meeting face-to-face with the developers, as she found the earlier public meetings insufficient. Mr. Hutchinson expressed some sympathy for having a "tough" public meeting with the proponents in the fall, but would not want to have such a meeting any sooner than that, to allow for public awareness. Chair Sandeen noted that he has invited the proponents to attend HATS meetings in the past, but they have not accepted the offer. 5. Massport ESPR Updates and Discussion: This item was taken out of order. Chair Sandeen noted that the deadline for public comments has been extended from July 15 to September 12. He asked if HATS wanted to prepare a response to the ESPR, and if so, what topics it should cover and how it should be drafted and reviewed. Ms. Mitchell noted that she has written a draft response for the Town of Bedford, with the main concern being the absence of the proposed North Airfield development in any of the forecasts regarding airport activity, noise, or emissions. Chair Sandeen suggested topics could include airport activity levels and air quality, greenhouse gas emissions including new criteria for pollutants, would be key issues to address in a HATS response. He also called out the statement within the ESPR that Minuteman National Park serves as a "buffer" to the airport. Ms. Monteleone said that the Park will be preparing its own response and will be strongly pushing back on that characterization. Ms. Ackerman noted that wetland and wildlife areas in Concord were also characterized this way. Chair Sandeen noted that some of the documents used to assess pollutant levels in the ESPR are out of date, and suggested that the HATS response should emphasize the need to include data on ultrafine particles and more current EPA and state standards for pollutants. Ms. Ackerman suggested adding concerns about noise levels to a HATS response, noting that the metrics reported in HFAC meetings may need updating. Mr. Hutchinson encouraged including a statement about promoting greater sustainability in all aviation activity, as well as buildings. Ms. Coppe noted that Christopher Eliot, HFAC chair, developed a document with 58 points to address, and suggested this list could be incorporated into a HATS response. Mr. Hutchinson suggested that HATS's strategy should be to winnow down issues into the most important points, which is more likely to pass muster with all four Select Boards. Ms. Katzenberg, who has been drafting the HFAC response to the ESPR, noted that HFAC's response will be a simple set of points, with an appendix that includes the issues Mr. Eliot enumerated. She suggested including concerns about the forecasting methodology, and the assumed relationship between increases in aviation activity and economic benefits. She would like to see multiple forecasts, including at least one showing a potential decline in aviation activity, and what those impacts would be. Ms. O'Hagan suggested contacting Quiet Communities as a resource for issues surrounding noise. Chair Sandeen asked how HATS could prepare and finalize a response. Mr. Hutchinson suggested scheduling a meeting in early September to review and finalize a letter in advance of the September 12 deadline. Ms. Mitchell noted that it may be challenging to get the signoffs of all four Select Boards prior to that meeting. Mr. Hutchinson asked if Ms. Mitchell could share the Bedford letter; Ms. Mitchell agreed to share it after the Bedford Select Board has reviewed and approved it, which could happen as early as July 22. Chair Sandeen suggested that the HATS comment letter will focus on three or four issues that are highly related to issues raised in the DEIR response, specifically air quality, aircraft activity levels, and noise. Chair Sandeen will draft the letter. 6.n]gt e B iiilll„Ill , m ,2.,.9—proposed changes to Massport's Charter*— Discussion: This item was taken out of order. Chair Sandeen outlined the sections of the bill (82 and 83) that would amend the Massport Charter from 1956 to include a requirement to reflect climate considerations and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of its regular goals and operations. Mr. Hutchinson expressed strong support for this bill, to require state agencies and entities to work toward the state's own climate goals. He asked if members knew what the best strategy is for getting this bill adopted. Chair Sandeen asked if the other members were supportive of the proposed charter changes. Ms. Mitchell and Ms. Ackerman confirmed that they were. Chair Sandeen noted that the House is pursuing its own climate bill, which has a narrower focus than the Senate bill, and that there may be an opportunity in conference committee to ensure that the proposed charter changes are included. He suggested that if the House bill doesn't include Sections 82 and 83, HATS members could ask our representatives to include those sections, so the bills would match on that point. He anticipated that Senator Barrett would be a likely member of a conference committee. Ms. Ackerman asked if any representatives are opposed to the bill; Chair Sandeen suggested that the Speaker is the primary decision maker in this instance. Chair Sandeen asked if HATS members would be willing to send a letter to our legislators noting our support for this charter change. Ms. Mitchell noted she would be comfortable doing this as long as the letter made it clear that members were writing in their capacity as HATS members only, and were not representing their Select Boards or towns; Mr. Hutchinson agreed. Ms. Mitchell moved that Chair Sandeen draft and send a letter to our state representatives, copying our state senators, expressing support for including language similar or equal to Sections 82 and 83 in S. 2829 in the House climate bill. Mr. Hutchison seconded. Roll -call vote: Mr. Hutchinson aye, Ms. Mitchell aye, Ms. Ackerman aye, Chair Sandeen aye. The motion passed 4-0-0. 7. Other Hanscom and Massport Updates: Hanscom Air Force Base, Massport, and related agencies and boards Jessica Casserly from HAFB reported that the base held a Change of Responsibility on July 9: Chief Weary has retired as second -in -command, and Chief Master Sergeant Jason Vollmer from Florida will assume that role. On July 10, the base held a Change of Command: Hanscom's new base commander is Colonel Jorge Jimenez from Hawaii. Colonel Jimenez looks forward to meeting with local officials and community members soon. Chair Sandeen asked about the letter sent by the Air Force on July 2 about the Environmental Assessment it is preparing related to its upcoming Integrated Natural Resources Management plan. Ms. Casserly will find out more and report back to HATS. Chair Sandeen noted that Amber Goodspeed was unable to attend tonight's meeting. Mr. Vatalaro said he had no updates from Massport to report. 8. Discussion of Future Meeting Schedule & Topics: Mr. Hutchinson suggested September 4 or 5 for the next meeting; Ms. Mitchell said September 5 would be better for her. The members confirmed September 5 for the next meeting, chiefly to review and approve the HATS response to the ESPR. 9. Adjourn: Mr. Hutchinson moved to adjourn. Ms. Ackerman seconded. Roll -call vote: Mr. Hutchinson aye, Ms. Mitchell aye, Ms. Ackerman aye, Chair Sandeen aye. The motion passed 4-0-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:27pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Emily Mitchell, Bedford Select Board * SECTION 82. The first paragraph of section 2 of chapter 465 of the acts of 1956 is hereby amended by inserting after the first sentence the following sentence:- In discharging its responsibilities and exercising its powers under this chapter, the Authority shall, with respect to itself and the entities with which it contracts or conducts business and in a manner consistent with any act of congress relating to aeronautics or any regulations promulgated or standards established pursuant thereto, promote commerce, economic prosperity, safety and security in and for the commonwealth while prioritizing environmental resilience and equity and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. SECTION 83. Section 3 of said chapter 465, as most recently amended by section 2 of chapter 660 of the acts of 1977, is hereby further amended by striking out subsection (g) and inserting in place thereof the following subsection: - (g) To extend, enlarge, improve, rehabilitate, lease as lessor or lessee, maintain, repair and operate the projects under its control and to establish rules and regulations for the use of any such project; provided, however, that the Authority shall, with respect to itself and the entities with which it contracts or does business and in a manner consistent with any act of congress relating to aeronautics or to any regulations promulgated or standards established pursuant thereto, undertake such activities and promulgate such rules and regulations to promote commerce, economic prosperity, safety and security in and for the commonwealth while prioritizing environmental resilience and equity and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions; provided further, however, that no such rules or regulations shall conflict with the rules and regulations of any state or federal regulatory body having jurisdiction over the operation of aircraft; provided further, however, that in the enforcement of such rules and regulations the police officers appointed or employed by the Authority under section 23 shall have within the boundaries of all projects all the powers of police officers and constables of the cities and towns of the commonwealth except the power of serving and executing civil process.