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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-01-19-HFA-min HANSCOM FIELD ADVISORY COMMISSION MINUTES- JANUARY 19 , 1988 In attendance were Barbara Patzner Airport Manager Michelle Matteo Bedford Peter Barker Lexington Richard Theriault Lincoln Paul Roberts Concord Ed Farnsworth Carlisle Robert Domnitz Meriam Hill Associates Ben Obear AOPA John Wraga Beechcraft John McGovern Pilot-Concord Peter Reid Hanscom Tenant Robert Weiss Air Travel Journal/Travel N E Ken Picoulino Pilot Al Schmertzler HPA Lincoln Jim Merageas FAA Tower Michael Dye Jet Aviation Norm Fredkin Raytheon Henry Wilfholm Digital Bob Lombardo Beechcraft Theresa Szymanski Jet Aviation Francesca De Van Massport Joyce Hals Massport Sara Arnold Massport Evelyn Parent Hanscom Pilots Assoc /HPA Mel Berman HPA Andrew Ostrom HPA Will Lunn Catskill Airways Jane Farmer LWV Larry Ingber -2- 1 Minutes There were no corrections to the November 17th Minutes A lengthy discussion followed, concerning whether Massport should resume taking the minutes, as they had previously through October 20, 1987 HFAC members took the minutes of the November and January meetings since Massport felt that HFAC appeared generally dissatisfied with earlier Massport minutes and should take the minutes to properly reflect HFAC views Several HFAC members Bob Domnitz, Michelle Matteo and others were uncomfortable with HFAC taking the minutes since, not being trained stenographers, pertinent details could be missed and the minutes could vary considerable from month tc month depending on the individual taking the minutes While some felf that exact quotes and by whom were important, most appeared _ favor of the minutes reflecting an overview or sense of what transpired, wit'. details only when necessary for items such as motions and factual data Other possible alternatives discussed for the minutes were for Massport to furnish a stenographer to record the meeting in shorthand, use of a tape recorder and for HFAC to obtain funds for a stenographer Since a majority c HFAC members were satisfied with the minutes being taken by Massport, as long as they were appropriately reviewed by HFAC, a motion was proposed as follows in support of Massport taking the minutes Motion "The Commission is generally satisfied with minutes taken by Massport, and minutes should be limited to approximately two pages in the future with no more than a concise paragraph expressing opinions " The motion was noted affirmative by the HFAC and Barbara Patzner agreed Massport would take the minutes in the future 2 State of Hanscom Presentation It is a tradition for Massport to give the "State of Hanscom" report of accomplishments for the past year and goals for the coming year at the Januar HFAC meeting Barbara Patzner, the new Hanscom Airport Manager, who was introducted to HFAC members and attendees by Chairman, Michelle Matteo, gave the 1988 address f copy of the State of Hanscom report was mailed to the HFAC list by Massport with the January meeting notice The intention to continue Hanscom as a general aviation airport was stated, along with legitimate concern for the impact of operations on surrounding communities as well as the needs of aviation In 1987 a study by the FAA, Massport and the Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission which evaluated a numb€ of airports including Hanscom, concluded that Hanscom should continue as a general aviation airport and confirmed Massport's opinion that it's role in general aviation should not be altered The intent to abide by the 1987 Master Plan which has resulted in a decade of very limited growth and fairly -3- constant noise levels was also stated Massport also intends to study and implement a noise monitoring system in conjunction with HFAC, and improve slit regional land use Much of the committee discussion concerning the State of Hanscom Report concerning the State of Hanscom Report centered around Massport's PACE program, to relieve congestion at Logan Airport These discussions are covered in the following item 3 PACE program Peter Barker of HFAC, with help from others, expressed the intent of writing a review of the State of Hanscom Report, covering HFAC questions on several issues including PACE 3 PACE Program The Program for Airport Capacity Efficiency (PACE) nas been described by Massport's David Davis in HFAC and Massport meetings The next meeting for further clarification is scheduled at Logan Hilton on February 22nd at 6 00 p m The program arose due to increased congestion and reported safety problems at Logan The overall goal is to remove a substantial portion of general aviation flights from Logan through higher fees, control during peak landing times and diversion of about 7 percent to other airports such as Hanscom, Lawrence, Beverly, Norwood and Stow According to Massport, only about 9 flights a day should be diverted to other airports such that the increase should not be very noticeable at Hanscom Members of HFAC, Richard Theriault and Michelle Matteo questioned how the nir flights per day diverted to other airports was arrived at and expressed concern that the number could exceed nine per day It was emphasized by Massport that nine would not all be at Hanscom, and that some of these could be commuter flights Commuter aircraft at Logan are defined as less than 60 passengers (or Commuter aircraft defined as 30 passengers for Hanscom Field) It was also stated by Barbara Patzner that Massport must provide for commercial aviation needs at Logan and it's market area beyond the year 2000, and also mentioned use of larger aircraft to help relieve congestion Rich Theriault expressed community concern for the increased PACE traffic at Hanscom and also listed the Civil Terminal development (Greiner) plan, commuter flights and possible land acquisitions as laying the groundwork for future commuter growth at Hanscom Massport stated tht market demand was moE significant from a commuter standpoint and several in attendance stated that commuters had historically not done well at Hanscom Joyce Hals stated that Massport would have an analyst at the next HFAC meeting to better clarify hoc. up to nine PACE flights a day at airports other than Logan was arrived at Ben Obear of AOPA felt Logan's problems could be solved and cited an Aero Cli. Report by Crocker Snow indicating that capacity could be increased 25% at Logan while decreasing noise 4 Catskill Airways Catskill Airways of Oneonta, New York, has applied for commuter service between Utica/Rome and Hanscom with one round trip starting on April 4, 198E -4- and two round trips starting on August 1, 1988 It was stated that Catskill is not affiliated with any major airline Catskill would use 15 passenger Beech 99 turbo prop aircraft for this service The airline would also like i initiate service between Hanscom and Newark airports using 19 passenger Beecl 1900 turbo prop aircraft As an alternate, Catskill would use quieter Briti€ Airstream J31 aircraft The Beech 99 and 1900 aircraft reportedly have lower noise levels than most business jets operating at Hanscom Michelle Matteo pointed out on page 9, item 2 , of the Environmental Notification Plan that there were residential areas and schools in Lexington in the flight path and that it should be so noted The 'IQ answers on page 4 with respect to effects on open space and recreation area, historic and archeological resources and the ecology were also questioned Joyce Hals predicted little overall effect based upon the Generic Environmental Impact (GEIR) It was also brought out that Catskill had one year to use a certificate, after which it would become null and void 5 Noise Subcommittee and GEIR The next Noise Subcommittee meeting is February 9th at 7 30 p m at the Massport conference room It was stated that the final draft of the Generic Environmental Impact Report (GEIR) would be available for review by the GEIR Subcommittee prior to the next HFAC meeting The GEIR Subcommittee will be rescheduled 6 Statistics and Planning Joyce Hals of Massport presented noise, EXP, along with a number of complaint and operations data, from September to December 1987 The data generally followed patterns through 1987 with noise apparently peaking in October ThE annual noise report should be ready in March and preliminary plans for the noise monitoring system should be available in April It was pointed out by HFAC that night operations had doubled and Rich Theriault felt that night operations should be looked at separately with attention given to possible stiffer night penalites Joyce Hals wanted to look at the overall effect on noise, EXP, before drawing conclusions on the effect of night operations and the need for changed noise procedures It was agreed that the Noise Subcommittee should consider increased surcharges with stronger collection enforcement as well as changes in night noise procedures, if warranted by moi detailed analyses of night time noise data 7 Other Because of the heavy agenda for the January 19th HFAC meeting, scheduled discussion of Airfield Deicing and additional discussion of Noise and the GEI will be covered at the next HFAC meeting _ s — Considerable discussion took place at the January 19th meeting concerning how and to what degree the HFAC impacts Massport decisions concerning Hanscom It was stated by Rich Theriault that the towns did not share regulatory authority and were in a somewhat secondary position from a decision making standpoint Peter Barker questioned procedures, if changes were needed from a community standpoint Michelle Matto stated that although Massport had the decision making authority they have not violated zoning laws and have generally recognized community inputs It was pointed out that town representatives had some authority in enforcing the Master Plan as well as through their political representatives Joyce Hals stated that the GEIR provides for changes in noise rules when the communities are unduly impacted and also that Massport has continuously recognized and acted on legitimate community concerns, such as the Cerasuolo land, negative reaction to a hotel and future plans for a noise monitoring system