Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1987-11-17-HFA-min HANSCOM FIELD ADVISORY COMMISSION Minutes-November 17, 1987 In attendance were. Peter Barker Lexington Richard Theriault Lincoln Ben Obear A 0 P.A Robert Domnitz Merriam Hill Assoc Graydon Wheaton CAPA Liz Banks Lexington Minuteman Jane Farmer League of Women Voters M H. Wilfholm Digital Francesca de Van Massport Joyce Hals Massport Nancy B. Beecher Concord Selectman J. J. Hartka Raytheon Co P V Roberts Concord Robert Schaeberle Jet Aviation Brad Counihan Acton Jim Merageas FAA John McGovern Concord Resident-Pilot Larry Smith Cranberry Hill Assoc David Needham Lexington Ted July Hancom Pilots Assoc. Norm Faramelli Massport Michelle Matteo Bedford 1 Minutes Joyce Hals said that since the HFAC was generally dissatisfied with the minutes, Massport would no longer be responsible for recording the minutes . Robert Domnitz ques- tioned how Massport had determined the opinion of the HFAC on this issue, since no vote had been taken. He stated that the opinions about the minutes that had been expressed by individuals did not necessarily apply to all members of the HFAC Jane Farmer stated that it is normal for minutes of public meetings to be corrected after review, and that sometimes it takes several reviews before minutes are accepted. Michelle Matteo asked Robert Domnitz to record the minutes for the meeting There were no corrections to the minutes of the October 20, 1987 meeting 1 2 . Commission Relations and Massport This item was to be presented by Fred Marcus of Lincoln. However, Marcus resigned prior to the meeting. Michelle Matteo suggested a special open meeting with the HFAC and Massport management present to discuss issues of communications and HFAC effectiveness . A date for the meeting was not set. 3 . Massport Brochure "Hanscom Field - A Delicate Balance" Peter Barker questioned the process by which the brochure was published. He objected to the lack of HFAC input in the preparation and review of the manuscript. He believes the brochure gives the misleading impression that Hanscom is a good neighbor to the surrounding towns He distributed a document which described errors in the brochure. Jane Farmer agreed that there should have been review of this document by the HFAC prior to publication . Robert Domnitz said that the Communication Subcommittee should have been given an opportunity to review the brochure. He questioned whether a public relations approach that might be used by a private company was appropriate for a public agency As a new policy, Francesca de Van offered to present to the HFAC a draft copy of future brochures and press releases when time permits. De Van said this policy would be reviewed with the Public Affairs Committee of the Massport Board The results of that review will be reported at the next HFAC meeting. 4 . Railroad Spur Robert Domnitz reviewed the location and zoning of the railroad spur. Domnitz stated his belief that acquisition of the spur by Massport would violate the 1978 Master Plan for Hanscom Field. According to the Master Plan, land acquisition by Massport may occur only when essential to preclude major incompatible developments Since there is no major incompatible development planned for the railroad spur (Lexington has proposed use as a bikepath/conservation area ) , acquisition by Massport would appear to be outside the scope of the Master Plan. Domnitz offered a motion (see below) . Joyce Hals stated that Massport agrees that acquisition of the spur would violate the Master Plan Massport has therefore requested a two year delay in the sale of this parcel by GSA to give Massport time to issue a new Master Plan Norm Faramelli said that Massport did not intend to issue 2 a new Master Plan, but rather intended only to revise a few areas of the existing Master Plan. The following motion was offered by Domnitz and approved by the HFAC: MOVED: That the HFAC adopt the following position "Acquisition by Massport of the railroad spur at the eastern border of Hanscom Field would violate the 1978 Master Plan for Hanscom Field. " 5. Land Use Subcommittee Jane Farmer reported that a meeting of the Land Use Subcommittee was held on November 10 to review the plans and status of the Cranberry Hill easement At that meeting, Farmer reported that the Massport Board had voted conditional approval without HFAC comments or review. This vote was to grant a perpetual easement on 15, 000 s f. of land near Runway 5 in exchange for $15, 000 per year with adjustments indexed to inflation. Farmer stated that she only became aware of the board vote from an editorial in the Minuteman newspaper and, in several phone calls to Massport to arrange for the land-use meeting and mailing, was never told of the vote. Larry Smith presented a copy of the vote and conditions included as well as a copy of the easement agreement. Such information was not made available to the Land Use Subcommittee by Massport Smith stated that contact was made with Concord officials in the Health Department and Conservation Commission They felt there was no problem to any wells or ground water sources in their domain. Farmer reported that since there was no quorum of the Land Use Subcommittee, no formal comments were made regarding the proposal itself, but objections were made that Massport did not inform the HFAC earlier as some site problems were indicated during the summer. There were concerns by those present that this would establish a precedent for using Hanscom Field acreage to satisfy the needs of abutting developments that had on-site problems Also the fact that Massport had already voted made any action or comments by the HFAC seem irrelevant It was suggested that a lease restriction be included to prohibit industrial uses on the Cranberry Hill site, thus protecting the Massport land and ground water from any potential contaminates via the leach bed Also suggested was that a change of use notification clause be included to inform HFAC and area towns of any changes to site use Farmer reported that Warren Flint of the Lincoln Planning board stated that 3 his Board would be meeting Dec. 16 regarding this project and would welcome any comments . 6 . Noise Subcommittee Rich Theriault gave a brief description of his trip to the West Coast to survey airport noise monitoring systems. A complete description of his trip will be given at the next Noise Subcommittee meeting on December 3 Theriault stated that key features that were common to the sites he visited were a ) municipal control of the airports, b) a high level of competence among the staff at noise monitoring facilities , and c ) noise monitoring systems are used to measure individual operations only and are not used to measure aggregate noise A meeting of the Noise Subcommittee was held on November 5th. Peter Barker reported that one of the issues discussed at the meeting was the diminishing effectiveness of the night surcharge. Night operations have approximately doubled in the last year. Barker reported that his examination of Massport records indicates that the majority of surcharges are not being collected. Joyce Hals stated that Massport has no way to enforce collection of surcharges from itinerant operators who are based in other states. Jim Merageas stated that it would be unsafe to try to collect surcharges by approaching pilots while they are in their planes on the field. Robert Domnitz reported that the Noise Subcommittee meeting also examined revised EXP calculations that had been prepared by noise consultants Harris, Miller, Miller, and Hanson The new calculations were based on the landing noise characteristics of the various aircraft classes , rather than the takeoff noise characteristics . Since the majority of flights over Lexington are arrivals , it was felt that the landing noise characteristics might yield different behavior of EXP over the 1978-1987 period . This was not the case ; the EXP values showed basically the same behavior, regardless of whether landing or takeoff noise characteristics were used. The "landing" EXP will continue to be tracked on an annual basis for two more years before deciding whether there is any advantage with this method. 7 . Statistics Joyce Hals presented the October noise statistics. Groups 4 and 5 were responsible for most of the large increase this month. 4 8. Other Joyce Hals reported that a red substance found in the Shawsheen river was found to be iron oxide and could have been from rusting metal or natural iron deposits in the ground. Jim Merageas stated that the FAA will have to continue to test the ILS during early morning hours due to conflict with Logan operations. Tests will be run twice per year and whenever there is a complaint from a pilot New quiet planes will be used by the FAA starting in 1988 . Ben Obear stated that he had not been notified that a meeting was to take place between the HFAC and the new Airport Manager at Hanscom. He questioned whether this was a violation of the Open Meeting Law. Nancy Beecher questioned how information gets from the Massport Board to the HFAC Francesca de Van said she would bring the agenda for the MP Board meetings to the HFAC meetings for review. The MP Board meetings normally take place two days after the HFAC meetings Discussion of the MP Board agenda will be a monthly item on the HFAC agenda 5