Worcester Telegram and Gazette

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Fitchburg airport closing costs scrutinized

FITCHBURG, MA — Airport Commissioner John Godek said yesterday he wants to know what it would cost to close the Municipal Airport so he can respond to city councilors who have raised that possibility.

“We have certain city councilors that every once in a while grow this weed out of the top of their head,” Mr. Godek said, adding that the councilors say they want to close the airport in order to get their names in the newspaper.

He said he wants a letter that would show the minimum sacrifice to the city if the airport was to be closed.

David A. Nelson, project manager with Gale Associates and a consultant for the airport, said Fitchburg would have to pay back any Federal Aviation Administration grants that are still active. The agency would go back 20 years for the grants and prorate the amount that must be paid, he said.

“The FAA will also go after the city for the value of the airport within the air transportation system,” Mr. Nelson said.

If Fitchburg Municipal Airport is taken out, the system as a whole has less value, Mr. Nelson said.

“And the FAA is looking to get compensated for that,” he said.

Mr. Nelson did not know what these costs would amount to.

Earlier this year, Councilor Stephan Hay proposed that the city look into closing the airport and finding a different use for the land.

Mr. Godek said the commission knows that the closing will not become a possibility, but he wants the letter to be put together.

Fitchburg is not unique in considering this, Mr. Nelson said, and the FAA may already have information on the subject.

For the most part, councilors do not investigate the ramifications, Mr. Godek said.

“They only think about the excitement of their comments,” he said.

It is a shame because the Fitchburg Municipal Airport is an asset to the community, Mr. Nelson said.

“It’s certainly not a liability,” he said.

Commissioner Jack Murray said he can appreciate Mr. Godek’s frustration, but the commission is at a point now where it needs to be working with the council.

Whether the airport could be put to better use already has been discussed on the front page of a newspaper, but there was no investigation of the ramifications, Mr. Godek said.

“I understand we need the City Council to work with us,” he said.

But, he said, “They haven’t been logical in their reasoning.”

Mr. Murray said the proposal may only involve one or two councilors.

Some city councilors do not look at the airport as an asset, Mr. Godek said.

Airport Manager Fred Guertin, a relative newcomer to the job, said he has been meeting with councilors and they are all willing to listen.

Mr. Guertin said he believes the councilors are willing to give himself and the commissioners a chance to manage the airport, and they realize it is under a new regime.

In other business, Commissioner Bob Boutwell said he has not been able to reach a Leominster planning official to see if airport representatives can make a presentation to the Leominster Planning Board.

The commission wants Leominster, which surrounds the airport on three sides, to be aware of air space issues when it is considering development. There has been concern expressed by a pilot who is worried that a secondary runway at the airport may eventually be forced to close because trees or buildings are obstructing its air space.

Mr. Boutwell said he has placed a number of telephone calls trying to reach Leominster Planning Director Kate Griffin-Brooks but she has not gotten back to him.

“I will go down personally tomorrow and talk to their office,” he said.

The Fitchburg Planning Board also is interested in this type of information, said Kit Walker, the commission chairman.

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