Runaway Runway
Noise? What noise?
Here we go again, as we knew we would. The City of Bridgeport and the CT Post are jumping all over the the “crash” of a plane into the blast fence last week. Let us be clear here. It is not about “safety”. If it were, the FAA by law, regulation and just common sense would have shut it down years ago. If it actually were about safety, the City of Bridgeport could simply sign an agreement that they will never expand the runways into Stratford and this “safety” zone is all they will ever ask for. The City of Bridgeport has refused. So much for “safety”.
What it is about is the City of Bridgeport’s acquisition of more Stratford land for free. It doesn’t get any more complex than that. If they are able to acquire more land and extend the runway to the magical 5,000 ft, larger and more frequent aircraft will be able to take-off and land. The revenue for the City of Bridgeport goes up and the property values in the 1st and 2nd districts go down. That will raise property taxes in the 3rd through 10th districts.
This is nothing more than extortion and theft by the City of Bridgeport.
Filed under: Stratford Political Theater | 13 Comments
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Citizens
phineast on Thank You! 1george1 on Thank You! 1george1 on Thank You! jezebel282 on Thank You! phineast on Thank You! sylvia67 on We Still Have Plenty Left 1george1 on Is EMS Best? 1george1 on Thank You! 1george1 on We Still Have Plenty Left jezebel282 on We Still Have Plenty Left phineast on We Still Have Plenty Left jezebel282 on We Still Have Plenty Left jezebel282 on Is EMS Best? jezebel282 on Thank You! 1george1 on Thank You!
Phin:
“with regard to the airport-the situation is indeed at the turning point. i know and respect the perspective of all that live in lordship with regard to not wanting their lives disrupted and their quality of life ruined as there is no trade off for them. but out of curiousity, i wonder how the rest of the town including lordship would feel if stratford had a 50% ownership with bridgeport(with no cost to the taxpayers) of the airport and that one of the conditions of the safety zone would be to have the tower manned 24/7. this is one of the senarios that has been batted around through higher circles-that bridgeport take the initial $$ loss to move the project forward as the loss to stratford would be in quality of life issues. this was discussed as a potential jump start to the region….”
There has never been an offer made by the City of Bridgeport that incurs any expense or revenue sharing on their part.
One last point: It is not just about Lordship or the 2nd District. The Town depends upon all of it’s districts for revenue. When one declines it must be made up by the others.
I was typng # 2 while Jeze was posting # 1.
I wonder about the purchase of the AIRPORT, on the AGENDA of the
Town Council for the last few years?
I wonder about the greedy plans of the Republican cabal, which
needs to change the Town Party BUY LAST, becasue they can not
get a QUORUM?
I wonder about those long term plans of the GREEDY LAWYERS?
I wonder if we are seeing another cover story, where a couple of
their patsies were back stabbed, like they back stabbed others?
Or I wonder, if we have a HOSTILE TAKE OVER, where the FEDS
finally decided to take ALL of the MARBLES?
Jez, I hear what you are saying….I was privvy to a discussion on the issue of the revenue sharing/ownership-partnership idea that is being bounced around. Bpt needs cash and a lot of it right now so it is not an offer that they will make willingly but an offer that they may be forced to make via the feds….kind of like Stfd being forced to relocate the road.
Phin,
And there is that nagging “no more expansion” commitment. That’s free.
As posted in the past.
FDR: In politics there is no such thing as co-incidence.
Geo: Everything is Stratford is on someone’s timetable.
With Miron effectually out of the way …
and/or needing powerful friends …
I wonder?
Update:
And Bridgeport wonders why no one in Stratford trusts them?
DEP says Sikorsky Airport tide gates need to be fixed
Written by John Kovach
Thursday, 02 July 2009
The state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has issued notices of violation to Sikorsky Memorial Airport and the city of Bridgeport regarding tide gates near the airport.
“They’re going after Bridgeport to fix their tide gate,” said Stratford Councilman Thomas Moore.
Sikorsky Memorial Airport Manager John Ricci said that Bridgeport was talking with the DEP, and that repairs to the area would most likely be coupled with safety improvements to the city-owned airport that is located entirely in Stratford.
According to a May 19 letter, the violations were found during inspections of property between Sniffens Lane and Dorne Drive in Stratford conducted Oct. 29, 2008 and April 1, 2009.
One notice cites the airport and its owner, the city of Bridgeport, and its consultant on proposals to add runoff areas to runways.
“I think what we’ll be able to do is tie the whole thing to our safety improvements,” Ricci said.
Peter B. Francis, supervising environmental analyst for the Office of Long Island Sound Programs, wrote, “Such structures are in poor condition and as such have resulted in poor tidal exchange between the tidal lagoon and the upstream tidal creeks.”
Moore, who photographed the site, found a concrete shaft left covered. “If someone falls in there, they’re done,” he said. “They’re not getting out. The water is four and a half feet deep at low tide.”
Another cites the airport and three families who own adjacent property for installing a road that has interfered with tidal flow.
The road is old, DEP Senior Environmental Analyst Kevin Zawoy said, and was created without state permits, among others.
“The work actually closed off any tidal connection within that creek,” said Zawoy, adding this can lead to flooding.
“Tidal water can’t get into that area and can’t get out — all the problems with the non-maintained culvert and tide gate structures on airport property,” he said.
The notice gave Bridgeport 30 days to submit in writing the steps it has taken to correct the issue. “We made contact with both the adjacent property owners and the Sikorsky Airport manager,” Zawoy said.
Good job Tom Moore on the Tidal Gate.
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Condolences to Laura Dorobz (?) who lost her grand dad.
Laura told me 2 years ago she had been helping out with
her grand parents, in addition to work and other things.
Stratford sold out again!
How many different ways and by how many different people can Stratford be sold out?
City Council OKs court-brokered airport deal
By Linda Conner Lambeck
STAFF WRITER
Updated: 07/06/2009 11:35:24 PM EDT
BRIDGEPORT — A court-brokered settlement on two pending lawsuits concerning Sikorsky Memorial Airport won a silent nod from the City Council Monday after members heard the details in executive session.
With 14 members present, only Council Member Robert Walsh, D-132, voted against the resolution. Later, he said he didn’t want to publicly say why.
City Attorney Mark Anastasi said the matter now goes back to federal court to advise Senior U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight that the deal is finalized.
“They have all of our approvals,” Anastasi said.
The deal would reportedly give the city the acre it needs to build a safety zone at the airport. Bridgeport Airport Services would get the nearby Stratford Army Engine Plant’s 4,000-gallon water tank, three pumping systems and pipeline as well as access to sewer services. Hollywood East/Area 51 would then close its deal with the Army to buy the engine plant so it can develop a movie production studio.
One lawsuit was filed in March by Bridgeport against the U.S. Army over legal title to the 1.075-acre plot being sold to Hollywood East. The second, filed a week later, pitted Bridgeport Airport Services against Bridgeport over fire suppression and sanitary sewage systems. The suits halted the engine plant’s sale in April.
The deals comes after a crash landing last month at the airport of a chartered single-engine plane. The plane skidded into a runway. No one on board was injured. In 1994, a similar crash killed eight people. The Federal Aviation Administration recommended the safety buffer zone. Bridgeport, which owns the airport, agrees. Stratford, where the airport is located, opposed the airport expansion. Stratford was not party to either lawsuit.
WOW! I guess NO ONE on the Council wants to get re-elected, huh???
Apparently not.
Update:
Yet again the Bridgeport Post takes time to justify theft:
We need to make airport deal a reality
Updated: 12/08/2009 05:42:13 PM EST
A long-coming, hard-won deal that may save lives and give a substantial boost to economic development in Stratford seems to be within reach.
Let’s not let it fail at this point.
It’s expected that next week U.S. District Court Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. is going to put the final touches on a multi-pronged deal that will, among other things, free up a 1.07-acre parcel that is central to the plan.
The intertwining pieces and parties include the town of Stratford, the city of Bridgeport, the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Army and the former Army Engine Plant and Sikorsky Memorial Airport.
Among the positives that could come out of this is creation of the long-needed safety zone for a runway at the airport, the re-routing of a small portion of Main Street in Stratford and development of the long unused Stratford Army Engine plant into a movie production and digital imaging facility.
The safety zone has been frequently mischaracterized as a runway extension. But what will be installed is 300 feet of what’s known as an Engineered Materials Arresting System, which essentially is lightweight, crushable concrete that crumbles under the weight of an airplane and decelerates it.
As it is now, an airplane that overshoots this particular runway decelerates by running into a fence.
Remarkably, both Stratford’s mayor, James Miron, and Bridgeport’s, Bill Finch, have praised the judge’s actions in this case. It’s the first thing related to the airport that the two communities have agreed upon in decades. THAT doesn’t tell you something?
It’s a win-win situation if ever there was one: potential jobs and tax revenue for the town from the rejuvenated plant, elimination of a dicey curve and flooding from the rerouting of Main Street, and, most important, improved safety at the airport.
The parties need to stand strong and together until the final i’s are dotted and t’s crossed.
You see, here’s the problem; Bridgeport only promises potential tax revenue and jobs. There is simply no proof of that. What Bridgeport definitely gets is free land, free water, free sewer usage and a free expanded runway. What’s Stratford so upset about, anyway? Lower property values? Lower property tax revenue? Who cares?
Remember your promise Mayor Harkins. Let’s keep Stratford for Stratford.
Remember your promise Mayor Harkins. Let’s keep Stratford for Stratford.
2005 EPA Bulletin # 44 shows land across from the AIRPORT is a Raymark
DUMP SITE.
It is 17 pages for “PE” nuts.
It has maps and legends locating each dump site and ground water plume.
It has descriptions of the situations.
IF there were NO DANGER from GROUND WATER and VOLITILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS, then why did the EPA spend over $ 1 million for VENTS /
ALARMS in 110 residential basements.
Question?
If that 250 acre water plume contains a HEALTH DANGER, what about the
TOXINS in the DUMP SITES across from the Airport runway and leeches
directly into the MARSH and ……S H O R T B E A C H?
I hope there is LOWER concentrations of certain Chemicals….
I wonder why they fired E L A I N E O ‘ K E E F E ??
I was surprized to learn and confirmed by Marcia Stewartm that Bridgeport already owned certain land on the other side of Main Street.