Plum Island (2B2) update
marc
Airport lease a done deal?
By JESON INGRAHAM
Daily News staff
PLUM ISLAND -- There is still no word if the group picked to reopen the Plum
Island Airport has signed a lease on the property, but it appears to be
close.
Marc Sarkady, president of the Plum Island Community Airfield Inc., said
yesterday that he did not have a statement to make, but promised that one
would be coming in a day or two. Rumors had been circulating in Newburyport
City Hall Friday that PICA had reached an agreement with the owners of the
property, the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
A lease would help secure the reopening the airport, which has been closed
since last November. Arthur Allen of Byfield, a member of the Massachusetts
Aeronautics Commission, said yesterday that he was familiar with the lease
agreement and was sure it would be signed.
Once the lease is signed, PICA will be one step closer to securing an
operator's license from the MAC. The state regulatory agency must also grant
a manager's license to Victor Capozzi of General Aviation Services in
Beverly, who will be handling daily operations at the airport. Both of those
things could happen this week, Allen said.
The future of the airport had looked grim in December 1999 when SPNEA
announced that they would let a lease run out on Richard Hordon, who ran the
airport more than 30 years, so they could close the airport.
The behind-closed-doors decision angered some members of the community. In
response, SPNEA embarked on a long process to reconsider their decision,
which included a safety study of the airport and an invitation to other
parties interested in becoming operators.
Earlier this year, SPNEA's search centered on a plan from PICA to build on
the airport's links to the history of aviation, passing over a proposal from
Hordon. SPNEA turned down Hordon's offer to sell nine acres he owned at the
eastern end of the runway in exchange for a lease on the property.
Hordon has since piled debris at the end of the runway to symbolize the 30
feet of airspace he is entitled to build under. The pile, made up of the
remains of a hangar that Hordon tore down, also limits the length of runway
that can be used by PICA.
Daniel Ford
non-pilots.
all the best -- Dan Ford (email: let...@danford.net)
see the Warbird's Forum at http://danford.net
and message board at http://www.dephi.com/annals
marc
"Daniel Ford" <cubd...@eudoramail.com> wrote in message
news:2vjqlt8hg413aubha...@4ax.com...
> A sad story, in which there are no winners except the egos of a few
> non-pilots.
Most or all of the persons involved are themselves pilots, i.e. the original
manager, the current operators, etc.
I think the original manager Horton got a raw deal. He had invested a lot of
himself into the airport for several decades and then got shut out. On the
other hand, I think this new group will do a good job. I hope Horton will
eventually accept the fact that he lost with a little more grace. There is
no point in being spiteful, even though he may be justified in feeling like
he got a bad deal.
marc
http://www.newburyportnews.com/
********
Barricade must go before airport opens
By JESON INGRAHAM
Daily News staff
PLUM ISLAND -- Planes will continue to steer clear of the Plum Island
Airport as long as a pile of wooden beams continues to be propped up on a
neighboring property east of the runway.
The Massachusetts Aeronautics Commission ruled yesterday that the airport is
not safe, due to arrangement of wooden trusses, held up by a front-end
loader, an old fuel truck and a detached plow, standing 27 feet tall at the
end of the runway.
The decision raises the prospect that the airport will not reopen without
more legal wrangling between the owners of the airport and Richard Hordon,
the man who steepened the barriers earlier this month.
Hordon ran the airport for more than 30 years before the owners, the Society
for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, failed to renew his lease
on the property.
Michael Lynch, SPNEA's vice president for property and preservation, was
anticipating word from the MAC yesterday that barricade had brought the
length of runway that pilots could use below the absolute minimum of 1,500
feet.
Lynch sounded optimistic that this was just another bump in trying to reopen
the airport, a reversal from an unpopular decision SPNEA made more than a
year ago to see it close. However, Lunch also noted SPNEA's interest in an
alternative plan for the property if plans for an airport fail.
The Aeronautics Commission's chief legal counsel said yesterday that the
pile was not safe, but made it clear that the regulatory agency was not
choosing sides. "We're very conscious of things that are local matters,"
said Wayne Kerchner.
Plum Island Community Airfield Inc., the group trying to reopen the airport,
has reportedly signed a lease on the property. But SPNEA is holding off on
the lease until legal issues are answered.
"We were uncomfortable with the idea of signing a lease for an airport that
may not be safe to operate," said Lynch.
Hordon has consistently stated that plans to keep the airport open would
have to go through him. SPNEA turned down a proposal to buy 9 acres to the
east of the airport from Hordon, which he then threatened to build homes on.
The barricades are his way of demonstrating the 30 feet of airspace he
believes he is entitled to build under by law.
Lynch said the Aeronautics Commission had led SPNEA's lawyers to believe
that Hordon could not do anything on his property that would conflict with
the needs of the airport. But that was before Hordon closed the airport last
November and relinquished his operator's certificate, raising questions
about whether the airport is permanently or temporarily closed.
Federal regulations prohibit any structures near airports from penetrating
certain airspace height. Anyone who plans to build even temporary structures
are supposed to file their plans with the Federal Aviation Administration.
Members of the Aeronautics Commission sad they are not aware of Hordon's
filing such papers. Hordon could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Lynch is still hopeful that the airport will be open this flying season.
SPNEA is working to regain trust in the community after announcing in
December 1999 that the airport would be closed.
SPNEA reversed course after conducting a safety study on the airport, which
ruled that the airport was not a threat to public safety or the nearby,
SPNEA-owned Spencer-Peirce-Little house. Earlier this year, SPNEA committed
itself to granting PICA a lease if the group won support for a proposal that
would draw on the airfield's historical qualities.
However, Lynch said SPNEA is not in control of getting a certificate from
the state. He has long maintained that SPNEA, a preservation group, wants to
stay out of the airport business and avoid any drawn out battles associated
with keeping the airport. (SPNEA inherited the property from in the early
1970s from the Little sisters).
Yesterday, he also took note of a "Plum Island Greenway" plan that has been
proposed by a group called Alliance Questioning Use of Airport as an
alternative to the airport.
"It's comforting to know that there is a plan being developed in the event
that an airport is not permitted," he said.
AQUA was allowed to meet at the airport with a few environmental groups
recently to promote a plan meant to link the airfield to nearby conservation
properties and trails and compliment nearby wetlands restoration projects.
When asked if SPNEA should have purchased the land now housing the wooden
barricade, Lynch reiterated SPNEA's reasons for rejecting an offer on the
property. He said Hordon had offered the property to SPNEA for $800,000.
That's the same amount that SPNEA budgets for capital expenses at its 35
museum properties, Lynch said.