Hanscom Area Towns Selectmen - HATS
Committee Meeting Minutes of February 26, 2004
7:30 p.m., Lincoln Town Offices
In Attendance: Selectmen Sara Mattes (Lincoln) - Chairman, Sheldon Moll (Bedford), and Anne Shapiro (Concord). Peter Enrich – HFAC Representative. Julian Bussgang - Environmental Subcommittee (ESC). Sara Arnold and Richard Walsh – Massport. Carolyn Weaver recorded the minutes.
Absent: Jeanne Krieger – Lexington Selectman
1. Introduction - The meeting was called to order at 7:33 p.m. Ms. Mattes welcomed everyone and asked everyone to introduce themselves.
2. Minutes - The meeting minutes of November 24, 2003 will be considered for approval at the next HATS meeting in March.
3. Review of Agenda - A presentation on privatization will be made at next month’s HATS meeting by a HAFB representative. Specific questions about the privatization process should be sent in advance to Ms. Mattes, who will forward them to Mr. Corcoran at the base. All questions need to be sent via email to mattes50@aol.com to allow adequate preparation of responses. Other Business will include a discussion of the warrant articles from each of the 4 towns in support of the base. And
Nancy Nelson will give an overview of the MNHP planning project. Ms. Nelson was invited to discuss park operations, management, and budget in greater detail at the March HATS meeting.
Ms. Nelson asked for input from the Planning Departments of the 4 Towns on the major planning initiatives being undertaken as part of a general management plan update.
4. Alan MacDonald - Mass. Development – Mr. MacDonald explained the structure of the statewide effort to defend military installations against closure. Governor Romney and Senator Kennedy co-chair the operation with support from the Congressional delegation. Chris Anderson of Mass. High Technology Council, is serving as president of the Mass Defense Technology Initiative. (MassDTI). Mr. Anderson has formed a senior executive leadership team made up of a group of individuals from the community in academia, the private sector, high technology and non-profit organizations. Mr. MacDonald is the designated full-time staff person at Mass Development on this project. Several other groups are being formed, including an Installation Improvement Committee
(IIC), comprised of members of the HAFB community. As liaison from HATS, Ms. Mattes was asked to join the IIC, along with members of Massport, congressional leaders and members of the business community. The core objectives of this group are 1) to demonstrate why it is critical for HAFB to remain operational and 2) to address DOD concerns about the high cost of operations and space limitations at Hanscom.
MassDTI has requested the release of the evaluation criteria process, and specifically the sub-criteria, used by the DOD to quantify how base closure decisions are made. They are concerned that the intellectual capability of the area is not reflected in the evaluation process and therefore HAFB may not be recognized as a unique military installation. Final criteria, released in February 2004, were similar to that of previous BRAC rounds. A meeting of state government representatives and members of the local business community met with Mr. Dubois of the DOD to discuss the business community’s contribution to the base and to request publication of the sub-criteria. They need to know how the evaluation process is evolving and establish a record that shows exactly what criteria are being met or not
being met. Mr. Dubois has reassured the senior leadership team that he understands that Hanscom is not a typical deployment installation and that the evaluation process will capture the intellectual nature of the base.
Ms. Mattes thanked Mr. McDonald for his presentation and agreed to participate in the IIC. She extended an offer from the community to show continued support for the base. Mr. Bussgang expressed the need for local representation on the committee to consider the detrimental impact on the community in the event of the base closing. He also suggested representation from the 2 civilian employee unions that operate within the base. Letters to DOD officials from local citizens indicating support of the base are encouraged. The Selectmen would like the opportunity to review all letters prior to mailing. Mr. MacDonald will provide the names and addresses of the appropriate Pentagon officials for mailing letters of support. The list of base closures will be published on May 16, 2005.
ACTION: Mr. Bussgang will send a letter to Mr. MacDonald listing names of representatives from the 2 civil employee’s unions that operate on the base for inclusion in the committee.
5. ESC Report – Mr. Bussgang suggested that HATS forward the list of recommendations on the Secretary’s Certificate to the Office of Environmental Affairs to ensure that Massport is following up on those recommendations.
ACTION: The accompanying letter from the ESC stating their concerns will be reviewed by the Selectmen, and signed by Ms. Mattes on behalf of the HATS Selectmen. Any comments should be emailed to Ms. Mattes.
6. HFAC Report – Peter Enrich reported that Shuttle America is leaving in May, and that B&M intends to take over the routes to Trenton and increase their number of operations using smaller planes. Massport has indicated that other commercial carriers have expressed interest in Hanscom. Contacts were initiated both by Massport soliciting for new carriers, as well as the carriers themselves. Liberty Mutual presented information on a new hangar that will be built on the site of an existing hangar.
7. Development Projects in Area – The Bedford Zoning Board has received input from members of the Concord Planning Board, Massport and the MNHP on a 40B housing project. These responses were beneficial in showing unanimous lack of support for the project.
The Town of Lincoln is reviewing a 32 unit housing project on Virginia Road, which is considered somewhat undesirable because it is at the end of the airport runway.
ACTION: DRI members are expected to attend the March 25, 2004 HATS meeting. Ensure that DRI members are appointed, and provided an opportunity to review projects. Ms. Mattes will send copies of the revised plans of the Lincoln housing project to HATS Selectmen for comment prior to the next meeting and provide the same information to the DRI.
8. Other Business - A resolution concerning HAFB and the BRAC process will go before Bedford’s Town Meeting in March to show support for the base and desire to keep the base open. Similar warrant articles will be considered in the Towns of Lincoln and Lexington. Concord expects to pass a Town Resolution to the same effect.
Mr. Corcoran expects to see a press release announcing the recently chosen developer of the housing privatization process. Barring any difficulties, they will make a brief presentation at the March HATS meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.
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