Bedford Minuteman
Wednesday, October 29, 2003

Bedford to continue using Federal Express

By Natalie Goodale / Staff Writer

A message to Federal Express will remain undelivered - the town will continue to use FedEx for the minimal business that it does with the company.

Article 12 on the special Town Meeting warrant asked if the town will decide to request the selectmen, School Committee, and Library Trustees to prohibit or discourage town-financed courier service activities with FedEx, to the extent permitted by law and the existing contracts, until FedEx publicly ceases pursuit of plans to operate air cargo service at Hanscom Field.

Lori Eggert, who helped put Article 12 on the warrant with a petition, said if FedEx uses the air field for cargo flights, it will create more noise, pollution and traffic for Bedford.

Eggert said FedEx is planning to have two weeknight operations. These operations would yield 28 trips on the road, to and from the air field, with 14 18-wheelers that will pick up and drop off the cargo.

"Where will the trucks enter the air field?" Eggert asked. "They could go through the base, Minuteman National Park, or Bedford."

Eggert said it is doubtful that Hanscom Air Force Base will allow non-secure trucks to traverse through a military base. And if they went through the national park, she said, they would have a huge problem on their hand with protesters. Therefore, Bedford seems like the best option for them.

"Bedford is already subject to aircraft exhaust, excessive noise, and fuel dumping," Eggert said.

She encouraged everyone to make a political statement and allow the town to prohibit or discourage town use of FedEx.

"We must take our objective directly to FedEx via the mechanism of Town Meeting," Eggert said. "We must petition our government to speak for us."

Eggert said, since the petition is a recommendation and not a directive, it is legal. It would have no significant financial impact on the town, as the town has consistently used less than $2,000 for FedEx business each year. She also said the town is not setting a precedent by accepting this.

Eggert told Town Meeting that other methods of getting FedEx to stop their plans for Hanscom have been tried, but they don't work. MassPort won't limit FedEx's flights, she said

Selectmen recommended disapproval of the article. Selectman Sheldon Moll said the article itself is not illegal. The town, however, requested an opinion from the Massachusetts Inspector General's office.

According to Moll, the inspector general has always advised against making lists of businesses that the town won't do business with, thereby denying vendors due process. The selectmen decided the boycott would be a bad move for the town.

"There are other ways to discourage FedEx, but boycotting is not an appropriate way," Moll said.

Finance Committee member Bruce Murphy said, since the town won't lose or gain a dime if they do boycott FedEx, the committee voted to have no opinion on the article. Murphy did, however, say that while Bedford would not lose any money by boycotting FedEx, FedEx would hardly lose anything if Bedford boycotted them. $1,200 to a corporation like FedEx is pennies, he said.

Several residents spoke out in support of the boycott.

"How can we use a vendor whose product directly pollutes us?" asked Bob Fagan.

Rich Doherty said, since there is no risk to the town and no monetary loss, what does the town have to lose? Therefore, there is no reason why the town shouldn't make the political statement, he said.

John Cirignano said it is inevitable that Hanscom Field is going to grow, so those who don't want to boycott FedEx should put their energies into other ways of easing the pain of Hanscom's growth for Bedford.

"Use the media," he said. "It's just waiting there for you. If you are going to vote no, then take all the effort and focus it on the long-range growth that's going on."

He suggested that a good compromise for the FedEx issue is to widen Route 2A into the Minuteman National Park so that the trucks can travel through there.

"It's a forest," he said. "We're people; we need jobs..."

Selectman Gordon Feltman said, "If you are anti-FedEx, then I recommend you should boycott FedEx."

Another resident who disagreed with the article asked, "Are we going to blackball every company who wants to come in like FedEx?"

Sixty-four residents voted "yes" on Article 12; 73 voted "no." The article was not passed.

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