Concord Journal
September 22, 2005

Environmental study answer expected Sept. 28

By Barbara Forster/ Correspondent

The answer to whether an environmental review will take place for the
proposed Crosspoint Hangar at Hanscom Field is expected Sept. 28.

The Office of Environmental Protection plans to make a decision by the
end of the month regarding Crosspoint Aviation Services, LLC which wants to
set up shop at the air field as a fixed base operator.

Crosspoint is negotiating a lease with Massport for the former MIT
facility, also known as Hangar 24. In 2001, MIT moved its research
operations to Hanscom Air Force base.

The company wants to build a 60,000-square-foot hangar with 13,000
square feet of aviation related space, and 18,000 square feet of office
space. The facility will also have 100 parking spaces.

Based in Woburn, Crosspoint is an affiliate company of Eastern
Development, LLC.

Fixed base operators are airport service centers that provide various
services to pilots and plane owners ranging from fuel and parking to hangar
space and aircraft servicing/repair.

Last month, HFAC and the Hanscom Area Towns Committee sent letters to
Massport, Gov. Mitt Romney, and the Executive Office of Environmental
Affairs asking for an environmental review of the Crosspoint project. The
argument is that the project represents a new use in a new area at Hanscom
Field which has not been studied in any planning documents. Furthermore,
this particular "use" needs a full environmental review, HFAC said.

With the addition of this facility, Hanscom would have three fixed base
operators. Signature, which is also at Logan, and Jet Aviation are the other
two.

-- Runway safetey improvements

A MEPA-sponsored public consultation meeting is set for Monday, Sept.
26 at Hanscom regarding runway safety improvements. The project involves
leveling and re-grading an area at the ends of Runway 5/23.

The meeting begins with a site walk of the area, followed by an indoor
meeting. Area residents are invited to attend.

Although the work on this particular section is all on Massport
property, the agency plans to meet with Bedford's Conservation Commission.

Runway safety areas are intended to reduce the risk of damage to
aircraft if the plane undershoots or overshoots the runway or simply goes
off the runway. The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered Massport to
improve those areas.

In August, Massport filed an Environmental Notification Form with the
state environmental agency regarding the project. MEPA agreed to extend the
comment period to Sept. 28.

-- Changes to HFAC?

HFAC is on the verge of tweaking the makeup of the group. The final
recommendation is expected next month.

Currently, selectmen from each of the four towns represent their
respective communities. Reps from various area organizations are determined
by a majority of the four selectmen.

Until 2000, HFAC routinely picked their own members via a nominating
committee and passed the list along for approval to the four boards through
the Hanscom Area Towns Committee. The change reflected an effort to improve
communication between the two groups as well as to clarify each group's
responsibilities.

In addition to reps and alternates from the four Hanscom towns, the
commission has five member categories: local citizen groups concerned with
problems related to aviation and transportation, area wide environmental
groups, other area towns affected by Hanscom, businesses basing aircraft at
the field, and aviation-related businesses. Representation in the group was
established in Chapter 290, the enabling legislation that created HFAC in
1980.

-- Summer at Hanscom

Aircraft activity at the field was fairly stable in July and August as
compared to last year. The total number of operations between 7 a.m. and 11
p.m. went down by six as compared to July 2004 and 136 for August 2004.

In July there were fewer operations in every category except locals and
single-piston machines. Jet action was down by 20 percent, reflecting the
impact of the Democratic National Convention. In August, however, jets
increased 4.8 percent; the other categories all went down.

Night activity, between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m., decreased both months as
did noise complaints.

-- Other news

Sara Arnold of Massport reported that Hangar 10, the former home of
Liberty, will be rebuilt by Stream Enterprises. The company plans to expand
the facility by about 7,000 square to feet in order to accommodate the wider
wing span of newer aircraft.

The hangar had approximately 20,000 square feet.

Massport also expects to set up an unheated pre-fab structure close to
runway areas to house sand for the winter. "This will allow (us to have) one
delivery of sand for the season," added Arnold. "That's more efficient for
us."

Maintenance vehicles will be housed in a heated facility. Arnold noted
that the original plan was to have the sand in a heated building, but the
price tag was too high.

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