Lincoln Journal
May 29, 2003

Fargo backs local airport control measure

State Sen. Susan Fargo, D-Lincoln, last week testified on a bill that would empower residents of eastern Massachusetts to gain accountability and local control over Massport's three regional airports through a Citizens Advisory Board.

All three airports - Logan International Airport, Hanscom Field and Worcester Airport - create concerns for residents of the affected communities. This board will provide cities and towns some input into decision making at Massport.

"Citizen-based coalitions and nonprofit organizations from Boston, Worcester and MetroWest have for years sought greater input into the decision-making process regarding Massport and its regional airports," said Fargo after a Joint Committee on Transportation hearing. "Issues such as land use, air and noise pollution and commercial expansion all impact the quality of life for residents in these communities."

This bill, S.1861, establishes a community advisory board for the Massachusetts Port Authority comprised of members from 25 communities. The city of Boston, because of its size and the size of Logan Airport, will have five members on this board; the other 24 municipalities will have one member each.

"Massport, as an independent authority, has a tremendous amount of latitude as to how it conducts business," Fargo said. "Much of its activities are beyond the control and beyond the ability of ordinary citizens to monitor the activities and affect changes."

Some of the functions of the board include reviewing Massport's expenditures, making recommendations to the governor about Massport, holding hearings on matters of importance to the board and examining Massport's annual report. The advisory board would also have the authority to hold public hearings on issues that affect Massport and the airports' surrounding communities.

"While the Massport board is relatively small, there is, at the local level, a vast array of experts who are impacted by aviation-related activities and could lend their expertise to the decision-making process at Massport," Fargo said. "And, while there has been extraordinary leadership by citizen-based and nonprofit organizations, the time is right to formalize the relationship between citizens and the Massport leadership."

The legislation mandates that Massport would be responsible for the advisory board's annual budget, set at no more than $150,000.

"As a selectman for the town of Lincoln and now as a state senator representing the Third Middlesex District, I've been battling Massport for more than two decades and working with citizen leaders to make Massport treat us with respect and understand that our interests are vital to quality of life issues for thousands of people," Senator said.

"By giving local communities a voice, I'm hoping to empower them to be directly involved in making the decisions that impact the quality of their lives."

Membership on the Massport Citizens Advisory Board would include representatives from Boston, Bedford, Braintree, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Cohasset, Concord, Everett, Hingham, Hull, Lexington, Lincoln, Lynn, Malden, Melrose, Medford, Milton, Nahant, Quincy, Revere, Somerville, Weymouth, Winthrop and Worcester.

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