Boston Globe -- Northwest section

Massport faulted on data sharing
Official claims towns out of loop

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent, 5/25/2003

The Hanscom Field Advisory Commission and the Massachusetts Port Authority have been sparring for years over airfield operations. But now friction between the two is bubbling over, with commission chairman Peter Enrich of Lexington questioning whether his group's advisory role in being taken seriously by Massport.

The dispute came to a head at last Tuesday's meeting of the 16-member commission at Bedford Town Hall. Enrich said he was ''deeply disturbed'' that the commission was the last to know about increased hangar and landing fees for Massport tenants at Hanscom.

Not communicating fully with the commission is ''a complete violation of our charter,'' Enrich charged. The commission, which is comp osed of area officials and neighborhood and business group members, was established by the Legislature in 1980.

Massport officials parried Enrich's assertion, saying that the commission had been told on several occasions about upcoming rate hikes, aimed at increasing airfield revenues by about $1 million a year. The airport had a deficit of some $880,000 in fiscal 2002 and is projecting a shortfall of more than $2 million this year, despite the revenue-enhancing measures.

In a May 12 letter to Enrich on the rate increases, Massport chief executive Craig P. Coy wrote, ''I want to stress that we understand our role in providing [the advisory commission] with the opportunity to review and react to Massport decisions, and the importance of keeping constituents informed.''

However, Enrich's claim that the commission frequently hears about matters from Massport only after they've been approved by the agency's board of directors brings to the fore again the question of whether the commission has any real clout.

Some municipal officials and leaders of grass-roots groups opposing commercial aviation at Hanscom say that Massport has always been very selective about the information it gives the commission.

''Clearly, Massport tells us what they want to,'' Enrich admitted. But, he said, he is still hopeful that the commission will be able to have some authority, even if it means going back to the Legislature for a clarification of his group's role.

''And the Legislature is now looking at Massport governance,'' he said, referring to news reports last week that some legislators are calling for the creation of a Massport citizens advisory board.

But others say they doubt that the commission will ever have enough muscle to deal effectively with Massport.

The communities surrounding Hanscom - Bedford, Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln - ''have always been put on the defensive by Massport, which says, `We'll tell you what we want to tell you, when we want to tell you,''' said Arthur Fulman of Concord, a former chairman of the Hanscom Area Towns Committee.

Formed in the early 1990s, the committee is made up of selectmen from the four towns.

The fact that the four communities ''are often the last to know'' about Hanscom matters probably means that Massport is not about to change its colors, said Sarah Lazarus of Concord, who is a board member of ShhAIR, or Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's Irreplaceable Resources.

Massport officials, meanwhile, say they're puzzled by their motives being called into question.

''We think the system is working, that we have a good relationship with the communities,'' said Richard Walsh, a spokesman for the agency.

''If we have news, we report it to the [advisory] commission, which then advises its constituencies. We have a dialogue with the commission.''

Part of the problem may be that Massport and the commission have different definitions of their roles, said Sheldon Moll, a Bedford selectman and current chairman of the towns committee.

''The commission, I think, sees its role as pointing out certain things to Massport. And Massport sees 'advisory' in light of informing the commission of its findings'' about Hanscom, Moll said.

But Enrich asserted that the commission's having to take a backseat to Massport, instead of a proactive advisory role, ''is a violation of the principles behind the legislation'' that created the commission.

This story ran on page N1 of the Boston Globe on 5/25/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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