Lincoln Journal
August 25, 2005

Not all oppose new hangar

By Barbara Forster/ Correspondent

Community opposition to a proposed new aviation-related business at
Hanscom Field is hardly unanimous.

John Williams of the Business Aviation Association, who also serves on
the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission, sees Massport's efforts to establish
a third Fixed Base Operation at Hanscom as a good thing.

"From an aviation perspective, Hanscom airport needs to have improved
service in a variety of ways," he said.

Fuel costs are a prime example. Williams points out that gas is a
dollar higher per gallon at Hanscom than it is at Logan.

"There is very little competition on fuel and it's a real problem," he
said.

With the addition of Crosspoint, Hanscom will have three Fixed Based
Operators. Signature, which is also at Logan, and Jet Aviation are the other
two.

Williams isn't alone in supporting Crosspoint.

Earlier this month, Bradford von Weise, a representative of Airport
Support Network for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, said the
flying community, especially small aircraft owners and pilots, also welcomes
Crosspoint. He argues that "Hanscom is extraordinarily unfriendly to small
aircraft."

Crosspoint would change the situation, said von Weise, because they
intend to target small aircraft owners.

According to von Weise, studies at Hanscom show that the high cost of
fuel has driven many people with smaller aircraft off the field.
Furthermore, he stated that with Crosspoint in the mix competitive prices
for service and fuel will emerge and that is a win-win situation. Smaller
aircraft reap instant rewards and the Hanscom communities long-term
benefits.

"If small airplanes go, there's more room for corporate jets," he said.

Crosspoint, an affiliate of Eastern Development, LLC, wants to build a
60,000-square-foot hangar with 18,000 square feet of office space and 13,000
square feet of aviation-related space plus 100 parking spaces. The proposed
project is on the site of the former MIT facility also known as Hangar 24.

--More disagreements

In early August, HFAC and the Hanscom Area Towns Committee sent letters
requesting an environmental review for the Crosspoint project to Massport,
Gov. Mitt Romney and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs.

The argument is that the Crosspoint project represents a new use in a
new area at Hanscom and has not been studied in any planning documents. In
addition, according to state regulations, the "use" needs a full
environmental review.

For Williams, the letter-writing campaign causes problems.

First, he disagrees with the rationale behind the letters. Describing
the Crosspoint facility as a "terminal" is misleading and inflames the
public. "An FBO is very different from an 'airline' terminal," he said.

Amenities at FBOs are not comparable to passenger terminals at airports
such as Logan.

Williams also opposes HFAC's procedures. Massport notified the group in
May about Crosspoint, he said.

"It's a little unfair to criticize Massport now when they were
forthcoming," he said. "Why now this hue and cry and mad dash to send off
letters?"

"If there is any problem, (in this case) it seems to be the HFAC
process," said Williams. "Three months after disclosure there's a crisis
meeting and people are making legal and regulatory assertions without
opinions from counsel. There is seemingly a lot of political pressure for
members of HFAC to be seen as behaving in a certain way."

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