Lexington Minuteman
Thursday, October 31, 2002

Letter: Residents should be scared

Recently Barbara Patzner, airport director at Hanscom, replied to a letter I had written regarding the Environmental Status and Planning Report that Massport has submitted to the state for approval.

She accuses me of using "scare tactics" in describing the scenarios the report uses for airport use in the next 15 years. One of the "scare tactics" she chastises me for is using the term "rotary" in place of the rather quaint British term "roundabout" that Massport came up with, for "traffic calming" measures on Route 2A through the Minute Man Park. I'm told by an expert on the Massport Report that they are akin to the rotary at Route 2A and the Concord Prison. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck ... etc.

More seriously, she repeats the Massport mantra that this is a general aviation airport and that the hangers and aircraft maintenance facilities that they have been adding in great quantity are for general aviation. She omits the fact that the kinder, gentler general aviation we knew at Hanscom years ago was small prop planes and the new "general aviation" facilities service the very noisy corporate jets, which are growing by leaps and bounds nationally and particularly at Hanscom.

So if my "scare tactics" scared people, good. We should be scared. Everyone should come to the state environmental hearing on Thursday, Nov. 7, Bedford Town Hall, 7:30 p.m. to give evidence of how opposed the communities are to the scenarios of cargo, more jets, more night flights, more passenger airplanes. And I stand by my original letter.

Kay Tiffany
Reed Street

Copyright by TownOnline.com and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems ==========
**NOTICE: In accordance with 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.** ==========