By Meredith McCulloch
Dissatisfied with the poor communication from Massport around the recent Hanscom Field runway resurfacing project and its impact on the town, Chair Margot Fleischman wrote to Michael Glynn, CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), on behalf of the Selectmen. After acknowledging MassPort’s authority over the airport, she wrote “when plans were developed that almost exclusively affected Bedford among the Hanscom area towns, a conversation should have begun immediately to determine how best to handle the impacts and prepare our town. Unfortunately, this did not happen.”
The letter was approved at the September 18 meeting. Click this link to read the entire letter: https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/bedfordma/files/news/selectmen_letter_to_massport_ceo.pdf
Information given to the Selectmen and shared with the community about types of trucks, number of trips and truck routes proved to be inaccurate. The letter asked that the Selectmen be advised in advance to allow coordination with public safety and other town staff.
Pointing out that Massport is exempt from all local regulation, it was agreed that the lack of accurate information leads to an atmosphere of distrust. Selectman Michael Rosenberg who is on the Hanscom Field Advisory Committee reported that additional work will probably take place over the next two years including the construction of additional hangers.
The letter concludes, “With a new Massport project for Hanscom now on the horizon (the construction of new hangars on the Hartwell Road side of the airfield) it seems particularly timely to raise these issues with you in the hopes of establishing more effective lines of communication and a more collaborative approach to addressing community impacts. Towards this end, the Selectmen respectfully request to schedule a meeting with you at your earliest convenience in order to review our concerns.”
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