Just read it. Once again I am speechless. Although we all know already that MassPort has clearly kept ORH open these past 8 years, evidently we don't. Who do we have to thank for MassPort saving ORH? The T & G of course, it was "at the urging of the T & G that MassPort came to the rescue" back in 1994. Evidently nobody else would have ever thought of this.
Who was to blame for the decline of ORH, the city councilors of course??? I never realized that the City Councilors had so much power. Evidently the city councilors "badmouthing" and "shoe string budgets" were to much for ORH to overcome. Before I go on, "shoe string budgets"?? What do you call the $8 million worth of technological improvements or a $16 million state of the art terminal? Has Mr Nemeth looked at our "shoe string budget" lately?? If the T & G rescued ORH with their MassPort suggestion in 1994, why did it take 6 years to sign the first operating agreement. Again it was the "city leaders" who "dragged their feet."
Although Mr Nemeth clearly remembers 15 editorials in 1999 alone in favor of MassPort, he has forgotten to mention the numerous editorials the past two years telling us the surveys and consultants were doing a great job and providing a clear path for success. Now we find out the "surveys and costly consultants" are putting us on a "slow journey to nowhere." Again who voted for the surveys and costly consultants??
Why has MassPort then not been able to help ORH? 9/11 is to blame. We all know 9/11 changed alot of things, but why has other airports like Rockford, who also had no commercial service after 9/11, been able to flourish while ORH continues to fail miserably? It was Craig Coy's fault.
This attempt at revisionist history is truly laughable. The people running the airport have simply done a horrible job. Mr Nemeth can try to blame the City Council, the city leaders, 9/11, Craig Coy or how about the people of Worcester or this blog, but the blame lies at the feet of people, like Mr Nemeth, who have been in control of ORH.
Now I read the operating deficit is estimated at $3 million for this fiscal year?? Where the hell does he come up with that? I just got the 6 month numbers from the City Auditor and it was under $1?
How much will MassPort pay, if they take title to ORH? Not mentioned. Maybe if Mr Nemeth had decided years ago to put together an RFP looking for an airport management company or private company to take over ORH, versus voting for surveys and consultants, we would be talking about which company to pick on July 1st. Instead we have only one option, MassPort, and we have absolutely no leverage. That would have been a "no-brainer".
Lastly, I agree with one thing Mr Nemeth said whole-heartedly. We should turn the airport over to the professionals and let them do the job right.
Same Time Next Year
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It’s been nearly a year since I wrote about the problems that come from
having 11 bosses who are not on the same page about anything, as well as
suggestion...
4 months ago
15 comments:
I 150% agree. The city does a horrendous job with ORH! For example, the name change should have been done in a week, 2 at the most, not a half a year! A successful airport doesn't just come to you. You have to go out and get it.
Dave:
Ironically it has never been mentioned in any of the Airport Board Meeting Official Minutes through December. Evidently one needs to assume that it has not been discussed?
Good point about MassPort being a State Agency. I read today in the Boston Globe that Governor Patrick is negotiating a deal to allow payraises if he can get control of MassPort.
Dave, the problem here is that ORH should have been "for sale" the past 2 1/2 years through the RFP process . Who knows how many people would have been interested in ORH? I truly believe a 1300 acre facility with a terminal and commercial capabilities would have had several suitors.
We will never know. I do not know how many times I have to say this but we have no negotiating strength. July 1st we are looking at $2,000,000 if MassPort leaves. We will have to accept whatever MassPort offers. Based on the fact Mr Nemeth does not even mention a dollar figure I am guessing that it is going to be something like $1 per year lease.
After reading about the conditions of the buildings, I'm convinced Massport should take title/lease to the airport.
$$ needs to be spent on repairs, and in the case of the police and fire, a new facility.
I'm sure the fuel storage facility could use some updating if they're more than 30 years old if indications of the current structures are correct. Massport could intiate purchase of new underground/above ground tanks . Why take chances.
The people who work and make their living at the airport deserve the facilities and tools to do their job safely and efficiently.
Paul H:
I am fired up today-sorry.. We have been saying for two years that the City of Worcester should get out of the airport business. I do know how many times we said SELL ORH.
We should have had ORH up FOR SALE the past two years looking for the best suitor at the best price. Instead airport management did nothing and in fact told us there was a plan and all the work the consultants were doing was given them a blueprint for the future.
Now with 5 months left in the current agreement we are told that the consultants plan is putting us a path to nowhere, let MassPort take title and the operating deficit is now $3 million? Again this may not be a bad idea, but I tell you this must we are going to end up short-selling ORH to MassPort and leave alot of money on the table..
In the end the silver lining is Worcester will be out of the airport business and that truly is a good thing.
Bill
Paul:
Worcester has above ground storage tanks. They were purchased over a decade ago awaiting a site to be installed.
Bill, is there a law that says city real estate has to be sold for at least assessed value if the assessed value is over $25,000 and /or be put out bid? I think orh assessed value is $25 or $30M??
Also, I'd like to hear from Mr Farley concerning recent ORH events (or non events)
I guess there are probably no laws re: leasing real estate?
Municipal Assets worth over $25,000 have to be be put out to RFP. Obviously this is worth more then $25,000..
I would imagine that some special legislation could be passed. On the other hand what if MassPort leased ORH long-term for $1 per year? The arguement could be made the airport is still an asset.
Were the above ground fuel storage tanks ever installed? If not can we sell them to generate some cash to effect some of the most urgent repairs needed.
People keep saying "airport Management" did not do their job. Which Management? Massport "operates" the airport. It is not in their sphere of influence to RFP it or sell it. The Airport Commission is simply an arm of the City Administration. They, too, cannot RFP it or sell it. They are not independent of the city. There is a two headed monster and there needs to be only one with the authority to do these things. Right now, that is the city and the city administration evidently does not want to sell it. If they make an agreement with Massport, which is a state agency, there is no requirement for an RFP for lease or sale.
1,300 acres. Read the Master Plan. A good amount of it is unbuildable because it is environmentally or air space protected.Of the 1,300, which includes the already developed industrial park,more than 2/3 of the remaining is protected, I would guess.
Who is going to respond to an RFP on a facility that has an operating deficit?
If you read the article in the Globe again, Patrick is not including a takeover of Massport in his plan. It is the only one he seemed to exclude!
So MP came here as a result of T&G prodding that started in 1994 and we believed in 1994 that MP was the only good game in town and that they had the connections (money?) and city councillors back then were suspicious of outside interference.
Fast forward to a new century 13 years later with 7 years of Massport at the controls:
1. continued increasing annual deficits at ORH,
2. no comm. air service,
3. deregulated, bankrupt airline industry
4. $24M in capital outlays,
5. pages of advice from ink stained newspaper sages,
6. an airport apethetic City Council,
7. a leaky terminal,
8. a boarded up control tower and heat deficient facilies
9. three useless consultants' reports,
10. ineffective airline recruiters/consultants.
11. an uninvolved airport commission.
AND THE T&G STILL OPINES THAT MASSPORT IS THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN IN SPITE OF THE FACT THAT:
a. Craig Coy (former MP CEO) sees a lack of support for an access road as a major obstacle
b. Coy says in 2002: "Massport has fulfilled its obligation to Worc"
c. "The Patrick-Murray administration's position (on ORH) has yet to evolve" and Patrick wants control over Massport ( God help us!)
d. Thomas Kinton (current MP CEO) feels that an "east -west 'businees corridor' remains an issue"
e. Logan has excess capacity and flight numbers have trended downward for 10 years.
AND STILL WE WANT TO KEEP MASSPORT!
WHAT'S the defintion of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
Lets sign on Massport for 2 more years and put the place out to competitive bid. If Massport walks away then we'll eat the deficit and put it out to bids ourselves.
A $3M deficit for next year is possible when we lose our $1M grant because we did not meet the 10,000 passenger mark.
Jahn:
You make a good point, per usual. I do not see MassPort extending the current agreement so we could always pay the operating deficit ourselves and market ORH. Simply do not see how the City of Worcester, however, could afford to pick up the $2,000,000 or $3,000,000 tab as you correctly pointed out could be attained by not having 10,000 passengers. That is why I thought it was important do have done the RFP to market ORH the past three years, when we had MassPort helping us subsidize the debt.
Doug, aren't the same one who thought getting no bods on the land RFP was not bad news and we should RFP the land again? Maybe an RFP for the airport would also have had no takers? The problem is we do not really know that unless we had tried. All I am saying is that we have put a strong effort nation-wide, front page of the Wall Street Journal/USA Today "Airport For Sale".
At this point it is simply too late, and sorry Jahn no way are we going to pick up a $3,000,000 or $2,000,000 tab on July 1st, ORH is gone.
This Massport decision will come back to haunt us. We need an airport operator who has an investment on the line and not one that is a political entity that has already demonstrated an inablity to not only bring comm air service back to Worcester, but to retain what little we had.
Additionally, Massport does not have the in house talent to market ORH nor do they have an incentive to do so. Yes they probably have Airport operations talent, marketing talent, no. Massport up there will just be another, bigger hack-o-rama.
Private enterprise would be paying the City $25,000 annually for every $1M of valuation if they owned the place. At a $30M assessed value that is a $750,000 annual annuity forever. Even at a fire sale assessemnt of $15M it is still $375,000 per year forever in property taxes plus who knows how much in fuel tax and other economic spin off.
Talk about the utter failure of this city to manage its assets. I am at a loss for words and now it's month to month crisis management until June 30, 2007. I actually hope Massport walks away from the table so we are forced to put it up out to bids.
How about a suit of 10 taxpayers to stop the folly of off loading ORH for short money to Massport.
The God dam city council is useless. Why arent they involved. Because they only tackle the easy issues. Let em put some video cameras and traffic lights at both egress points to airport hill and see how much revenue the cameras generate from red light felons. Not much b/c first you need motor vehicle traffic to ORH before you catch anyone running the red lights. The council gives more lip service to wayward shopping carts, useless resolutions, traffic roundabouts, group homes, 100% pay raises and the like; than they do to the airport. What a joke, every incumbent councillor s/b railroaded out of here.
Charley Farley , surely you'll feel more abused once we start leasing a 30M$ asset for for $1.00 per year
Boy,there are some angry people who seem pretty frustrated. Remember, according to your IMG Report,the city has to give the Feds everthing they make on the property sale or lease -not just pay back the grants they gave. This airport is going to be an airport for a long time.
Yup, I'm the one who said it is not surprising we did not get any bids, and don't expect it to get any easier if they bid it again. It takes time! Again, though, I know no one who would bid to but or lease Worcester-or any airport that has a loss associated with it. Massport can absorb that loss and commit for the long-haul. Don't blame people. I am sure we do not have a city admin., Massport Admin. City Council, Commission etc. that is out to hurt the airport or the city. It is just very complicated and an ad on the front page of the Wall St. Journal would just be another black eye for a great city from which I grew up,moved on and wish I were back. The past 5-7 years have been good for you.
Doug:
I was not necessarily saying that we should turn the airport into a Housing Development. If we did, then we would have to give much of the proceeds back per the IMG report.
Just because the airport is losing money does not mean an airport management company or maybe a company like Eclipse could have mande ORH their northeast operations or who knows may have seen the value in ORH. My point was that we should have at least checked out the marketplace.
We did not.
How exactly would the City of Worcester taking an aggressive stance selling their airport in the Wall Street Journal have been a black eye?? It just seems contradictory to want multiple RFP for a parcel of land at airport that , as you say, is losing millions, but not want an RFP for the underlying airport.
Now we have 5 months until our current agreement ends, which will cost us $150,000 per month. We are going to rush into a decision with MassPort. Jahn, it is a done deal..
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