For 1,000 time the City of Worcester needs to privatize the entire airport via a long-term lease or outright sale by assembling an RFP for the entire airport and get other airport management companies (Avports), other airport authorities and anyone else that we can think of to look at the RFP. Couple other questions:
- What ever happened to the G-13 Jet that was coming to ORH?
- Where is the final Master Plan?
- What is IMG doing?
- I assume the one bidder for the one parcel of land, who was given a 6 month extension, is not going to exercise their option to lease.
15 comments:
Rosen did. He asked the CM if downgrading to GA would change anything about the grants. O'Brien said no, that the money was okay either way as long as the airport was open.
Sorry you didn't see it; I think they went on for an hour or more. Maybe you can catch it once Mike posts it online.
It must not have come up until late. I gave up around 8:30PM.
Kudos to Councilor Rosen. Now we should take the steps to downgrade to GA, while putting together the RFP for the entire airport.
OK, I guess we can apply for the grants and then still not accept them when they come through...right??
I do have to give kudos to Palmieri, Clancy and Germaine ....... two of whom I have firmly chastised here on other issues........they got this one right.........the airport needs to be on solid ground going forward before we put the city on the hook for more money...solid ground meaning Massport (or others) "taking Over" and/or a deficit free airport going forward.
I am tired of subsidizing a flying club for a small bunch fly-boy types up there and the 11 or 12 employees who are feeding at the public trough (a Howie Carr expression).
If the city continues to run a $2M deficit up there, why not close the place and apply the $2M currently used to fund the deficit to the $9M fed'l "grant" debt that would remain and we'd be all paid off in 4-5 yrs...then we can run the palce as we see fit w/o being hamstrung by the feds.
Another blogger had it right...get rid of all the city employees up there......if there s a fire ......do what I have to do as a taxpayer........call the city fire dept.....thats what they are there for........BTW how many fire have we had up there..........those firemen up there must all have 2nd jobs where they can work 40-50 hrs a week under the table with no problems.......given all the shut that they can catch when not putting out fires.......
I see Rosalie has put another list of the 2nd highest paid 125 city employees in her latest edition...imagine a private company of 4800 employees where at least 250 of them make over $125,000 annually.....even assuming the private company makes lots of overtime available to its employees............absolutley unbeleiveable.....yet every 3 years at copntract time I have to endure all teh contined whiningabout how underpaid city employees are......yet none of them ever leave for greener pastures.........
Correction, that should say "250 employees making over $102,000 annually"...NOT $125,000 ANNUALLY
Jahn said...
"I am tired of subsidizing a flying club for a small bunch fly-boy types up there"
Pretty ignorant statement.....
The 'flyboys' are paying more to keep their planes in Worcester than at any of the nearby privately owned airports (Sterling & Spencer).
For their trouble, they get restricted access to the field, and all the security hassles they can stomach.
Let's see.... Does Amity qualify as those flyboy types?
Oh, I forgot, the management drove them off the field....
Anonymous:
I believe in the long term future or ORH, assuming of course we end up with the proper mgmt. Thus I think the grant being approved is a good idea since it makes the airport more attractive to a potential suitor.
As far as Jahn's statement "I am tired of subsidizing a flying club for a small bunch fly-boy types up there", I do not blame him and there is nothing inaccurate here?
Anonymous, I am sick and tired of the people (tenants and owners of airplanes), who are treated unfairly saying nothing. Instead of attacking Jahn maybe you should identify yourself and fight for the airport that you obviously (as well as I) that you believe in.
In the end maybe the tenants and owners of airplanes deserve the treatment that they get? Amity after multiple e-mails and calls to his cell phone never got back to me...
Anonymous, please remember that as a city taxpayer, I and other taxpayers are subsidizing the airport and by definition those who use it.
If it so costly for these private fly-boys and they have restricted access to the airfield and security hassles, they are certainly free to use another airport.
Please define restricted access and security hassles & be specific
If Shaws grocery prices are too high and access to the store is a hassle (restricted)......then the consumer (fly-boy) will find another place to bring their business........right??
Thanx
Lets see, Jahn calls me a fly-boy (and Bill agrees with him) and says he's sick of subsidizing me, but that's not attacking me.
I call HIS STATEMENT ignorant, and that's attacking HIM?
Someone please tell me how the $15,000,000 terminal building is subsidizing my Cessna. There's a painted yellow line around the terminal building ramp that I'm not allowed to cross. I have to go to the rent-paying FBO to park my plane.
Tell me how the building maintenance people subsidize ME. I'm not allowed in the buildings that they maintain. I was allowed in the Amity building until it was condemned. Pretty good building maintenance people. You're really helping me with that subsidy.
You wanna tell me how the Airport Police are helping to subsidize me? I've got friends with planes in Spencer and Sterling that have 24 hour access to their planes. I do not. I have to beg and plead to get access to MY PERSONAL PROPERTY. This is after paying rent for years.
How about when Barney Fife found someone had been busted thirty-five years ago, because EVERYONE must pass a background check. He spent two hours questioning him, and decided he wasn't worthy of access to HIS PROPERTY because he made a mistake when he was 18?
Maybe you can explain why I need a $20,000,000 runway when I can easily land on the grass. Go take a look at Katama Airport on Martha's Vinyard. The runway is grass. Spencer's runway is over 20 years old. You can bet your ass he's not spending twenty million dollars to re-pave it.
Your tax dollars are subsidizing non-existant airlines, nothing more.
Worcester is the most GA unfriendly airport in central Massachusetts.
You want me to publish my name? That's not a really good idea. The airport can, and will, deny me access to my plane because they don't like what I say. I've seen it happen before and know it will happen again. I won't gove some wannabe rent-a-cop an excuse to hold my $100,000 plane hostage because he doesn't like what I wrote.
Jahn, yes, if I don't like Shaws, I can always go to Stop and Shop. It just sucks when you live next door to Shaws, but they're so arrogant that they don't want your business, and are actively trying to drive you away. Take a walk around the GA ramp and you'll see there are very few planes left.
You think Amity's ever going to tell you, in a public forum, what they REALLY think about ORH? You don't think that will ever come back to haunt them? The aviation community isn't that big, and nobody is in a position to burn bridges, even if the bridge is rotted and crumbling.
not for nuttin'..if da service is dat bad..why not find another airport??
Anyway...New Orleans is lookin' to sell Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to the State of Louisiana....in return they are getting some bond money..Fed rules may force them to transfer instead of an outright sale..
Check out further Wild Will..give you another post..I am bored with all this talk about a ghost town of an airport ...again what is the sense of an airport most can't find??
We have a bunch of Pols who state they want to be an 18 hour city but they do not have the sack to make the changes needed to be one...a airport road is one of them.
A we going to miss another summer golf season..losing more money cause it takes decades to bring ours into the 21st Century??
Paulie said...
"not for nuttin'..if da service is dat bad..why not find another airport??"
Most have. Like I said, take a walk around and see the desolation.
Just for fun, take a look at ORH through google maps, and click on the sattelite image. I count 12 planes in the tie-down area, one (jet?) in front of Dynair, and 8 at the radio shop.
I count 38 planes in Fitchburg, 16 in Spencer ,12 in Sterling (along with 79 glider trailers with 8 outside the trailers) 23 in Stow, 23 in Southbridge, 9 in Gardner, and 14 in Barre. Every privately owned airport in the area has more planes than Worcester, and of the publicly owned ones, only Gardner has fewer.
I suppose ORH is simply a secret that us fly-boys haven't discovered yet. Otherwise, it woudl be loaded with little planes.
Oh yeah, if Patrick gets his way, Mass will join Maine as the only New England States charging sales tax on airplanes and parts, so you can say good-bye to the Radio Shop too.
Anonymous, I could have the same complaint about the Worc City fire dept that you have about the airport.. i.e...there are certain fixed costs at the airport that should (or must) be shared by all who access the place. I have never called the fire dept.......yet I still have to pay.......my only encounter witht the local constabulary is an occasional traffis or parking ticket....or when they used come and take our beer for themselves when we kids drank in the woods........yet I still have to pay to have property taxes to have them out there patroling the streets....BTW this doesnt change my position that both police & fire services could be had for less money
If you chose to use the airport then you should expect to pay your share of the fixed costs...w/o re: to if you use them or not. It's your choice to be there.
I do agree with you re: $20M for runway paving........lets at least have viable commercial air service before are on teh hook for another $20m.
Anonymous, the frosting on the cake would be if you lived in Leicester or Paxton or Holden or somewhere nearby other than Worc. and ORH gives you great convenience and ready access to your plane that you couldnt get in all the airports you mention b/c it would take you maybe 45 mins to an hour just to travel to them.
The cops up there have nothing to do....so gotta bust on someone once in awhile.....i wouldnt like it either....but what can you do
Most of what you say leaves me scratching my head asking why havent you voted with your feet (or your wings) ?
"Most of what you say leaves me scratching my head asking why havent you voted with your feet (or your wings) ?"
Why should I leave? All I have to do is play their game, and I get what I want.
You ask why I post anonymously, and when I answer, you ask why I don't simply leave.
I can post anonymously, and have a five minute drive to my plane, or I can tell people what I think, and have a fourty-five minute ride to my car.
What's the point in speaking out publicly? If you look at this blog's archives, Bill's been complaining for years, yet nothing gets done. He has nothing to lose. I do.
As far as where I live, where do you think Massport gets the money to pour down the drain? It's not called Worcport, it's Massport. The Feds Against Aviation (FAA) gets their money from the IRS. Worcester taxpayers aren't the only ones footing the bill for stupid decisions.
Anom;
Bill may have been blowin' in the wind for years...but lets hope eventualy more will speak up in this city to address the airport and many other important issues without fear of repercusiion..a huge problem in this city...to many on the dole happy with the status quo...to many happy as long as the crud on my side doesn't permeate the west side..and then so many not saying a word at all..but not happy:>)
This is not a very happy city! One just has to chat it up at the few coffee shops, visit the area blogs, watch the City Council and School Committee meetings.
I am an events director and I had a horrible experience with my first permitted event in this city in 2007..I am not just sitting back saying anything I speak up about is "blowin' in the wind"..a group of us are holding an event directors symposium next Wed night at the Vernon Hotel..Mick O'Brien the City Manager has three of his top lieutenants attending to discuss issues that have been swept under the rug for to long because folks did not wish to speak up due to a fear of repercussions..many of the top event directors in the city are attending..
This city is 20+ years behind Boston and Greater Boston..it shouldn't be due to the amount of top colleges, affluent surrounding suburbs..easy access regardless of what Jahn think's (not throwing you under the bus Jahn-just a difference of opinion), Central location..
Anonymous, you asked where Massport gets its my....it is my understanding that Massport gets no gov't money
Paulie....i am thinking that you should have invited Bills favorote Chammber or Commerce as well the Mass Tourism Office......or whatever it is called to this meeting at Hotel Vernon.......what do you think?
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