Front page story today in the Telegram. City Manager O'Brien asserts that we need to get fair market value--what else are we suppose to get? Although the sale of ORH to MassPort will be beneficial, we are not going to get fair market value. How can we when we have not established a fair market value.
First, we should have put out an RFP to long-term lease or outright sell ORH sometime during the past 5 years. Instead we put out two RFP's for parcels, which were a complete joke and nobody bought either one. Companies like AvPorts and National Express should have been invited to Worcester and stories placed in all the major newspapers. If we had sold ORH to one of these other entities, we would not have to worry about them taking deductions for monies that they had invested in ORH since 1999, which is now $9,000,000. Remember all the times Mr Nemeth, who still has not written about this, use to write about how much we should thank MassPort for helping us with our operating deficit since 1999? I never knew it was a loan.
Second, may we should get an actual appraisal from a company like Jack Randal Poteet and Associates? We have done none of these and will end up getting nothing for ORH other then the not having to pay anything towards the annual operating losses and debt service. Would you sell your house without putting it on the market and only talk to your next door neighbor, who wants credit for all the times he has mowed your lawn or shoveled you walk since 1999 off the purchase price?
Lastly instead of 6 flights per week to Florida (3 to Sanford and 3 to Punta Gorda), we are done to 3 flights per week whereby the flight goes from Worcester to Sanford then proceeds on to Punta Gorda. At40 to 50 percent full, according to the Direct Air President Ed Warneck, you can bet that these 3 flights will be cut back also. How is Myrtle Beach doing? Again according to their President, it has not been as strong as Florida when it was opened up.
Bottom line all bad news in the short term for ORH. The City of Worcester will get nothing from the sale of ORH and the one airline flying out of ORH is struggling and will most likely cut back on the 5 flights per week (3 to Florida and 2 to Myrtle Beach).
WRRB/Telegram District City Council Forum 10/18
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This forum is for all district council candidates; all candidates are here
today. Format: 14 total questions, 4 questions across districts (for all
candida...
5 months ago
4 comments:
Probably should have talked to other agencies 10 years ago. Now it's only Massport in our future so lets just get it over with and give to Massport and make the place a success.
Tim, you have to be kidding me. Give the place away just to make it a success? Isnt it presumptuous to think that Massport will nec. make it a success? Just look a their 9 year track record thus far.
No one is speaking about 900 lb Gorilla thats in the room here. The City council wants to be able to keep "political control" over the airport and if they offload to a private airport company for a higher price then continued political control is not going to be possible.
I am getting fed up with this council including even Lukes and Obrien , both of whom who I often agree with.
Ths police dept is out of control, the fire dept is a complete joke, the school dept....well never mind, and the inmates (city employees) are getting more and more control of how the city is run via the ballot box...leaving those of us who are not city employees to pick up the tab for these excesses. It just is not sustainable in the long run.
Tim:
I understand what you are saying. It is a done deal so we should just deal with it.
At the same time Tim, if Bob Nemeth had remotely listened to any of the stuff that we had told him about privatization and puttingh an RFP for the entire airport, I can not help but think we would have been better off.
Jahn, I agree with you. Where has the City Council been on this? If they think that they will have any say at all when MassPort takes over--that's funny.
In the end MassPort is going to in essence buy ORH for the 9 million dollars that they have contributed since 1999. That is one hell of a bargain.
Thenj they are going to turn ORH into a great airport where the City of Worcester will have no say and get none of the revenues.
I need someone to help me reconcile the following statements in Sundays T&G re: the Tornadoes:
The Tornadoes ............have benefited from subsidies from the federal government and the city in the form of road improvements around Holy Cross and CITY-PAID police details during the first season. (per Shaun Sutner)
Mr. O’Brien also noted the city has NEVER DIRECTLY spent money to support the team, unlike other cities that have doled out massive public subsidies to private sports organizations.
So Mr O'Brien would have us believe that city paid police details are NOT DIRECT public subsidies? Well OK then call them INDIRECT PUBLIC SUBSIDIES..........it's still city taxpayer money being funneled to the Tornadoes.
Maybe Jeff, our roving taxi-journalist can help me, a lowly public school boy, sort out this verbiage And these nouns and adjectives?
Thanx Jeff.
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