NAC starts RFP process for Airport's Verizon Lot
Lease or sale of the land to be considered
After what amounted to a summer break, the Norwood Airport Commission (NAC) met last Wednesday, Sept. 17 for the first time since May. The session ran about 15 minutes, with relatively little accumulated business to address and only one regularly scheduled appointment.
The main order of new business concerned what is commonly referred to as the “Verizon Lot” located at the southeast end of the Airport near the intersection of Access Road and Route 1.
As NAC Chairman Michael Sheehan explained it, that 20-year lease will end in about a year and a half. Consequently, he entertained a motion for the Commission to approve the Airport Manager, Town Manager, and legal counsel to work together with him in order to begin the RFP (Request For Proposals) process for either the next lease of the lot, or possibly the sale of it.
The RFP process would first entail the lot’s appraisal and so was also part of the motion.
Prior to its unanimous approval, Vice Chairman John Corcoran asked if the next lease would also be for 20 years, to which Sheehan replied that this would probably not be the case. He added that any potential new lease would include language more beneficial to the Town, specifying that – in a sublease scenario – any additional rental income beyond what is agreed to in the lease with the NAC/Town would be split, rather than going entirely to the sublessor.
Sheehan also addressed the possibility of selling the land, noting the confirmation of the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) that it can be used for non-aeronautical purposes.
The lot is roughly parallel to Runway 17/35 and the take-off path for Runway 10/28 is to the northwest of it, but helicopters frequently fly over it as they’re landing and taking off. The lot’s buildability – or lack thereof, due to safety issues – came up in discussion, with the presumption that there would be language in any lease agreement maintaining the land in its current state.
The meeting’s only appointment brought Mark Goodrich of DuBois & King before the Commission to present an update on the ongoing Airport Improvement Program (AIP) projects.
The $2 million wildlife fencing project, which will install and replace approximately 15,000 feet of the Airport’s perimeter fencing – and for which the Town is responsible for 5 percent of the expense – is scheduled to begin in late October or early November, and it is anticipated to last five months. Sheehan asked Airport Manager Mark Raymond to notify the handful of bow hunters who are annually granted permission to be on the Airport’s outer conservation land in the early part of the year – of the work that will be going on. He also confirmed with Goodrich that the project workers will be wearing easily seen orange clothing.
The other AIP project concerned the planned extension of Runway 17/35 I order to add paved safety areas to both ends of it. The Airport is built on conservation land, and the paving is intended to prevent airplanes that may overshoot the runway from getting stuck in its soft terrain.
Generally related to the inherent issues of the Airport’s juxtaposition with its natural surroundings was the accident that happened early that morning when a small, single propeller plane ended up tail up in the grass after it inadvertently veered off the tarmac.
No injuries were reported.
In other Airport news:
Wednesday’s meeting was the first for new Airport Commissioner Patrick Moloney, who was appointed by the Board of Selectmen last month to replace Dr. Michael C. Harper, who had been appointed last June to replace Mark Ryan, and who relocated to Germany earlier this year.
Moloney is a lifelong Town resident and has been serving on the Norwood Fire Department for 14 years and has long had an interest in aeronautics and the Airport. Additionally, he noted the NFD’s frequent calls when the Airport was a landing zone for Boston MedFlight.
Asked about what he hopes to bring to the NAC, Moloney acknowledged the job’s learning curve, with an eye to the future. “As I sit back and kind of figure out how it works, maybe I can interject some of my experience being on the Fire Department, so we’ll see what happens.”
The NAC meets as its business demands – typically on a mid/late-month Wednesday (now at 5 p.m.) in the Welch Administration Building (125 Access Rd.). To check for posted meetings, visit the Town website (www.norwoodma.gov) or call Town Hall (781-762-1240).
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