Tweed Plane $$ Headed To East Haven Only

Perhaps East Haven can use the money to deliver some ethnic-sensitivity and anti-profiling training to its Police force, top - down?

Holy cow, this actually makes some sense! Paul, if you happen to follow up with the governor, it would be helpful to know how he envisions the State actually managing this (and how much it will cost). His plans also call for eliminating the State's boating fund and just putting the boat registration fees into the State's general fund. If someone lives, for example, in Meriden, but keeps their boat in Branford, it makes perfect sense for the tax revenue from the boat to go to the Town of Branford. But how are they supposed to know that the boat is kept in Branford? The registration is tied to the owner's HOME address. Even if they ask where the boat is kept, which tax rate will apply, Meriden's or Branford's? Also, what about a trailerable boat? Why should the revenue go to Meriden, if the owner exclusively uses the launch ramp at Lighthouse Park in New Haven? It sounds like it would be very costly to manage this system. Which is probably why they switched over to progressive registration fees and the dedicated Boating Fund in the first place. In fact, now that I think about it, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to keep the Boating Fund, jack up the registration fees and then divide the proceeds between the appropriate municipalities?

Start promoting Tweed Airport to be more like White Plains or it won't matter to anyone.

? When last has Hill Alderman Jorge Perez used Tweed Airport?...

Great photo of DeStefano making a "smug face". On the surface the article makes it look like he forgot to protestl. BUT $200K is a mouse ... in a windstorm. If New Haven wants East Haven enthusiastic about the shared airport a few State incentives SHOULD be shrugged off. Go get 'em East Haven! Use that cash for something great, but remember where it came from and let it expand!

Local property tax for boats, eh? I hope they reserve that for registered boats. I keep mine under 20 feet with no motor for a reason.

I remember hearing this same statement that East Haven has all of the private jets on their side of Tweed in a Finance Committee hearing when I sat on the BOA. I would be nice for New Haven, as the municipality funding the airport for many years, to get something back but I think it is unrealistic and if this is the price of peace (with East Haven) it is worth it.

BTW - I flew out of Tweed last month to LA and it was GREAT! Not only was the travel time the same if I flew out of NYC or HPN but the ticket prices were the same and I saved on tolls, gas and parking (I got a ride to and from the airport). In addition check in was a breeze and TSA was not bad. Give Tweed a shot it is worth it.

Hm,
I wish the Governor would just get rid of Tweed airport. We could use the money we waste on it establishing a decent rail connection to Hartford.

hey truth avenger, check the number of shootings and murders in east haven versus new haven and get back to me.

Lance check the numbers of Hispanics and others filing Police profiling lawsuits and then get back to me... That is the issue I raised..and when you get another 100,000 people added to your population, we'll compare apples with apples- or, bad apples with bad apples...

Just Wondering,

The proposal for property taxes on boats would tax them in the town where the owner resides, in your example Meriden. These records would come from the registration system currently in place, just as we now do for cars, and should not significantly change the work done at DMV or in local assessors' offices. The difference would be that a uniform mill rate of 20 mills would apply for boats in all towns.

Ben Barnes

Precious photograph. ... It does make me think the stress of the job is too much for him now he's so old.

I LOVE flying out of Tweed. Saves lots of time, tons of money (gas and parking, or taxi to other airports), and I have more than once found flights the same or LESS than other airports.

@ Streever,

The city subsidizes Tweed to the tune of $500k a year. Not chump change, but this would buy you about 1/8 of a mile of one track of new railway, conventional speed, without electrification. The state has already embarked on an upgrade of the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield rail line costing nearly $500 million (1000 times what new haven sends to Tweed in a year). For that money we'll get a few new stations and double-tracking the current single-track sections. Trains will still operate at speeds that are puny in comparison with driving, and this investment won't do anything to cover the cost of operations. This might meet your standard of "decent" but far from great.

It's apples to oranges. I'm a huge proponent of an expanded and enhanced rail network. But I also believe in Tweed. When you look at the availability of other regional airports and the sizable (and very affluent) population of this region, the market for Tweed is enormous -- or it would be if decent sized aircraft could take off and land there, and there were adequate ground transportation options for getting there.

@Steve
I was thinking of the entire state / federal cost, not the local cost--the local cost I'd want to see go toward bike lanes, sharrows, bike parking, etc.

But, you made a great point: train service doesn't have to come at the cost of air service.

If they could propose a better plan for Tweed--one that would mean more local people would get use out of it--I would back it 100%. As it is now though, Tweed seems very inconvenient to me, and I rarely see flights going to places I want to go when I look at their schedule.

It kind of feels like it is in the middle: it could be a great airport, if they decide to support it, but they are torn because they don't think it is a great airport.

Hopefully, they make up their mind at some point and we get a great airport.

This is the same Mayor Stefan who gave away the store with that sham agreement with Mayor Almon almost two years ago, is it not? What a lot of people miss is this: the food they eat in Windsor Locks doesn't fill our stomachs down here. Money that could be spent locally goes up to Bradley or out of state altogether. And, East Haven being a "blue-collar" town, I'm sure there would be a good number of construction jobs (for starters)for which East Haven workers could be the beneficiaries. As to a rail line to Hartford, the state's own Department of Transportation has projected the line will LOSE $13 MILLION A YEAR! Remove the rest of the trees (and maybe a few structures) so Tweed can more efficiently accomaccommodateercial aircraft. Don't blame Tweed for their situation. Blame the homeowners who bought houses literally across the street from the airport. I personally would hope that some state legislator would sponsor a bill forcing realtors to tell homebuyers within a one-mile radius of an airport of the airport's existence, complete with a document the buyer must sign. Only they don't have the guts to do it.

If you think this picture is a classic, take a look at the one in the prisoner reentry story....The guy is struggling.

Thank you for the explanation. If that is indeed the case, however, it appears there is a factual error in this article. It says:

"At his state budget address last week, Gov. Dannel Malloy proposed two new taxes on boats and planes. The money collected for those taxes will go back to the cities where the watercraft and aircraft are stored."

Also, in my example, I reside in Meriden, but my boat is stored in Branford. Which means the revenue is going to Meriden, while all the associated expenses are being borne by Branford (the marine police unit, pumpout boats, etc.). Correct?

As I recall, New Haven mayor DeLieto signed an agreement with East Haven mayor Tony Proto in 1983 wherein East Haven was to remit 95% of the monies collected on their side of the line to the airport. When I served on the Airport Commission in the 1990s, they STILL were having trouble living up to their end of the deal. Seems as though, when it comes to Tweed, East Haven gets a free pass versus the Malik Jones case, immigrant store owners, the New Haven NAACP and the like.

Tweed has always lived on the edge.If the 5600 feet of the main runway were all usable,aircraft could depart with full loads.Trees and the topography of the land around tweed make this impossible.Northwest airlines years ago calculated that departing aircraft off runway 2 could only factor 4700 feet and that would not allow all seats to be filled.
Airlines today have load factors of upwards of 90% and still many lose money,they work on a slim profit margin,and if you think it costs more to fill your car,jet fuel is near $3.00 a gallon.
Airlines are very interested in serving tweed,but they also want to make money doing so.The fact that united stayed for almost 5 years shows that the market is there,but removing paying passengers is not good business.The tweed market is large and could support 3 carriers with service to 3 or 4 hubs.
The way to remove the barrier is to finish the tree removal and pave 400 feet of the south overrun as this would negate the effect of the steep approach when landing on runway 20 and departing on runway 2.This paved area would not be used for landing on runway 2,so the runway would still be at 5600 feet as overruns cannot be used by landing aircraft.
For those who say tweed always fails to keep carriers,its the usable amount of runway that has been the problem for decades.Small airports with less metro population than tweed have much better service due to the simple fact that airlines can operate in and out without restricting passenger loads.
Take the time to talk to an airline pilot and see its all about the runway length.
Tweed could be a real draw for area flyers,but with one carrier,it limits options for passengers.
Tweed will never become a large airport,but it could offer 10-15 daily flights and become a drawing card for businesses which the new haven area needs badly.
All we are saying is tweed a chance.