nothin Tweed Expansion Hits East Haven Turbulence | New Haven Independent

Tweed Expansion Hits East Haven Turbulence

Tweed New Haven Airport’s smooth-gliding expansion plans hit some political turbulence, as East Haven Mayor Joseph Carfora announced that, at this time,” he is opposed to the construction of a new terminal in his town.

Carfora made that announcement Wednesday towards the end of his annual state of the town address, which was held in the East Haven High School auditorium and which was video-livestreamed on Carfora’s YouTube account.

Carfora spoke at length about his concerns that a larger Tweed will provide greater economic benefits to New Haven than to his town, and that East Haven will have to bear the brunt of more traffic and flooding.

So, Carfora said, At this point, I cannot support nor can I recommend to our town council that we accept and support the [Tweed] terminal expansion move to the East Haven side.

The burdens are too great and the impact at this time on our community is simply too transformative, and those who benefit should shoulder more burdens, not just the Town of East Haven.”

Click on the video above and go to the 33:15 mark to watch Carfora’s remarks about Tweed.

Facebook Live photo

Carfora shaking hands with Tweed airport authority director Sean Scanlon at May 2021 presser.

Carfora’s present opposition marks a reversal from the position he took last May when he stood alongside a host of New Haven, state, and federal officials to celebrate the Morris Cove regional airport’s then-newly unveiled $70 million expansion plan.

Part of that plan, to be funded by the Goldman Sachs-owned airport management company Avports, includes the construction of a new four-to-six gate terminal on the East Haven side of the property, essentially moving the to-be-expanded airport’s hub one town over from its existing home in New Haven.

This is a great project,” Carfora said during that press conference. It’s going to move both municipalities forward. I am 100 percent on board right now. … Moving forward, we still have a lot of work to do. The groundwork is laid. I feel comfortable and very happy for the residents of East Haven.”

In the intervening 11 months, the Board of Alders unanimously signed off on a 43-year deal between the city and the airport authority designed to support the expansion plans. Avports and the airport authority remain in negotiations over a parallel 43-year facility” agreement detailing the planned runway expansion and terminal move. 

And a new budget airline, Avelo, has made Tweed its East Coast hub, is currently flying to six destinations in Florida, and is about to add seven more by the end of May, including Chicago, Nashville, Washington D.C., and Charleston, S.C.

Thomas Breen file photo

Scanlon at May 2021 presser.

Asked for comment Thursday, Tweed New Haven Airport Authority Executive Director Sean Scanlon, Mayor Justin Elicker, and Avports CEO Jorge Roberts all said that they remain confident about Tweed’s expansion plans moving ahead as envisioned. They also all said they plan to continue working with Carfora to address the concerns he raised Wednesday night.

We plan to keep working closely with Mayor Carfora to address the concerns he’s raised as this project moves forward,” Scanlon said. He pointed to the hundreds of jobs” and 13 nonstop flights to new destinations” that Tweed has added over the past 11 months. 

We couldn’t have gotten to that point without doing extensive work with both Mayor Elicker and Mayor Carfora. New Haven and East Haven have been at the table every step of the way, and always will be. This combined partnership has already resulted in a commitment of $5 million for direct community benefits, and we will remain committed to working with the Mayor and East Haven residents to address issues as they arise.”

This is a work in progress,” Elicker said. Mayor Carfora understandably has concerns that should be addressed, just as we worked through our concerns in New Haven. He and I are both deeply involved in the future of Tweed and I believe through a continuing dialogue we will see our way home and demonstrate the value to both the region and to East Haven specifically.”

Avports remains entirely committed to HVN and its exciting, ongoing development, which has already led to job growth and more direct flights to more destinations,” added Roberts. I’ve personally had many productive meetings and conversations with Mayor Carfora, and I am committed to continuing that strong relationship to address East Haven concerns and continue moving this transformative project forward.”

So. Why did East Haven’s mayor change his tune about Tweed?

East Haven Mayor: PILOT "Inequity"

YouTube image

Mayor Carfora on Wednesday night.

The East Haven mayor cited a number of reasons for his current opposition to the airport’s planned expansion during Wednesday night’s speech.

He was careful to use conditional language like at this time” to frame his present opposition. 

He pointed out that there are some things I cannot” control about Tweed’s expansion plans, including the airport’s extension of the runway and Avelo’s addition of more new flights.

He cautioned East Haven residents that his decision may result in some political blowback.

I am quite sure that my decision will disappoint some, and even create discord with some very influential people,” Carfora said. That is not my concern … There may be some ramifications as a result of my decision, including that they may try to force this upon us.”

One of Carfora’s biggest apparent beefs with the airport expansion plan was that other plans may reap greater economic benefits from a larger Tweed than East Haven will.

New Haven, Yale and the region will benefit enormously from this potential impact” of more flights in and out of Tweed, he said. That is clear. And we as a community do not benefit economically as they will. And that is clear.

My concerns cannot be what fits best for Tweed, New Haven, Yale or the region. Each stakeholder is making decisions based upon what they believe is in their best interest.” And East Haven’s interests simply do not share similar commonality” with those other groups.

Carfora added that a new East Haven-side terminal will bring traffic, flooding, environmental, public safety, operational costs and capital necessities” that will be monumental” and that far outweigh any direct limited economic benefit that East Haven will gain.”

He returned to that issue of economic winners and losers later in his speech.

New Haven is the greatest beneficiary in this operation,” he said.

Carfora pointed out that New Haven’s state aid through the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program has increased by $50 million per year. That’s thanks to the state legislature’s recent reform of that program to send more money to cash-strapped municipalities with large swaths of nonprofit- and state-owned property off the local tax rolls.

East Haven’s PILOT aid, meanwhile, was flatlined at $462,000” per year, he said.

I am not saying that this is related to Tweed,” he admitted, but I do have concerns about inequity, and where does it stop?”

Asked for comment on Thursday morning as to when he decided to oppose the Tweed expansion, Carfora told the Independent by email, My position all along has been that I will not allow this airport expansion to be placed solely on the backs of the taxpayers of East Haven. There are other options outlined in the Master Plan for the terminal. As proposed, the East Haven option creates significant burdens for our community. My statement outlines those concerns.”

Is this opposition permanent? Or is he open to changing his mind again if his concerns around traffic, flooding, and other environmental impacts are addressed? It is incumbent upon all leaders to continue to listen, and most instances continue to have dialogue,” he wrote. The issues that you raise are significant, and extremely concerning. I would also [add] significant financial and operational burdens to that list also.”

And how big of a role did New Haven’s PILOT increase play in his decision to oppose the Tweed terminal expansion at this time?“My comments about PILOT are not necessarily directly related to the airport,” he said. However, as I said, it does create apprehensions about inequity; and where does it stop-which I also outlined last evening. I also have concerns about the current breakdown of the Tweed Authority.”

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