nothin Runway Quest Lands At Capitol | New Haven Independent

Runway Quest Lands At Capitol

Tweed.

We need just 1,000 more feet. Then we’ll fly all over, and build our economy.

The Harp administration is making that case to the state legislature.

It’s asking the General Assembly to pass a bill this session to remove language from a statute that limits the runway at Tweed New Haven Airport to 5,600 feet.

Local business advocates have launched an I Support Tweed Airport” postcard lobbying campaign in support of the bill as well. Please Lift the Restriction and Create Jobs in Southern Connecticut,” the postcard implores lawmakers.

The Tweed measure is one of several priorities the Harp Administration has identified for this session. The administration’s newly published full legislative agenda also tackles problems outside the APT methadone clinic in the Hill and street safety, among other challenges.

With another 1,000 feet, Tweed would be able to attract jet service to hubs not just in Philadelphia, but Washington and Atlanta, Mayor Harp claimed during her most recent appearance on WNHH FM’s Mayor Monday” program. She argued that that would help create jobs and build the tax base. For instance, she said she’d been told that Alexion Pharmaceuticals moved its sales force out of town because reps couldn’t get out of town quickly” enough because of limited jet service. She said she saw firsthand how limited jet service made it hard for people to attend the national mayors’ summit she hosted in December as president of the African-American Mayors Association.

The proposal to repeal the limited-runway language is tucked into a separate proposal about solar power at airports, House Bill No. 5350.

Morris Cove neighbors have fought expansion. They complain about noise from jets. They also cite a deal struck under the previous DeStefano administration for the expansion to 5,600 feet, which included a promise not to seek further expansion.

Harp noted that Tweed has spent $3 million, or $40,000 per property, to insulate neighbors’ homes from noise from jets. She also said the 1,000-foot extension would keep the runway within the bounds of the existing fence.

A new draft report from a state Commission on Fiscal Stability and Economic Growth gives the thumbs up to repealing the legislation that limits the runway length at Tweed.

In Connecticut, air passengers must often travel first to hubs outside the state in order to connect to their final destination,” the report argues. As a result, Southern Connecticut is one of the most underserved air markets in the country, as most potential patrons of Tweed travel to airports in New York instead. (Read the draft report here.)

The report notes that air travel is critical for connecting local businesses to the global economy. But business travelers are willing to bypass New Haven and Hartford airports because of inadequate service, according to the report.

Commuter flights out of Tweed would be of significant benefit to biotech and other start-up companies in Southern Connecticut,” commissioners concluded in the report.

Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola said he does not support having the runway extended because of concerns about how that would impact neighborhoods throughout the east side of town.

The conversation around extending the runway is always about inside the fence and the economic impact, but there is no conversastion about the impact outside the fence line and the quality of the impact,” DeCola said.

Methadone, Left-On-Left …

Christopher Peak Photo

Drugs for sale outside the APT clinic.

The Harp legislative agenda other top priorities include asking the legislature to:

• Restore the ability for local building inspectors to levy fines for unpermitted construction and code violations. (Read about that here.)

• Allow licensed medical workers to dispense methadone from their offices, so not everyone has to crowd clinics like APT’s on Congress Avenue.

• Make it legal to turn left from one one-way street onto another. People do it anyway,” Harp said. She argued the rule change would improve traffic flow.

• Drop from five to two the number of delinquent parking tickets that disqualify you from reregistering a vehicle with the state. That would put Connecticut in line with Massachusetts.

• Allow cities to discount assessments on electric or green eregy vehicles.”

• Add a 15-cent deposit for alcohol miniature nip bottles,” like that on bigger bottles, to cut down on litter.

• Grant $2.5 million in bond funds to renovate the old Barbell Club/Hill Cooperative Youth Services after-school center in Trowbridge Square; and $3.5 million in bond funds to repair draining problems at the current Wilbur Cross High School athletic field and add a new running track, athletic field, natural turf practice field, and lighting. The home field is currently sinking.

The 2018 Agenda

Bill #StatusSummarySponsors
HB 5001In Committee
Died on the Floor
To impose a fee on transactions involving virtual currency.Pat Dillon
HB 5031
SB 4
In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Passed
Gov. Signed
To allow students to have equal access to institutional financial aid.Higher Education and Employment Advancement Committee
HB 5082In Committee
Committee Approved
Died on the Floor
To provide state funds to assist hurricane victims from Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands who are living in Connecticut.Juan Candelaria
HB 5126In Committee
Died on the Floor
To increase funding to boards of education and family resource centers that provide assistance to students and families from Puerto Rico.Juan Candelaria
HB 5112In Committee
Sent to the Floor
Died on the Floor
To permit the retail sale of marijuana and tax such sale to raise revenue for the General Fund and to fund substance abuse treatment, prevention, education and awareness programs.Juan R. Candelaria, Angel Arce, Josh Elliott, Steven J. Stafstrom, Jeff Currey, Susan M. Johnson, Chris Soto, Patricia A. Dillon, Roland J. Lemar, James M. Albis, Christopher Rosario, Kim Rose, Robyn A. Porter, Edwin Vargas, Matthew Lesser, Gregory Haddad, Joshua Malik Hall, Ezequiel Santiago, Diana S. Urban, Toni E. Walker, Robert Sanchez, Alphonse Paolillo
SB 1In Committee
Died on the Floor
To expand the sick leave program to provide earned family and medical leave to certain individuals employed in this state.Martin M. Looney, Bob Duff, Timothy D. Larson, Steve Cassano, Beth Bye, Terry B. Gerratana, Gary A. Winfield, Ted Kennedy, Catherine A. Osten, Marilyn V. Moore, Edwin A. Gomes, Mae Flexer
SB 62In Committee
Died on the Floor
To provide tuition-free community college for Connecticut residents.Martin M. Looney
HB 5182In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Died on the Floor
To require building officials in certain municipalities to establish and assess a fee for the commencement of certain work without a necessary permit.Planning and Development Committee
HB 5210In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Passed
To (1) mandate insurance coverage of essential health benefits, (2) expand mandated health benefits for women, children and adolescents, and (3) expand mandated contraception benefits.Insurance and Real Estate Committee
HB 5084In Committee
Died on the Floor
To encourage the recycling of nip bottles that otherwise frequently litter urban areas.Roland J. Lemar and Juan R. Candelaria
HB 5350
HB 5537
In Committee
Committee Denied
Sent to the Floor
Died on the Floor
To create a pilot program for shared solar facilities at municipal airports. The bill also would delete the provision that dictates the length of Tweed Airport’s runway.Energy and Technology Committee
HB 5475In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Passed
To amend statutory provisions concerning a police officer’s viewing of a recording from body-worn recording equipment under certain circumstances.Judiciary Committee
HB 5515 In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Passed
To permit a zoning commission to regulate the brightness and illumination of advertising signs and billboards.Judiciary Committee
HB 5540In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Died on the Floor
To ban guns without serial numbers and regulate those which are sold in a form requiring the purchaser to finish assembly or that are homemade and to permit local authorities to interview immediate family members as part of a determination of an applicant’s suitability.Judiciary Committee
HB 5542In Committee
Committee Approved
Sent to the Floor
Passed
To ban the sale or transfer, possession, manufacturing or use of bump stocks or other accessories to increase the rate of fire of a firearm.Judiciary Committee

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