"Burbank, Calif., Council Considers FAA Deadline for Airport-Terminal Funding"

Tuesday, March 25, 2003

Burbank, Calif., Council Considers FAA Deadline for Airport-Terminal Funding
The Los Angeles (CA) Daily News


BURBANK, Calif.--With the Burbank Airport Authority facing a federal demand
to return $46 million in funding for a new terminal, the City Council
tonight will weigh whether to let the fast-approaching deadline pass while a
two-year noise study goes forward.

The council is expected to consider three options proposed by its executive
team to meet a 60-day deadline set last month by Marion Blakey,
administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. The options include
allowing the authority to sell property identified for a new terminal or to
pursue last-minute efforts to build a new terminal.

Neither seems likely, said City Attorney Dennis Barlow, who will present the
options to the council.

"We've been discussing this for eight years so 60 days is far-fetched to
decide to build a new terminal," he said.

Blakey set the deadline after meeting in February with delegates from
Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, which operate the Burbank-based airport
under a joint powers agreement.

Building a new terminal would replace an aging facility that is only 300
feet from the main runway. FAA rules call for a terminal-runway buffer of at
least 750 feet.

Blakey said unless a terminal is built, the authority would have to return
more than $46 million in FAA grants used to buy a terminal site.

The city and Airport Authority now have 30 days left to comply.

Barlow believes the council will consider the third option, which includes
waiting until an expensive noise study is completed and approved by the FAA
more than a year from now.

The City Council has stipulated that it would support a new terminal only if
there is a nighttime flight curfew in place. The federal noise study --
called a Part 161 study -- is still 18 months from completion and is
required before a curfew can be imposed.

"What we're proposing is to step back and wait until the Part 161 is done,"
Barlow said. "We want to have an agreement with the authority that says if
they want to sell it, then let them sell it. We're assuming the airport will
want to hold on to it."

Airport Authority spokesman Victor Gill said Monday that the authority has
made no final decision on the property.

"We have no formal announcements to make," he said.

But Gill said the authority has been auditing each piece of land acquired
with FAA grants. An announcement is expected to be made before the 60-day
deadline.

Meanwhile, the city will propose working with the authority to rent out
portions of the site, to make it financially viable.

Possible renters include movie studios, which might want to store equipment
on the land.

"There are probably ways that we can explore making the land economically
viable until the Part 161 study is complete," Burbank Mayor David Laurell
said. "We need to retain all of our options and keep the property in play. I
think we are doing a disservice to the community and disservice to our
region if we do not wait for the study to be complete."

If the FAA does not impose a curfew after the study is completed and the
authority has not sold the property, the council will then reconsider its
options.

The FAA meanwhile said Monday that it will not postpone its deadline.

"We are going to see what the city and the authority come up with," said FAA
spokeswoman Marcia Adams. "Until that happens, we cannot speculate on
anything else until they decide what to do."


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