Wilton Bulletin
Brennan pitches FAA fight to Wilton Board of Finance members

Oct 26, 2007

Even as First Selectman William Brennan remarked on the importance of the coming legal and political fight with the FAA, one town in the newly formed alliance — Weston — has already backed out of the battle.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Brennan reviewed the plans and potential costs of the lawsuit against the FAA’s airspace redesign with the Board of Finance, getting an informal but strong indication from the financiers that they would back a future request for spending. The selectmen have already appropriated $30,000 out of the board’s charter authority to cover the legal retainer fees, and Mr. Brennan told the financiers he would be coming to them to ask for between $39,000 and $43,000 in the near future, bringing the town’s expected share of the cost to roughly $73,000 over the next six months.

“We will need a supplemental appropriation to pay Wilton’s fair share down the stream, and I will be coming to another meeting with my hat,” said Mr. Brennan.

A cost-sharing formula was arrived at with the other 10 towns in the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning, which Mr. Brennan said involved each town kicking in an even share of the first 50% of the $1-million advance expenses, with the second 50% being divided based on population.

On Monday night, however, in a 4-1 vote, the Board of Finance in Weston rejected the request presented by First Selectman Woody Bliss for an appropriation of up to $58,000. It is unclear what impact that decision will have on the costs for the other towns, and Mr. Bliss said the financiers said if more information was brought forward they would consider the request again.

Financier Robert Kelso, who was apparently unaware of the Weston decision the night before, almost predicted the outcome of that meeting.

“My concern is that at some point towns back out,” said Mr. Kelso, adding the towns might think even without spending the money “they still get the benefit of this.”

Mr. Brennan said he felt the towns in the alliance would support the fight.

“Most of the first selectmen have said ‘How can I say to my constituents that we didn’t want to put up $30,000 and now we’ve got 747s flying overhead,’ ” said Mr. Brennan.

And it is an issue that residents are concerned about, he said.

“I will say, when I’ve been out campaigning, the number one issue when I’m talking to people is FAA,” he said. Residents are concerned about the implications of increased and lower flight patterns over town, he said.

The money being spent by the alliance would be used in three ways, said Mr. Brennan. A law firm will be hired to direct the suit itself, a lobbying firm in Washington, D.C., will work to build political support to stop the redesign, and a grass-roots consulting firm will be engaged to educate the public and get citizens involved in writing letters and campaigning against the redesign, he said.

The town and alliance is opposed to the “flawed” redesign for safety and other issues, including concerns over low altitude flights, potential bird strikes, a reduction in the plane separation distance from five miles to three miles and potential noise impacts, among others, said Mr. Brennan.

“Wilton and many towns were not even advised when they held the hearings in Stamford and Danbury,” he said. “The FAA has been sued successfully,” he said, citing advice the alliance has received, adding Attorney General Richard Blumenthal had concurred “there are winnable arguments.”

Finance chair Richard Dubow said Mr. Brennan had made a “strong” case for the town to support the fight.

“If I have any concern, Bill, it’s that the costs are open ended in one sense,” he said. “We’re going up against a set of deep pockets called the U.S. government. That’s very tough.”

Mr. Brennan said the alliance is trying to be as accurate as it can on the potential cost. He said the estimate is it would take a year, or a year and a half for the case to reach a conclusion. The alliance’s case is also likely to be consolidated in federal court with the Pennsylvania and New Jersey lawsuits, which might reduce some of the costs, he said.

“If it exceeds, it shouldn’t be crazy, but it could go higher, I don’t want to misguide you,” he said.

© Copyright 2007 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers