Conference 7.286::maynard

    there already *is* an airport in maynard. it's not international, and
    it's not big, but Sid's Airport is there, off summer street near the
    stow line.

    I run by SId's airport every evening. Does he ever actually fly
    out of there? I've never seen anything happening.
    
     I doubt if a big airport could locate very near Maynard or Sudbury.
    Particulary Sudbury, with Lincoln and Weston just a few miles away.
    Historically, the very rich towns in this state have had good success
    in fending off anything that the good meisters who live there feel
    would diminish their environment. Just look at how long Lincoln
    was able to fight off Rt 2 widening -- decades!
    
    These towns can afford good lawyers who can tie these things up
    for years. Maynard is lucky to be near these towns in this case.
    
    An airport at Ft. Devens might be more likely. Little, not-rich
    Ayer might not have much luck in fighting it off, and Maynard would
    be right in the takeoff pattern. But it's 20 years away, and with
    the corruption and delays typical to Massachusetts, it's probably
    more like 30 years-to-never. I wouldn't put it high on your list
    of worries.

Out of curiosity, what is the military reservation currently used for?  Or
is it basically just vacant?

-Mike

I live near Sid's Airport and planes, at least one, fly in and out of the airport
alot, especially on the weekends.  It is a "gray and blue" plane that I think
belongs to Sid.  He just seems to circle around a lot.  I don't really mind the
plane but there are also ultralights that fly in and out.  They tend to fly
at tree-top level and are VERY NOISY.

    Re .2 Although Ayer may not be a wealthy town, Harvard is, and part of
    Fort Devens lies within Harvard. I'd imagine they could muster
    resources for a good fight -- but that's going to happen with any
    chosen location.  
    
    I'd say that when it comes time to choose the airport site, the
    commission will publicly announce the handful of locations it is
    considering. There will be uproar from all of the locations. The
    commission will evaluate sites based on uproar, identify the site
    generating the least uproar, and then announce that one as the airport
    site. 
    
    This seemed to be the process used when the MWRA was looking for a
    site for the harbor cleanup sludge treatment plant. 
    

Ok, where is sid's airport?  Headed towards stow, there are the condos 
on your left.  Where from there?

Is this a person with a really long driveway, or is this a serious 
chunk of land that is a real airport for a few planes?

I just assumed all of the light craft I saw flying around landed in 
Stow.


re:  military land.  If you go down 27 into sudbury, there is a right 
turn.  It goes past this very serious looking bunker-type building.  
That's as far as I went, didn't look friendly....

    I don't think Ft. Devens is within Rte. 495, if that's one of the
    criteria.  The residents of Stow are probably more "up in arms"
    about this talk, with Minuteman Airport already there.
    
    					Steve

    Re: .6
    
    Sid's airport (Sid Mason) lives, I think, in the 2nd house on the
    right after passing Durant Ave. which is off of Summer St.  This
    is before you start up the hill toward Apple Ridge Condos and Stow.  
    I believe there is a small white sign on his front yard which says 
    Sid's Airport.  He's been flying his plane out of there for decades.  
    I don't believe other planes are allowed to take off and land from 
    there.

    					Steve
    

.0>    My first thought was: could they
.0>    put an airport on the military reservation that covers significant
.0>    portions of Maynard, Sudbury, Stow, and a little bit of Hudson? 

Offhand, I doubt it.  The reservation contains a lot of swamp. Nowdays,
what used to be called a swamp is called a Wetland.  As in "Wetlands
Protection Act", a state law which gives local conservation commissions
some teeth.  You can't fill in wetlands like they could years ago.  You
aren't supposed to drain your development into them.  There are herons
in there, and deer, among other wildlife.

Now, not all the military land is a Wetland, but my guess is that there
may be enough to prevent an airport.

The other thing is that at least one of the Maynard Town wells is in the
military reservation.  Nobody can build close to a municipal well, for
obvious reasons.  The Town bought an L-shaped strip of land from the
government for access to the wells.  DEC owns some of the adjacent land,
too. 

.0>    I looked to a copy of a report that I have, left to me by the previous
.0>    owner of my house. He was the Maynard Planning Board chairman in the
.0>    late seventies.  The report is entitled "Town of Maynard, Planning
.0>    Proposals and Policy Report."  The report is dated March 1975, and is
.0>    based on research conducted for the town by the Mass. Dept. of
.0>    Community Affairs.  It's an excellent report -- over 150 pages with
.0>    appendices and maps.  If any town activists would like to borrow or
.0>    copy it, just let me know. 

Yes.  I was appointed to the Maynard Conservation Commission last week. 
I'm quite interested.

.0>    But what *will* happen to the federal lands. Someday, all or part will
.0>    be declared excess by the GSA and be sold or revert back to
.0>    municipality ownership.  Does anybody have the inside scoop on what
.0>    could happen to this large tract of land?

Here's my understanding of the current state of rumor and innuendo: The
government has not declared an intention to sell the land. However,
there is speculation that they will.  The fact is that Sudbury zoned
their portion of the land as open space, and the federal government is
suing Sudbury.  Presumably, the feds want a less restrictive zoning so
that the land is worth more if it is sold. I heard of a similar case in
California in which the federal government won. Also, the housing
authority (?) in Sudbury made a proposal to the State that they could
build permanent housing for homeless people on the site. The State said
no because they only want temporary shelters for homeless people, not
permanent housing. (Huh?  Well, really, that's what they said!) 

The federal government has not said anything about the portion 
of the land in Maynard's boundaries. Maynard has the government land
zoned as open space, same as Sudbury.  Speculation is that once the Feds
have trounced Sudbury in court, they may go after Maynard's zoning. 

I heard that if the government decides to sell the land, government 
agencies have first dibs: Federal, then State, then Town. 

RE: .2 - I believe Fort Devens sends people down for maneuvers now and 
then.

By the way, I heard that the Maynard DPW wants to compost sewer sludge
on the government land.  Think the government will agree to that one? 

-Steve

    RE: .9  A few years ago the Feds stopped using the "Ammunition
    Dump" (it's original name), and for a few years you could walk/
    jog through from White Pond Road to Old Marlboro Road.  Then 
    Ft. Devens took over and slammed the door.
    
    I believe that there is a Federal process dealing with the disposal
    of excess property that goes down through the food chain of Federal
    and State agencies before the Town can lay claim to the land.  It
    was the start of that process a few years ago that resulted in Ft.
    Devens taking it over.
    
    Steve, congratulations on your appointment to the Conservation
    Commission.  I was on the Board myself for a couple of years in
    the mid seventies.  Say hello to Walter Carbone for me.  
    
    By the way, you may want to check on the authority of Chapter 131
    Section 40 (Wetlands Protection Act).  I could be wrong, but I
    don't think that Federal Agencies are bound by State or local laws.
    I agree that the amount of wetland in the Ammo Dump probably preclude
    thoughts about too many buildings or roads.  I am told that in the
    twenties and thirties there were a few nice cranberry bogs in there
    (before my time.....)
    
    Frank
    Frank

re .9:

>Offhand, I doubt it.  The reservation contains a lot of swamp. Nowdays,
>what used to be called a swamp is called a Wetland.  As in "Wetlands
>Protection Act", a state law which gives local conservation commissions
>some teeth.  You can't fill in wetlands like they could years ago.  You
>aren't supposed to drain your development into them.  There are herons
>in there, and deer, among other wildlife.

>Now, not all the military land is a Wetland, but my guess is that there
>may be enough to prevent an airport.

>The other thing is that at least one of the Maynard Town wells is in the
>military reservation.  Nobody can build close to a municipal well, for
>obvious reasons.

Don't forget that an awful lot of land used for an airport won't be filled in,
it's just included as part of the airport since due to the proximity to the
runways, it can't be used for much of anything due to noise levels and height
restrictions.  A swamp (excuse me, wetland) in such an area can remain
untouched, except the height of trees may need to be checked once in a while. 
Same for a well, as long as it isn't close to a source of oil/fuel, it could
remain in the buffer zone of an airport just fine.

I seriously doubt an airport could go in there, since highway access there
is so poor, and a new highway from Boston will be fought tooth and nail
by any towns it will have to go through to reach another major highway.

-Mike