Towns Talk Helicopter Noise, New Legislation as Season Approaches

With the summer season edging closer, resident are once again ready to do battle against the ever-escalating presence of helicopter noise that they believe shatters the peace and serenity of their bucolic communities.

At Tuesday’s Southold Town board work session, Councilman Bob Ghosio, liaison to the town’s helicopter noise steering committee, said the Quiet Skies Coalition had asked for the town’s support to re-introduce bills presented last year by New York State Senator Ken LaValle and New York State Assemblyman Fred Thiele.

The first bill, Ghosio said, would allow financing in the Town of East Hampton for airport funding to be extended to 30 years; it’s currently only a 10-year period.

“Their funding ability is limited due to the ability to borrow. Extending it to 30 years,makes it more feasible for the town to finance their own projects rather than seek funding from the Federal Aviation Administration, which they are no longer receiving,” Ghosio said.

The measure would require state approval, he said.

In addition, the second bill would provide for a public referendum should East Hampton ever again decide to consider the idea of FAA funding for the airport. “It would put the decision in the public’s hands,” Ghosio said.

Ghosio said the goal was to “move the ball forward” in regard to how East Hampton’s airport is run, and enable them to regulate more efficiently, with the hope of reducing the “constant bombardment of noise from helicopters,” he said.

Councilwoman Jill Doherty suggested that New York State Assemblyman Anthony Palumbo also be included in the efforts.

“We enthusiastically support the rapid adoption of these two bills introduced last year by Senator LaValle and Assemblyman Thiele in the state legislature,” said Kathleen Cunningham, chair of the Quiet Skies Coalition. “Both were introduced last session and we are requesting they be reintroduced and passed as soon as possible so the governor can sign them into law.”

She added, “QSC has been actively soliciting support for these bills from of any municipality suffering from aircraft noise generated by traffic into and out of East Hampton airport to help our state officials move this along.”

In short, she said, the bills sponsored by the assemblyman and senator do two things — extend the bonding period for airport improvements, ‘which supports airport financial self-sustainabiity, critical to ensure proper airport safety and maintenance.”

Second, she said, the other, which requires a local permissive referendum to authorize the Town to accept any FAA funding, is key. “This is the most important one because the East Hampton town board’s ability to control access to its own airport is critically dependent upon the town never again accepting airport improvement grants from the FAA. If the town were to do so at any time in the future, access restrictions, the only real aircraft noise abatement tool, would again be rendered impossible for 20 years, as one of the contractual grant obligations with FAA is that the town abandon its right to control airport access to protect the public from noise. Such a profound impact requires public approval for such an action.”

Both bills, Cunningham said, are crucial to the successful reduction of noise impacts on East End residents generated by East Hampton airport noise.

East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell said extending the time period for borrowing affords the town ”flexibility to make improvements that are necessary,” and also, allows for the town to spread the costs out over a longer period of time.

He agreed that bringing the issue of FAA funding to referendum would “involve the public in making the decision.”

Looking ahead, as summer approaches, Cantwell said the town is in the process of completing a thorough analysis of all the complaints received last summer, as well as data in regard to landings, takeoffs, operator flight tracks and other issues.

All the data will be compiled into a report, which is expected to be released by the end of March; the public will be invited to attend a meeting and listen to a review of the report on all activity at the airport last season.

Patch file photo of Quiet Skies Coalition chair Kathleen Cunningham at a Southold Town board meeting discussing helicopter noise in 2013.