By John Lynds

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has approved the 9,300-foot centerfield taxiway for Logan Airport that many East Boston and Winthrop residents and elected officials argue would have severe environmental consequences for both communities.
In June 2006, the FAA dismissed alternatives to the proposed centerfield taxiway put forth by Eastie and Winthrop residents and concluded that the alternatives wouldn’t significantly reduce aircraft noise or air pollution in the neighborhoods.
Furthermore, the FAA reported the taxiway would add flexibility for taxiing aircraft and reduce congestion that sometimes leads to runway incursions.
The 16 alternatives proposed by opponents of the taxiway project aimed to ease noise and pollution concerns, but the FAA found these alternatives to have no “significant benefits” for East Boston and Winthrop.
The FAA was required by Superior Court Judge Margot Botsford to meet with a six-member committee composed of residents from the two communities to discuss realistic alternatives to the taxiway that could potentially minimize environmental impacts.
While the FAA held several meetings with this committee, its members argued that the meetings were nothing more than a kangaroo court, and that the FAA had no intention of entertaining the committee’s alternatives to the centerfield taxiway.
Some on the committee, including East Boston resident Ronald Hardaway, said the original consultant hired by the FAA to look into taxiway alternatives was abruptly fired after his findings started to lean in favor of East Boston and Winthrop residents.
“A second consultant was hired, and when its findings favored the centerfield taxiway, that was the consultant the FAA listened to,” said Hardaway at a community meeting last year.
Certain sections of Bayswater Street in East Boston and streets abutting the waterline facing the airport in Winthrop – the area known locally as the Maze – would suffer directly from the taxiway’s function as a replacement for much of Taxiway November’s traffic because it would relocate taxiing aircraft 1,000 feet closer to residential neighborhoods.
While the FAA insists the centerfield taxiway would reduce runway incursions, technology exists to reduce the number of runway incursions and is currently being used at Dallas-Forth Worth Airport with success. Most runway incursions are caused by a lack of situational awareness by pilots on the ground, and Massport and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) both said a centerfield taxiway would significantly reduce runway incursions and make Logan safer.
At Dallas/Forth Worth, airport officials opted to be on the cutting edge of runway technology and began using a new FAA program called Runway Status Lights (RWSL) to reduce incursions at its airfield. Coincidently, a similar program was implemented at Logan 10 years ago but was abruptly abandoned because of glitches in the primitive precursor to the RWSL program.
The RWSL system is a radar-based safety system intended to improve on-airfield situation awareness by providing pilots a visual advisory of runway status. The system consists of a series of stop and go lights on the airport surface that indicate to pilots whether it is safe or unsafe to enter or cross a runway or to begin or hold takeoff. The RWSL system, whose prototype has been undergoing field tests at Dallas-Forth Worth with tremendous success, controls the lights according to target position, status, and logic information derived from the airport movement area safety system. The RWSL are intended as an independent backup to controllers’ assessments and instructions.
“At Logan, the technology was still primitive, and I assume that’s why they stopped using it,” said Dallas-Fort Worth spokesman David Magna. “At Dallas-Fort Worth, we’d like to eliminate runway crossings altogether, but the RWSL system makes pilots aware that another aircraft is taxiing across a runway or in its take-off roll.”
The RWSL received national attention when Texas Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson urged the House and Senate to begin funding RWSL program.
Johnson said safety advocates, pilots, and air traffic controllers have deemed the technology essential in reducing runway incursions at the nation’s 35 busiest airports, including Logan.

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

Stymied for more than a year and a half, by a halting appeals process, the owners of the former Winthrop Hospital building this week appeared before the Planning Board and asked that their property be included in the Special Development Overlay District, that was initially created to spur redevelopment at the Dalrymple School, but was left open to consider the inclusion of other deteriorating or obsolete buildings around town.
After almost two hours of presentations, questions and wrangling between groups on both sides of the issue, the Planning Board agreed to continue the hearing to its next regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. in the Joseph Harvey Hearing Room.
If the Planning Board does vote to include the hospital site in the SDOD, the full Town Concil would then have to approve that recommendation by a two-thirds majority and then the owners of the building, Winthrop Cove Realty Trust, would still have to go though an exhaustive public permitting process. That process would include site plan review. However, the more liberal restrictions of the SDOD could potentially allow for the creation of the 78 residential units the developer has said it would seek in the SDOD.
Attorney James Cipoletta, representing the developers, told the Planning Board that WCRT has pledged not to expand the existing building in any way, if the property is included in the SDOD and also told the board that the latest proposal provides for ample parking under the less restrictive SDOD.
Meanwhile, William DiMento, the attorney representing the Lincoln Street neighborhood Association, which has opposed the developers plans for the building from day one, told the Planning Board that he was concerned that the SDOD could be usd by anyone who wishes to re-develop their property into condominiums, without any regard for the underlying zoning of the land.
In 2004, the Zoning Board of Appeals issued a decision to allow the creation of 69 condominium units within the building, based on its estimate of the maximum allowable parking on the property. However, both sides appealed the decision to Land Court and now decision has been rendered as yet.
Attorney Cipoletta told the Planning Board that the discovery portion of those cases has been completed and the sides are now at the point where they’re ready to ask for a trial date. However, he told the board that the developers would drop their appeal, if the board votes to include the property in the SDOD.

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.
Winthrop Superintendent of Schools Steve Jenkins announced today that he has offered the position of Principal at the William Gorman-Fort Banks School to Melrose Title I Director Ilene Pearson and that Pearson had verbally agreed to accept the job.
“She’ll officially start on July 1, 2007, but she will come aboard for a few transition days, shadow (retiring Principal) Tom Holmen and get a feel for the school, the students and the teachers,” said Jenkins. “The plan is to conduct some type of meet the new principal event. but I’m not sure right now when that will be — wheter it will be in the spring or in the summer.”
Jenkins said that the decision to offer the job to Pearson was a difficult one, but pointed to site visits to Pearson’s school in Melrose as a determining factor in the decision.
“The site visit team was very impressed with their visit to the school, we got to meet with the mayor, the superintendent, other elementary principals, and past and current parents and teachers,” said Jenkins. “I wouldn’t say that we all agreed one hundred percent, but the majority feeling (of the site visit team) was that she was an excellent candidate.”
Pearson, is originally from South Florida, and graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in early childhood education and later attended Salem State College, where she earned her masters degree in early childhood education also.
She has lived and worked in Melrose for the last eight years, beginning as a Title I reading specialist, but over her eight years in Melrose she has been called upon to build and expand the reading program and now oversees an early childhood center that is housed within the old Ripley School in Melrose and serves more than 130 students.
Jenkins also noted that Pearson’s experience and education in Early Childhood Education was another strong motivating factor in hiring her.
Pearson could sign a contract with the school district as early as this week.
Jenkins will make the official announcement of the hiring at Thursday’s School Committee meeting.

Winthrop Town Manager Rick White has declared a state of emergecy in the town of Winthrop, due to the excessive and repeated high tides and flooding that have been caused by a persistent Nor’easter, which has pummeled the town and the regional coastline for the past several days.
According to a statement released by White on Wednesday morning, the town’s emergency personnel, many of whom have bene working around the clock since the storm landed in Winthrop, were sent home for rest today, but will be called back in for tonight’s predicted extreme high tide.
Many parts of the town have already flooded and Winthrop Fire Chief Joseph “Larry” Powers had said earlier in the day that an emergency shelter may be set up for displaced residents at the Point Shirley Association Hall, should the need arise.
White said that the state of emergency would remain in effect, until the storm abates and the waters recede.

Tuesday evening, Senate candidate Anthony Petruccelli held a coffee hour for about 35 Winthrop residents at the River Road home of well known and highly respected Winthrop resident Nonnie Hayes.

It was a meet and greet type of time for Anthony Petruccelli, who has been making the rounds in Winthrop. Among those who were in attendance were: Councillor Richard Gill, everyone’s favorite, former Selectwoman and town clerk Marie Turner and former Winthrop State Representative Ralph Sirianni.

A fund raiser for Petruccelli is being held this evening at the Winthrop Country Club.

The Winthrop causeway, leading from Revere into Winthrop remained closed this morning, with debris, rocks and seaweed covering the roadway following another night of heavy surf.

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

Winthrop Town Manager Rick White said Tuesday that based on the flooding which occurred during the noon high tide in parts of Winthrop, extra precautions will be taken with regard to providing for the public safety, especially on Point Shirley.
“Due to the fact that tonight’s tide is expected to be somewhat higher, we will be bringing in extra personnel and stationing an engine company at Point Shirley from 10 pm to 2 am.,” said White in a statement late Tuesdya afternoon. “Additionally, we have made arrangements for an extra ambulance to be down there at the same time. DPW and the PD have indicated they will also have equipment and personnel down there. We will be shutting Shirley St. down at Washington Ave. at around 11 pm due to the flooding.”
White also said that the town would be notifying Point Shirley area residents, and others affected by the storm, of the plans through the use of reverse 911 calls to homes.

Winthrop dealing with continued flooding threat

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

By Tuesday morning of this week, Town Manager Rick White and the town’s emergency response team had been closely monitoring storm activity in Winthrop for more than 48 hours, and with forecasts calling for more rain, high winds and high tides over the following two days, it remained likely that town emergency workers would remain at their posts stationed around Winthrop for at least the next few days.
“I think that we’re very worried about the high tide (Tuesday night) and less worried, but still concerned about the tide on (Tuesday) afternoon,” said White Tuesday morning. “The plan is to close access to Point Shirley beginning at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday and keep it closed through the worst of the high tide. We’re worried about rocks and debris and of course the water.”
White said that weather forecasts from the National Weather Service called for continued rain and high tides in Winthrop through Wednesday and possibly into Thursday. However, the highest tides were expected on Tuesday, meaning that town workers would be on hand to help those who needed help throughout the two high tides on Tuesday and Tuesday night.

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

A vicious April Nor’easter landed in eastern Massachusetts on Sunday, bringing torrential rains and extremely high tides to the coastline of Winthrop on Sunday night and Monday morning.
According to Winthrop Town Manager Rick White, the town’s emergency response managers met regularly throughout the weekend in preparation for the storm and the Winthrop town council was kept abreast of the planned response and conditions throughout the storm.
Fire Chief Joseph “Larry” Powers, who also serves as the town’s Chief of Emergency Operations contacted officials from the Massachusetts Emergemcy Management Association (MEMA) on Saturday, and also conducted meetings with officials from the National Weather Service both before and during the storm as the planned for the possibilty of flooding and street closings associated with the unusually high tides and heavy rains.
Flooding on Shirley Street did make that road impassable in parts, and during Monday’s morning high tide, access to Point Shirley was limited to emergency vehicles. However, town officials did station an ambulance and other emergency response vehicles on and near Point shirley, to be able to answer any calls for help that were needed there.
Additionally, Shore Drive was closed by the town shortly before the 11 a.m. high tide and Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) officials also closed the Winthrop Parkway, across Short beach from Revere, because waves crashing over the beach walls there made that road impassable as well.
Town Manager White said on Monday that the latest update from the National Weather Service is that the high tides for the next four days could be problematic for the town of Winthrop.
The National Guard has lent the town two 2 and 1/2 ton trucks and town hall is encouraging people on Shore Drive to leave.

By Joseph Domelowicz Jr.

In January 2006 the town of Winthrop, beset with mounting financial problems and a beleaguered voting public unwilling to dig deeper into its pockets for more tax revenue, began a new era in local government. The new town charter, which established a nine-member Town Council and a professional administrative manager, took effect on January 1, 2006, but a problematic search process for the town’s first Town Manager left the new government without its executive for a full three months.
At the beginning of April, Richard White, a veteran municipal manager who had served for 17 years as Lexington’s Town Manager, in addition to serving in several other communities over a 25 year career.
At the time of his appointment, there was both a sense of optimism and a trace of unease with White, as local residents wondered if White, an outsider, would be able to understand and work with the unique and dynamic political and community groups in town.
With a year under his belt and several controversial issues now behind him, we asked several people around town what they thought of White’s first year as Town Manager in Winthrop. Here is what they had to say.

Council President Thomas Reilly – has been a supporter of White almost since interviewing the Town Manager in February 2006.
“ I think we’re in about as good a shape as we could’ve expected after one year,” said Reilly. “I think some of the benefits that people thought would occur from the change in government are easily observable. The decision making process is now in one clear entity and on a day to day basis, (White’s) management style has been extremely helpful.”
Reilly also noted that White, stepped into the role as Town Manager with less than one month to prepare a balanced budget proposal for the 2007 fiscal year.
“His experience has been helpful to us as we try work through the growing pains,” said Reilly. “That is especially true in the finance area, where he has done a great deal to get our town finances under control and given us a road map for how to succeed going forward.”
“I’m happy with his performance. I think it has worked out and he’s doe a very good job for us. He has taken an organization that in large part existed as separate entities and molded them into an organization that has been able to take advantage of the new (government) structure,” added Reilly. “That has as much to do with the people working under him, but I think (White) has a style that allowed him to bring all of those separate groups together. In some ways they were precluded from that in the past, but the previous form of government.”

Planning Board Chairman Richard Dimes – was a member of the charter commission that wrote the new charter, but he opposed the charter change. Dimes maintained that while the town needed a Town manager, he did not believe the town needed to replace the Town Meeting with the new Town Council.
“I didn’t think we should change the whole system (of government),” said Dimes. “But I think that he is doing a good job.”
“In running the community on a daily basis, he has been very cooperative with the Planning Board, he has worked with us in streamlining Planning Board processes ad getting us more assistance. I don’t see any drawbacks with the guy, I think he’s a plus.”

Alex Mavrakos - has been a vocal opponent of proposition 2 1/2 overrides, increased government spending and also was a strong advocate for a change in government in town. Mavrakos, as founder and president of Citizens for Fair and Balanced Government, continues to advocate for smaller government and more citizen participation in governmental process.
“When our group pushed for change, I don’t think we expected anybody to be able to come into town and make drastic change right away,’ said Mavrakos. “I think we’re more pleasantly surprised with what is happening in town, than we anticipated. I still don’t agree with him on some issues, but he’s done a good job of taking control of town government and moving us in the right direction.”

School Committeeman Gus Martucci – was a member of the Town Manager Search Committee and serves o the School Committee. As a member of search committee, Martucci voted against including White’s name as a finalist for the job.
“I’m very happy with the way he’s gotten things going,” said Martucci. “I think he’s taken things relatively slowly, understanding that Winthrop is a small town and the charter change was an enormous change for many people. I think he understands that about the town, better than I thought he would.”
“I like his style, the way he does things,” added Martucci. “When I voted against him, I recognized that he had the experience and knowledge we looking for, but I didn’t think he’d be the right fit, but he’s absolutely the right fit and I’m glad that I was wrong.”
Martucci also noted that White’s inclusive approach to dealing with the schools during the budget process has resulted in a “more than fair” treatment of the schools given the town’s continuing fiscal problems.
“I think there are some people who obviously are not happy with him, but that would be the case no matter who you had in there,’ said Martucci. “It’s like with President (George) Bush. Some people love him, and some people hate him, it is the nature of the position.”
Martucci did note that he did not personally know anyone who has expressed dissatisfaction with White.

Chamber of Commerce President Trudy Macero – As a first year Chamber President Macero took the reins of the local business group just prior to White’s arrival at a time when several business owners were expressing dissatisfaction with the local government.
“It was clear in our first meeting that he had an understanding of how important a successful business community is to the town,” said Macero. “Since the he has made himself available to us on a monthly basis for our board meetings. I’ve been very impressed with his knowledge, experience and approachability. I think that as a whole, there hasn’t been anything within our board or membership that has been negative about him.”
Macero also pointed to White’s recommendation to the Town Council that the town do away with the split-tax rate, as a sign that he understands the unique business climate in Winthrop as well.
“Although he has a number of large issues that he is taking care of with the Council, he’s always ready to listen to the smallest of issues and having someone paying attention to those details is something that the town has needed for a long time and the Chamber looks forward to working with him in the future.”