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City officials will now review improvement plan costing $10 million to see whether it fits the development agreement.
By Jeremy Oberstein
AIRPORT DISTRICT — The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is moving forward with a multimillion-dollar project that will improve security, airport officials said.
The $10-million security improvement project will now move from the airport authority to the city, where officials will review the airport’s application for development review, ensuring that it is consistent with the development agreement between the airport and Burbank, Community Development Director Sue Georgino said.
It could eventually be challenged by the City Council or residents, bringing the issue to the council floor.
The development agreement was established in 2005 to guard against airport expansion for a 10-year period. However, airport officials have said this security improvement is necessary construction stemming from a federal mandate.
“Because we do have a mandate from the [Transportation Security Administration], we do believe that the development agreement permits [this construction],” said Dan Feger, deputy executive director for the airport.
Critics doubt that the development is legal and federally mandated.
“I think this is going to be another illegal expansion,” Burbank resident Stan Hyman said. “The development agreement said they are not supposed to expand without a mandate from the [Transportation Security Administration], and I have not seen anything that remotely cites a mandate.”
But airport officials remain undaunted.
“We are going ahead with this,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said. “The ball is now in the city’s court.”
The project will include a new, 4,500-square-foot facility that will house a conveyor belt and a new, mechanized security apparatus that officials say will modernize Terminal B.
The commission called for such improvements in light of recent communication between the airport and the Transportation Security Administration.
“The current space allocated to the Transportation Security Administration to conduct baggage screening at Terminal B is inadequate,” Assistant Federal Security Director Blanca Morales said in a July 31 letter to the authority.
“This project will bring the baggage element of security up to par,” Gill said.
The commission plans to inform travelers of the improvements through a series of slides placed throughout the airport.
The slides will show the current baggage inspection process, which include baggage screeners manually inspecting luggage, and a new screener with its accompanying conveyor belt.
“Terminal A already has the mechanical inspection system with conveyors,” airport authority Executive Director Dios Marrero said. “This is a new technology that is more thorough and more secure. The manual system has more limitations. It is in the interest of the community to take Terminal B and make it subject to same quality of inspection.”
The project will be initially funded from the Airport Capital Improvement accounts but could eventually be subsidized through customer taxes, Feger said.
“We are eligible for 80.5% [Passenger Facility Charge] reimbursement, but we would have to apply for that,” Feger said.
However, Marrero warned, “We are not sure if we will able to secure 80% funding.”
Still, cost will not impede the project, Marrero said.
“We will maximize every outside source and find a way to get this project done,” Marrero said. “We have been blessed with funding from various sources. We need to do this as quickly as possible to improve airport security. Timing is far more important than funding.”
The improvements, though, are not without criticism.
“I’m sorry to see this happening, because it facilitates additional air traffic,” Burbank resident Don Elsmore said. “More passengers mean more marketing ability for the airport to bring in more air traffic activity.”
Hyman is also suspicious of the airport’s ulterior motives.
“This has nothing to do with security,” said Hyman, who filed an appeal in 2002 challenging an agreement between the city and the airport to relocate or expand the terminal. “This is a ploy to expand the airport.”
Airport officials said this is a badly needed project for an outdated terminal.
“This is a significant project,” Marrero said. “This will bring the most advanced security system in the country to this airport.”
The $10-million security improvement project will now move from the airport authority to the city, where officials will review the airport’s application for development review, ensuring that it is consistent with the development agreement between the airport and Burbank, Community Development Director Sue Georgino said.
It could eventually be challenged by the City Council or residents, bringing the issue to the council floor.
The development agreement was established in 2005 to guard against airport expansion for a 10-year period. However, airport officials have said this security improvement is necessary construction stemming from a federal mandate.
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Critics doubt that the development is legal and federally mandated.
“I think this is going to be another illegal expansion,” Burbank resident Stan Hyman said. “The development agreement said they are not supposed to expand without a mandate from the [Transportation Security Administration], and I have not seen anything that remotely cites a mandate.”
But airport officials remain undaunted.
“We are going ahead with this,” airport spokesman Victor Gill said. “The ball is now in the city’s court.”
The project will include a new, 4,500-square-foot facility that will house a conveyor belt and a new, mechanized security apparatus that officials say will modernize Terminal B.
The commission called for such improvements in light of recent communication between the airport and the Transportation Security Administration.
“The current space allocated to the Transportation Security Administration to conduct baggage screening at Terminal B is inadequate,” Assistant Federal Security Director Blanca Morales said in a July 31 letter to the authority.
“This project will bring the baggage element of security up to par,” Gill said.
The commission plans to inform travelers of the improvements through a series of slides placed throughout the airport.
The slides will show the current baggage inspection process, which include baggage screeners manually inspecting luggage, and a new screener with its accompanying conveyor belt.
“Terminal A already has the mechanical inspection system with conveyors,” airport authority Executive Director Dios Marrero said. “This is a new technology that is more thorough and more secure. The manual system has more limitations. It is in the interest of the community to take Terminal B and make it subject to same quality of inspection.”
The project will be initially funded from the Airport Capital Improvement accounts but could eventually be subsidized through customer taxes, Feger said.
“We are eligible for 80.5% [Passenger Facility Charge] reimbursement, but we would have to apply for that,” Feger said.
However, Marrero warned, “We are not sure if we will able to secure 80% funding.”
Still, cost will not impede the project, Marrero said.
“We will maximize every outside source and find a way to get this project done,” Marrero said. “We have been blessed with funding from various sources. We need to do this as quickly as possible to improve airport security. Timing is far more important than funding.”
The improvements, though, are not without criticism.
“I’m sorry to see this happening, because it facilitates additional air traffic,” Burbank resident Don Elsmore said. “More passengers mean more marketing ability for the airport to bring in more air traffic activity.”
Hyman is also suspicious of the airport’s ulterior motives.
“This has nothing to do with security,” said Hyman, who filed an appeal in 2002 challenging an agreement between the city and the airport to relocate or expand the terminal. “This is a ploy to expand the airport.”
Airport officials said this is a badly needed project for an outdated terminal.
“This is a significant project,” Marrero said. “This will bring the most advanced security system in the country to this airport.”
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