Sikorsky Airport expansion revs up

BRIDGEPORT -- After years of battle over whether a runway at Sikorsky Memorial Airport will be extended to include a safety zone, it looks like the expansion is finally readying for takeoff.

Pending final word from a federal judge next week and committee review, that is.

The judge is expected to transfer the acre needed for the project on Dec. 14 to the Federal Aviation Administration, which would later give it to Bridgeport.

"On the 14th, we anticipate that the judge will be giving that land from the Army to the FAA," said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. "We've been told that it's going to happen."

With that in mind, the Bridgeport City Council voted Monday evening to refer a proposed design and permitting agreement between the city and state to the Contracts Committee for review.

According to the pending deal between city and state, the FAA will pay $494,000, 95 percent of the project's cost, while the state will pay $19,500, or 3.75 percent, and Bridgeport will contribute $6,500.

Extending the runway would require a portion of Main Street, a state road, to be rerouted. The state would oversee the construction work on the property, Finch said, adding that nothing is certain until the decision is final.

It has been a long time in coming.

The issue of expanding the runway, which is in Stratford but belongs to Bridgeport, has been a bone of contention between the two municipalities for years, as Bridgeport has supported adding a buffer zone and Stratford has opposed it.

The 1.07 acre in question is part of the old Army Engine Plant property, which is the subject of a major, pending development deal in Stratford. Lawsuits filed early this year disputing ownership of the plot halted the engine plant's sale in April.

One lawsuit was filed in March by Bridgeport against the U.S. Army over legal title to the land, being sold to Hollywood East. The second, filed a week later, pitted Bridgeport Airport Services against Bridgeport over fire suppression and sanitary sewage systems.

The council approved in July a court-brokered settlement on the two lawsuits, sending the proposed deal back to federal court.

That agreement would mean Bridgeport Airport Services would get the nearby Stratford Army Engine Plant's 4,000-gallon water tank, three pumping systems and a pipeline as well as access to sewer services. Hollywood East/Area 51 would then close its deal with the Army to buy the engine plant so it can develop a movie production studio.

In October, Senior U.S. District Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. lifted his April-imposed stays and denied an attempt by Stratford Republicans to throw a wrench into the impending sale. That attempt surfaced in the form of a motion to intervene filed by Kevin Kelly and Garrett A. Denniston on behalf of the Stratford Water Pollution Control Authority, which claims a portion of their sanitary sewer system would be rendered inaccessible if Bridgeport receives the acre.

Finch said Bridgeport is committed to working with all involved parties.

"We actually want to help Stratford with the Army Engine Plant," he said.

The expansion would not extend the runway itself, Finch said, but would rather add a safety zone covered with gravel to stop planes that overreach the runway before they hit the fence bordering the Main Street end.

In June, a chartered jet carrying six passengers skidded into that fence. None of the passengers were injured. However, a similar crash in 1994 killed eight people.

Stratford Mayor-elect John Harkins could not be reached for comment Monday night after the Bridgeport council meeting.