Brownsberger To Co-Host Airplane Noise Discussion Tuesday in H2Otown

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Photo: Aircraft taking off from Logan International Airport.

Belmont State Sen. Will Brownsberger will join State Rep. Jon Hecht, and Watertown elected officials in a community meeting to discuss the ongoing issue of noise from aircraft leaving Boston’s Logan International Airport that fly over Belmont and surrounding municipalities. 

The meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 25, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Apartments at Coolidge School, 319 Arlington St. in Watertown.

“Your legislators and municipal officials and several volunteer organizations have been working hard to address this increase for the past few years,” said Brownsberger.

Speakers include Myron Kassaraba, Belmont’s MassPort Community Advisory  Committee Member, will talk about a recent study on reducing airplane noise and Andrea Adams, Watertown Senior Planner who will discuss the history of the issue.

Brownsberger, Hecht and Watertown District Councilor Angeline Kounelis will then discuss legislative efforts to help decrease the sound coming from passenger aircraft over Belmont and  Watertown.

The meeting will conclude with a public discussion.

Noise Alert: Belmont Will Have a Voice on New MassPort Committee

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Photo: Air traffic at Logan Airport. 

Belmont, along with Watertown and Arlington, will now have a seat on a new regional committee which will advise the operator of the airports in Boston, Bedford and Worcester on matters such as noise and air quality control. 

But it took a bit of legislative back tracking for the communities to be put on the committee.

With the support of several colleagues in both branches of the legislature, State Sen. Will Brownsberger passed an amendment to the supplemental budget adding representatives from the three town onto the MassPort Community Advisory Committee (MassPort CAC).

The Massport CAC is planning its first meeting later in the spring.

Residents have expressed their frustration on the growing amount of air traffic noise over the community since the Federal Aviation Authority re-routed air traffic patterns in which aircraft taking off from Boston’s Logan Airport proceeded over Belmont.

The Massachusett legislature voted to establish the Massport CAC in 2013 which will supersede the Logan Community Advisory Committee, which was created in 2002 as part of the Boston Logan Airport Noise Study and is about to end.

But when the MassPort CAC was created two years ago, Belmont, Arlington and Watertown were not included in the original list of represented communities. 

That misstep was rectified last week through the work of Brownsberger and State Reps Dave Rogers, Jonathan Hecht and Sean Garballey.

The MassPort CAC will be able to make recommendations to the governor and legislature, hold hearings, make recommendations to the MassPort Board of Directors and appoint a member to the MassPort Board.  

Although the Federal Aviation Authority has control over air traffic, MassPort controls airport operations and “the inclusion of Arlington, Belmont and Watertown on the CAC will ensure that our communities have a seat at the table,” said Brownsberger’s Legislative Aide Andrew Bettinelli.