Airport

Airport/23″/dt1st/mike2nd By CHRISTOPHER WOODARD Staff Reporter Officials from Burbank Airport and the city of Burbank are quietly negotiating behind the scenes to resolve a key sticking point that threatens to kill plans for a new air terminal, sources close to the process said. The airport faces a July 26 deadline for making a $30 million installment payment on 130 acres of land it took from Lockheed Martin Corp. through eminent domain. But airport commissioners say they can’t justify the expense unless they have some assurance the city will ultimately approve a new terminal sited for the land. “It’s a secret, but not a well-kept secret, that discussions are going on,” said the source. “If the airport has a certain comfort level that (the conflict between the city and the airport) is getting close to a solution, they might be willing to deposit the money.” The discussions, headed by Burbank Mayor Stacey Murphy for the city and Airport Commission President Joyce Streator on the other side, are likewise aimed at giving Burbank some assurance that airport officials will join the city in its fight to win enforceable night-flight curfews and noise controls. “What they need from us and what we need from them, that’s what the discussions are about,” said the source. Murphy declined to confirm the talks, saying she didn’t think it helpful to debate the matter in the press. However, the mayor did say that Burbank is sincere in its desire to see the city’s overcrowded and antiquated air terminal replaced, provided that Burbank’s concerns about noise and traffic are addressed. “Certainly we need a new, modernized terminal,” she said. Victor Gill, an airport spokesman, would say only, “There’s some dialogue,” but he declined to elaborate. Streator, who represents Pasadena on the airport commission, did not return phone calls. The Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport Authority finds itself in a particularly precarious position as it attempts to replace its 69-year-old air terminal, which was built to handle about one-third of the 4.7 million passengers who now pass through each year. The state Court of Appeal in May ruled that the city of Burbank has the right to veto expansion of Burbank Airport under an obscure California Public Utilities code section that gives local governments planning control over airports. Then in June, a state Superior Court judge ruled that the airport owes Lockheed $86 million for the terminal property, and gave the authority 60 days to pay the tab. The airport had already placed $37.5 million into an escrow account for the property. It has until July 26 to make an additional $30 million payment and until Aug. 24 to pay the remainder, said Gail Rymer, a Lockheed spokeswoman. “They have to either pay up or give us back the land. They can’t have it both ways,” she said. Rymer added that if the airport decides to bail on the project, it would owe Lockheed as much as $30 million in damages. That’s based on the value of several buildings that the airport demolished, as well as interest and legal costs accrued since the airport moved to condemn the property two years ago. Complicating matters for the airport, the authority waited until late May to file its formal application for a new air terminal, but the city says it needs at least 92 days to process the application. That means the airport commissioners will have to decide whether they want to commit to buying the land without a formal assurance that the city of Burbank will ultimately give the needed entitlements to the project. With the decision to buy the land or abandon the project just weeks away, the airport commissioners are expected to cancel the only scheduled meeting between now and July 26 because they cannot achieve a quorum. Airport officials have tentatively scheduled a special meeting the day of the deadline, but it hasn’t been firmed up. One source familiar with the political dynamics at the airport said that, with the recent departure of Executive Director Tom Greer and the resignation of Glendale Commissioner Carl Raggio, the airport finds itself in a leadership vacuum, with the commission deeply divided and unsure what to do. “They’re split on everything. Things are absolutely out of control,” the source said. “The commission doesn’t know if they’re going to deposit the money or not, and the staff doesn’t know what’s going to happen.” Gill denied that the authority is adrift. “Conditions don’t match that perception at all,” he said. Gill agreed it might appear the commission is putting off an important decision by waiting until July 26 to hold the special meeting, but the authority simply wants to give negotiations with Burbank a chance to succeed. Murphy said the airport authority has only itself to blame for its quandary. The authority waited until the last minute to file its application for a new terminal and then asked the city to process it within 30 days. “Do I feel badly for the airport authority, yes,” said Murphy. “But we have a process to go through, which includes a public hearing process. We’re doing everything we can.”