BURBANK READY TO DEAL OVER AIRPORT EXPANSION.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

Burbank officials said Tuesday that Los Angeles political leaders who threatened to sue them over Burbank Airport expansion issues still have not contacted them to begin negotiating a potential compromise.

``They haven't contacted us. Nobody has sent us a letter or called us or left us a message,'' said Burbank City Manager Robert `Bud' Ovrom. ``They haven't said `boo' to us. If Los Angeles would ever call or write, we'd much rather resolve our differences with them rather than having another lawsuit.''

The Los Angeles City Council voted Nov. 11 to create a negotiating team of city agencies to begin talks with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority and the city of Burbank. Los Angeles City Council members who represent the San Fernando Valley oppose a proposed ban on easterly takeoffs over Burbank and Glendale and want a new environmental impact report done for the project. Earlier, Los Angeles City Attorney James Hahn threatened to sue Burbank Airport and the city unless a full environmental impact report is done.

Keith Pritsker, the deputy Los Angeles city attorney who handles Burbank Airport issues, said Burbank will be hearing from the city of Los Angeles soon about starting negotiations, maybe even this week.

Pritsker said Los Angeles officials have held two meetings with representatives of council offices to talk about how to approach the negotiating process.

``Government is often run by committee and you often can't be as efficient as private practice,'' Pritsker said.

He said Los Angeles officials have not yet determined who will be on the negotiating committee.

Victor Gill, a spokesman for the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, said the board has not heard from Los Angeles officials about potential negotiations, either. Gill said airport authority President Carl Meseck sent a letter to City Attorney James Hahn suggesting that Los Angeles and airport officials meet after Hahn threatened the lawsuit.

``Our expectation was that we would hear back from them,'' Gill said. ``In the meantime, we have been working to come up with some options concerning the issues Los Angeles has advanced.''

Valley council members contend that once the airport terminal is moved as part of a proposed expansion, there will be no reason to continue a ban on takeoffs to the east. The Federal Aviation Administration banned eastern takeoffs by commercial airliners in the 1980s because the terminal building is too close to the airport's east-west runway.

Once the terminal is moved takeoffs to the east should resume, Los Angeles officials said.

That scenario would relieve the burden on city residents who live west of the airport and deal with the vast majority of jet noise from flights taking off from Burbank Airport.

U.S. Reps. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, Brad Sherman, D-Woodland Hills, and Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, also oppose a ban on eastern takeoffs, saying all communities around the airport should ``share the noise.''

The issue was raised after Burbank Airport and the city of Burbank announced they had reached a ``framework agreement'' on airport expansion. The deal is an attempt to end four years of legal battle between the city and the airport regarding expansion. The Burbank City Council is expected to consider formal approval of the deal in April.

But since announcing the agreement in August, Burbank and airport officials have been attacked from all sides. Los Angeles residents, Los Angeles politicians and airline officials have all criticized the proposed deal. In addition, a group of Burbank residents who oppose airport expansion are collecting signatures to get an initiative on the ballot. They hope to ask voters to kill the proposed expansion agreement unless it is changed to include a mandatory curfew on night flights and a cap on the number of flights coming in and out of the airport.

Daniel Hinerfeld, a deputy for Los Angeles Councilman Mike Feuer, said the councilman believes the talks will begin soon.

``It is our understanding that the City Attorney's Office will contact certain Burbank officials this week in writing to set up the first in a series of meetings,'' he said.

Tom Henry, a deputy to Councilman Joel Wachs, said their office has also heard that contact will be made soon. Henry said Los Angeles officials have been meeting to talk about how to approach the talks since the vote to create a negotiating team. He also said that Burbank officials left Los Angeles out of the loop when they created the framework agreement.

``They never contacted us about the framework agreement even though the vast majority of people impacted are in Los Angeles,'' Henry said. ``They made the first bad move.''

Ovrom said Burbank is particularly concerned about avoiding new litigation. The city has already spent $7.8 million on its various lawsuits against Burbank Airport.

``What we've learned about the airport is that if anybody can find a basis to sue us, they will,'' Ovrom said. ``There will always be some cast of characters looking for an Achilles heel.''