DELAY SOUGHT IN AIRPORT DEADLINE $46 MILLION DUE FOR TERMINAL NEVER BUILT.Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority officials asked on Monday for an open-ended extension of a 60-day FAA deadline demanding that it return $46 million for a passenger terminal that was never built. Airport Authority members said they need more time from the Federal Aviation Administration Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), component of the U.S. Department of Transportation that sets standards for the air-worthiness of all civilian aircraft, inspects and licenses them, and regulates civilian and military air traffic through its air traffic control to consider the fate of 56 acres of unused airport land and the FAA grants used to purchase it. ``We're not being specific in terms of days or time needed,'' said Airport Authority President Chris Holden Holden, town (1990 pop. 14,628), Worcester co., central Mass., a residential suburb of Worcester; settled 1723, set off and inc. 1741. Manufactures include electrical and metal products, plastics, and machinery. of the request to the FAA. ``We want to articulate articulate /ar·tic·u·late/ (ahr-tik´u-lat) 1. to pronounce clearly and distinctly. 2. to make speech sounds by manipulation of the vocal organs. 3. to express in coherent verbal form. 4. that more time is needed.'' During a meeting in February with FAA Administrator Marion Blakey Marion Clifton Blakey (born March 26, 1948) was the 15th Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the second woman to hold the position, serving as a successor to Jane Garvey, the first woman to hold the Administrator title. , delegates from the cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena - which operate the airport - were given until this Saturday to approve plans for a terminal or return the money. Local officials had called that deadline far-fetched, given the long stalemate stale·mate n. 1. A situation in which further action is blocked; a deadlock. 2. A drawing position in chess in which the king, although not in check, can move only into check and no other piece can move. tr.v. between the community and the Airport Authority in deciding to build a new terminal. FAA spokeswoman Marcia Adams on Monday said she could not anticipate the agency's response to the request for more time. ``I don't think there are any outlined expectations,'' Adams said. ``Until we receive that letter, we cannot speculate.'' Burbank City Council members want to wait for federal approval of a noise study - to be completed in two years - before taking any action on plans for a terminal. ``We have a lot of stakeholders Stakeholders All parties that have an interest, financial or otherwise, in a firm-stockholders, creditors, bondholders, employees, customers, management, the community, and the government. who are interested in this, and we need to reach out to them,'' Holden said. Burbank City Manager Mary Alvord said the authority was softening softening /sof·ten·ing/ (sof´en-ing) malacia. softening a change of consistency, with loss of firmness or hardness. its stance taken in a November letter by Holden to the FAA, in which he said no local consensus could be reached on building a terminal. Alvord said the authority understands that many stakeholders want to hold on to the property. `That November letter didn't speak for all of the stakeholders,'' Alvord said. ``It's important to us to have all the options open. The council is waiting to hear from the authority on how they plan to hold on to the property.'' Burbank officials - who for years have battled public opposition to a larger terminal - now say an economic downturn Downturn The transition point between a rising, expanding economy to a falling, contracting one. downturn A decline in security prices or economic activity following a period of rising or stable prices or activity. in the airline industry makes it unlikely that a new terminal would be needed for at least two years. City Council members have said they would work with the authority to rent out portions of the land to help offset the costs. |
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