Airport Commission Deadlocks on FAA Visual Clearance Proposal as Runway Repairs Loom-September 3, 1981

Tension ran high at the municipal airport commission meeting as members deadlocked in a 3-3 tie vote over a Federal Aviation Administration proposal to reduce minimum visual clearance requirements at Norwood Airport. The FAA suggestion aimed to lower the required pilot visual range from one mile down to three-quarters of a mile once a modernized lighting system is installed later in the year, effectively allowing aircraft to land during inclement weather and keeping the facility operational for an estimated 35 additional hours annually.

However, sharp division emerged among commissioners. Opposing the change, member Walter J. Grady argued that the FAA mandate to clear seven acres of mature trees near the runway perimeter to achieve the reduced clearance would inflict unacceptable environmental and aesthetic damage. Michael Lauer, chief of navigational and visual aids for the FAA’s Burlington airway facilities division, acknowledged the tree-clearing requirement but defended the proposal, noting the safety buffer and asserting that the expanded hours would not trigger a massive surge in local air traffic. Commission member Pauline M. Grasso countered that town meeting had previously received explicit assurances that visual minimums would not be altered without direct legislative approval, suggesting the controversial measure be brought before voters. With Chairman Wilfred C. Chesebrough abstaining from the ballot, the tie vote defeated the clearance reduction measure.

Despite the setback on visual minimums, airport modernization pressed forward on other fronts. Chairman Chesebrough announced that a major $2 million runway rehabilitation project is officially slated to break ground in late spring or early summer of 1982, contingent on congressional fund releases for fiscal year 1982. Town meeting previously appropriated Norwood’s $48,700 local cost share in March, and the commission plans to interview prospective engineering firms on September 30 to draft technical specifications for completely rebuilding the primary runway, taxiway, and aircraft parking aprons.

Additionally, Lauer reported that a $250,000 FAA-funded airfield lighting system could be fully operational by Christmas if installation commences by October, replacing a 13-year-old legacy system plagued by scarce replacement parts. On the administrative front, Chesebrough delivered welcome news regarding airport tower staffing, reporting that Air Traffic Control Chief Robert Ferrara anticipates roughly six military air traffic controllers will be reassigned to Norwood within three months. The temporary military augmentation will help offset the 11 civilian controllers who were terminated for participating in the illegal Professional Air Traffic Controllers strike, which had previously forced the tower to curtail operations to a 12-hour schedule three days a week.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger