BURLINGTON — Opponents of the F-35 fighter jet launched a new campaign Wednesday calling on the City Council to oppose the basing of the jet at Burlington International Airport.
During a news conference at Burlington City Hall, opponents of the F-35 said the council has the authority to tell the Air Force not to base the jet with the Vermont Air National Guard at the airport in South Burlington.
“Burlington owns the airport. Burlington is the landlord. Burlington can tell its tenant not to base the F-35 at its airport,” said Chris Hurd, founder of the Stop the F-35 Coalition. “We are calling for common sense, not politics, to prevail.”
Progressive members of the city council will introduce a resolution to oppose the F-35 on Oct. 7. The current draft of the four-page resolution requests that the Air Force not base the jet at the airport. The resolution was circulated to council members Tuesday.
While the resolution might change before the next meeting, Vince Brennan, P-Ward 3, said Progressives, who hold four seats on the 14-member council, will not compromise their opposition to basing the F-35 with the Vermont Air National Guard.
“The bottom line is we don’t want the F-35s here,” Brennan said.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said the resolution raises some new concerns that he will review with his administration. In an interview, he said he is considering the potential liability for any suits brought against the city resulting from the basing of the F-35 at the airport.
“We are not all the way through that review,” Weinberger said. “I’ve asked the city attorney to really look at that issue carefully and report back to me and the council as quickly as possible, certainly by the end of September.”
During the news conference, Jim Dumont, attorney for the Stop the F-35 Coalition, said the city will be liable for fallout from any lawsuits resulting from the F-35 basing if new noise levels devalue nearby property.
The potential damages could cost the city more than $100 million, Dumont said. That’s based on an average loss in value of $33,000 per home for nearly 3,000 homes that might be affected by an expanding noise contour under scenarios one and two in the Environmental Impact Statement.
He said the council can limit its liability by adding language to the city’s Joint Use Agreement, a document that governs the use of the runways between the airport and the U.S. Air Force, which expired in June. Dumont said the city should add language to the agreement requesting that the Air Force pay for legal fees and damages incurred between property owners and the city, for example.
Dumont has been asked to represent concerned property owners if the jet were to devalue their property by making more noise, he said.
Tom Ayres, D-Ward 7, said the current draft of the resolution opposing the F-35 is not likely to pass the council. He said any resolution that either explicitly opposes or supports the jet would probably not pass.
Ayres, who considers himself a critic of the basing decision, said the resolution is too broad. For example, the resolution calls for the federal government to cancel the F-35 program.
“To me that’s really getting outside the scope of what we should be discussing,” he said.
Last month, Ayres drafted a resolution that raised questions on the topic. The resolution was later withdrawn after it did not receive the support from other councilors.
To date, the Burlington City Council has not stated a position for or against the F-35.
Last year, the council rejected a resolution to support the F-35 by a 9-4 vote. However, a resolution to raise questions about the draft EIS passed with unanimous support.
Supporters of the F-35 basing said the Progressives’ resolution is loaded with emotion rather than facts on the basing decision.
“Reasonable people are going to sift through this resolution and see that it is based on fear mongering and emotion rather than fact. In other words, it is a publicity stunt of great magnitude,” Frank Cioffi, president of the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, said is a news release.
He said that though he supports freedom of speech, the resolution does not make a meaningful contribution to the debate.
“While it is always intrinsically healthy to debate issues and present sides, at some point it is difficult to support a discussion when it is reduced to anecdotal diatribe that is neither productive nor informative,” Cioffi said in the news release
This summer, the Winooski City Council voted unanimously not to support the basing of the F-35 until more questions were answered. That same week, the South Burlington City Council voted to support the basing by a vote of 3-2.
The Air Combat Command is reviewing comments that were made on the draft EIS. A final EIS is scheduled for release this fall and will be reviewed by the public for a minimum of 30 days.
This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.
