Stratford lawmakers’ bills target Bridgeport’s airport sale

BRIDGEPORT — The debate over the city’s pending sale of its Stratford-based airport to the Connecticut Airport Authority has reached the state legislature.

A pair of lawmakers representing Stratford in Hartford — Republican Senate Minority Leader Kevin Kelly and Democratic Representative Joe Gresko — are behind four bills that would further complicate the CAA’s already delayed purchase of Sikorsky Memorial Airport and also give their town more influence in the deal.

Gresko on Monday acknowledged the proposals — one would give Stratford the right of first refusal to buy, another requires Stratford’s approval of any sale, and the others attaching strings involving historic preservation and future environmental impacts — may not survive the current legislative session. But, he added, that is not necessarily the end goal.

“I can tell you the stories about what it takes to get a bill passed,” Gresko said. “To think all four of these bills will pass? No. But a message is being sent that we feel, Stratford feels, that we need to have a bigger role in the future of the airport. And hopefully we can get our colleagues at the Capitol to agree with us.”

Kelly said of the first submission in particular, “This just seems like common sense, reasonable, fair, good government if one municipality has property in another and wants to get rid of it, they should first go to the town in which it’s located and say, ‘Hey, you guys want this?’ ”

Kevin Dillon, the CAA’s executive director, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Daniel Roach, an aide to Democratic Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim who has been closely involved in the negotiations with the CAA, said of the bills, “We’ll see how it works out.”

The four proposals are just the latest hurdle for the Ganim administration’s effort to have the CAA either buy or lease Sikorsky Memorial and return regular passenger service there.

As recently reported, an initial analysis of potential ground contamination at the airport concluded the cleanup costs could be anywhere from $4 million to $19 million, while the CAA has offered to pay $10 million maximum for the property based on what Bridgeport has invested in the site beyond the federal dollars that keep it operational.

Under a state property transfer law, the parties have to agree to a remediation process before the sale can proceed. Roach has said the city is seeking an exemption to that requirement given state legislators have been moving to amend the transfer rule anyway.

The airport serves business, charter and private flight services. The Ganim administration and CAA have been in talks for over a year and both sides had initially hoped to finalize a deal by the end of 2022.

Proponents of CAA control argue that entity, which already operates Bradley International in Windsor Locks and other state airports, can better position Sikorsky as a key travel hub that will further grow the regional and Connecticut economies. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont in November 2021 endorsed a CAA take-over.

Stratford’s Republican mayor, Laura Hoydick, and her administration have been trying unsuccessfully to make a counter-offer, arguing the town is not against having expanded flights there, but should have control over the facility instead of the upstate, Windsor Locksbased CAA.

One of Kelly’s and Gresko’s bills would “prohibit the Connecticut Airport Authority from purchasing or acquiring an airport owned or controlled by a municipality without first obtaining the approval of the municipality within whose territorial limits the airport is located.” In other words, while the Bridgeport City Council must eventually vote on a sale, Stratford leaders, in some capacity, would also need to give their blessing.

And two bills would, in various ways, place added responsibilities on the CAA to ensure that its purchase of and future plans for Sikorsky will not adversely impact the environment or any historic structures on site. For example, it has been unclear what a CAA takeover will mean for the airport-based Connecticut Air and Space Center, which in 2015 obtained a 99-year lease from Bridgeport and has been trying to refurbish the historic Curtiss hangar for its home.

Kelly has served as the center’s attorney and its leaders have complained that they have been left out of any talks between the Ganim administration and the CAA.

Dillon last September said of the attraction, “If we’re the airport operator, we’d want to make sure it (the air/space center) has a home at the airport. But we’d want the flexibility to be able to work with the museum to relocate the facility if necessary.”

Kelly on Monday said that besides the Curtiss hangar, Sikorsky Memorial and Stratford in general have had key roles in aviation history, and that history needs to be safeguarded. And, he noted, as for the legislation that focuses on environmental impact, there are preserves, sensitive habitats and species close to the site that must be taken into account should CAA or another entity take the airport over and expand operations there.

The debate over Sikorsky’s future has put some area legislators who have influence over the four bills in question in awkward positions. Gresko, for example, is a Ganim ally and has a part-time job with the city. Besides co-sponsoring the proposals he is co-chairman of the legislature’s environment committee, which has cognizance over two of his and Kelly’s submissions.

Meanwhile newlyelected Democratic state Sen. Herron Gaston, who as a member of both the environment and transportation committees will also be dealing with some of the four bills, not only represents portions of Bridgeport and Stratford, but is another of Ganim’s top aides.

Gaston in a statement Monday said, “Bridgeport stands to gain significantly from this acquisition should there be a meeting of the minds.”

“Any changes to Sikorsky Memorial Airport must first and foremost protect residents in the immediate area and regionally as well as the environment,” Gaston said, adding he is “committed to being a voice for the people of these impacted communities.”

He said he also wants to learn more not just about the CAA’s vision for the aviation facility, but Stratford’s long-term plan too.

State Reps. Antonio Felipe and Christopher Rosario, both D-Bridgeport, have seats on, respectively, the legislature’s environment and transportation committees.

Felipe on Monday declined to comment on the quartet of bills related to the airport’s sale, but said that municipally-run airports “have never worked.”

“This (a CAA takeover) is the best way to kind of turn it (Sikorsky) commercial and have some flights coming out of the region,” Felipe said.

“I’m gonna let the process play out,” Rosario said of the four proposals. “I’m gonna advocate in the best interest of my constituents and the city. I would love to take a quick hop flight down to (Washington) D.C. and be home in half an hour flying out of Sikorsky.”

He said having revived passenger service would also be good for prominent local employers like M&T Bank and its executives.

Rosario said he would have liked Bridgeport to have “gotten rid of” the airport years ago and voiced some concern about the negotiations with the CAA “dragging on” and maybe the latter eventually backing out.

Ganim and his staff have actually been thinking on-and-off about selling Sikorsky since just after his election in 2015.

The administration tried to woo a private passenger carrier to the airport in 2019, but ultimately concluded the CAA was better positioned to do so.

“I wish we didn’t have so many hiccups,” Rosario said. “But obviously Sen. Kelly’s gonna advocate for his town and do the best he can. I’m gonna do the same for mine.”