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Republic is example of government run amok Dear Editor: With reference to the report (Amityville Record 10/24/07) on the most recent suit proposed by the Town of Babylon against the Republic Airport Commission, consider the following parade of bureaucracies: •The Republic Airport Commission, an agency of the NYS Department of Transportation. •The NYS DOT, an agency of the State of New York. • The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation • The Federal Aviation Administration, an agency of the US Department of Transportation. • The US Department of Transportation. •The US Environmental Protection Agency, an agency of the Federal Government (who knows of which Department) • The NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, an Agency of the State of New York All of the above are agencies of either the Federal Government or of the State of New York. It would appear that most of them, and probably a number of others, have not been of help to the Towns of Babylon, Huntington and Oyster Bay in their legitimate quest for some degree of local input in controlling that run-amok bounded by Route 110, New Highway, the Southern State Parkway and Conklin Street. Quite the contrary. A goodly number of those agencies are behind-the-scenes participants in Catch 22 mazes which have prevented the pesky locals from interfering in the big picture. I have difficulty in understanding the appeal of bigger government getting MORE involved in our individual daily lives. There is a word to describe the tactics of the people running Republic Airport; dissimulation. Unfortunately, the administrators of Republic Airport are not the only bureaucrats who endeavor to dissemble, it is, and always will be bureaucratic SOP. The Record reports Airport officials as stating, "that efforts to complete a master plan . . . have been stymied by aggressive public opposition designed to stop the airport's growth or shut it down completely." Republic Airport has no more room to grow - only to become more crowded. When Republic Airport was an adjunct to the Republic Aviation manufacturing plant, it existed in harmony with Zahn's general aviation airport less than a mile to the southeast, neighboring cemeteries to the east, Conklin Street and the LIRR to the north, Route 110 and a sandpit to the west, and the Southern State Parkway, Route 109 and the LIRR to the south. Its boundaries have not expanded, nor are they likely to. Imagine if the organization operating Republic Airport were a non-governmental business, is there any question it would be far more responsive to the local governments and the concerns of its neighbors? Why, we might even sic some of the above agencies on it, instead of having them gnaw on us. William Yuengling
Amityville
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