Danbury, Norwalk Still Owe Portions Of Legal Fees

You have to pay to play... but at least one Connecticut community appears disinclined to put any more of its money where its mouth is in suing the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Danbury News Times reports the cities of Danbury and Norwalk are both late in their payments towards legal fees stemming from a highly publicized 2007 lawsuit against the FAA over the agency's plan to reroute commercial air traffic over lower Fairfield Country. As ANN reported, 13 Connecticut communities joined in the effort... which has made little apparent progress to date in changing the FAA's mind.

Norwalk still owes about $68,000 of the amount it committed to the effort. Ridgefield official Rudy Marconi, who is also chairman of the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning, sent an email this week to Norwalk Mayor Richard Moccia requesting payment, so the group could make an obligatory payment to the law firm retained to fight the proposal.

"Our contract with McDermott, Will and Emory was signed by each community individually, and therefore the financial obligation is between that community and McDermott, Will and Emory," Marconi wrote. "The pressure is upon us to respond."

Marconi said Tuesday the e-mail was "a simple request. I hope everyone understands I asked as diplomatically as possible."

Diplomacy or no, Moccia appears genuinely concerned about the status of the lawsuit. Asserting that some of the money had already been paid, Moccia added he's awaiting "feedback on how the funds already paid were spent.

"We're still not sure about the status of the lawsuit," he said, adding Norwalk "can't afford continuing rising costs" stemming from the legal effort.

"We're hoping the state will pick up the balance of the cost now that the Attorney General is involved," Moccia added, though he wouldn't say whether he plans to pay the $68,000 fee.

As for Danbury, Mayor Mark Boughton says his community will make good on the $70,000 balance of $125,000 the city committed to the alliance... "but after that, we aren't contributing any more."

The FAA wants to significantly alter approach and departure routes from New York area airports, in a desperate effort to cut down on delays. The proposal -- which the FAA asserts will save 200,000 hours in delays annually by 2011 -- would shift aircraft arrivals for LaGuardia eastward from flights over Westchester County, NY to Fairfield County, according to legal challenges by the communities affected.

While Boughton asserts his community is behind the effort to reduce noise overhead from passing airliners, he believes the lawsuit is "top-heavy on lobbyists and overhead, which, quite frankly, we can't afford right now."

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.sensibleairspace.org/