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Chamber Surveys Members on Proposed Cargo Airport

The Cargo Airport has been a hot topic in the Greater Hazleton area and the Greater Hazleton Chamber of Commerce has asked its members for its opinions on the proposed project.  According to George Hludzik, Chamber Vice Chair of Transportation, “Surveys were mailed to the chamber’s membership, which totaled 750, on September 5th with a request that all surveys be returned to the Chamber office by September 28th.   Members were asked to comment on four statements. The first;  The Cargo Airport would have a positive impact on my business was answered by 177 members.  58.7% (104) fully agreed with the statement; 21.5%(38) agreed with some reservations; 4.5% (8)disagreed with some reservations; 10.2% (18)completely disagreed, and 5.1% (9)had no opinion.

The second statement; The cargo airport would have a negative impact on my business received a response from 167 members. 9.6% (16) fully agreed with the statement; 7.8% (13) agreed with some reservations; 16.2% (27) disagreed with some reservations; 59.8% (100) completely disagreed with the statement while 6.6% (11) had no opinion.

The third statement; The Cargo Airport would be good for our community was answered by 181 businesses. 46.4% (84) fully agreed; 32.6% (59) agreed with some reservations; 6.1% (11) disagreed with some reservations; 14.4% (26) completely disagreed while .55% (1) had no opinion.

The fourth statement; I am in favor of the Cargo Airport Project was answered by 177 businesses. 50.1% (89) fully agreed; 25.4% (45) agreed with some reservations; 4.5% (8) disagreed with some reservations; 18.1% (32) completely disagreed while 1.7% (3) had no opinion.

The Chamber then asked what, if any, concerns did you have related to the project.  Responses included (in no specific relevance or order): Increased traffic on already burdened roadways; sewer and water concerns, who is to provide these services?; school system is already overcrowded, can we handle additional students and at what cost to the taxpayer; environmental concerns such as pollution, noise levels, clean air, loss of green space; funding, where is it coming from; affect on local municipalities; will disrupt the local labor market and cause many employers to close or move their operation; where do we obtain the labor force when many employers cannot obtain employees now; police force expansion-how do we pay for added protection?; we would become a large urban area-do we want this?; could existing residents afford the increased costs associated with the airport?; security issues-will ICE be involved?; no major tenant yet such as UPS, Fed EX; once the airport is buildt Gladstone will leave the area with the burden on the people; increased taxes; social services would be overwhelmed; what is the disaster plan and response for the project?; increased drug traffic; impact on wages of current employers; urban sprawl; what insurance carrier would be providing healthcare to the new workers; no public funding should be spent.

On the other hand, many positive responses were provided;  project would provide less travel time for shipment of goods; the area needs family sustaining jobs, this project will do that; very excited and looking forward to the growth of the area; change is inevitable and well worth some hurdles; higher paying jobs with new talent to the area; I-80 has become a bottleneck for commerce-this project would offset that problem; this is the best idea for our area since coal-if not this, then what?; will put us on the map; would bring in more jobs with higher pay; best idea in years.

When asked what additional information about this project would you like to hear, respondents stated: feasibility study needs to be completed and shared with the public; how will this affect municipal governments-are they ready for such a tremendous growth of services and is their finances available to them to offset the costs; where is the funding coming from to make the necessary changes to accommodate the project; FAA permits; what is PennDOT’s commitment to a new exit off of I-81 and who will maintain it?; what is the total funding package; local emergency plan-how are we going to deal with accidents,etc?; accurate timeline; who will profit from the land around the airport; keep providing information so that months don’t go by without hearing anything; will monies put into place to help the already overburdened school district?; Is this a KOZ and are they going to pay taxes to help with the over burden?; who will be responsible for the operation of the airport?, if an authority, how will the board members be selected?; what are the landing patterns; type and number of jobs; need a task force to organize and coordinate all local government agencies to prepare for this; Chamber, COG, Civic Partnership should sponsor one study of where the community will be after the airport and what must be done to get there.

Chamber president Donna Palermo stated that at the Chamber’s board of directors meeting on Monday, October 15th at which time the results of the study were presented, the board of directors stated that the Chamber, because of its member’s comments, supports the concept of the Cargo Airport but would still would need to review the feasibility study that is being performed by the State of Pennsylvania through the efforts of Senator Musto and Senator Baker before an actual position could be taken on the project.   Ms. Palermo stated that the results of the Chamber survey would be shared with Gladstone Partners in an effort to address some of the concerns and questions that were related to the Chamber through the survey.