Burbank

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Seeking to break the deadlock over Burbank Airport expansion, Burbank city officials have resumed negotiations with the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority over the number of gates for a proposed new terminal.

In addition to gates, parties on both sides are discussing a proposed night time curfew and future limits on passenger growth at an expanded airport.

Burbank Mayor Bob Kramer, who took the initiative to resume talks in May, said he will give the latest round of negotiations until mid-August to see if there is any measurable progress.

Kramer, who ran for City Council on a strong anti-airport expansion platform, said his recent move to resolve the issue represents less a change of heart and more a desire to resolve the conflict in a constructive manner.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that all the name calling and animosity haven’t paid off at all,” he said. “It’s going to be much more beneficial to work out an agreement than to sue each other constantly.”

A confidentiality agreement prohibits both Burbank and Airport Authority officials from talking publicly about the specific discussions at the two meetings so far, on June 13 and June 18. A third meeting has also been slated for July 9.

“Kramer has set a window to see if we’re making some headway in the next 30 to 60 days,” said Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom, who is one of three Burbank delegates at the recent talks. “He wants to use that time to find if there’s any common ground. If we can’t make a breakthrough in the next 30 to 60 days, it will be back to the courtroom.”

However, parties on both sides appeared cautiously optimistic about progress in the talks so far.

“You need to applaud (Kramer) because he’s bringing this to the table where it belongs and wants to come out with something that’s mutually beneficial to everyone,” said Glendale airport commissioner Carl Raggio, one of three delegates from the Airport Authority. “I’m encouraged by Mayor Kramer’s attitude towards this.”

Kramer said the fact that both sides have agreed to a third meeting should “send a signal to anyone that this hasn’t been a waste of time.”

Ovrom was similarly optimistic: “I feel we are making headway and am pretty optimistic about our chances of finding a mutually acceptable solution.”

The Airport Authority would like to build a new, greatly expanded terminal with no flight curfew, as many as 27 gates and no cap on future growth in passenger traffic.

As an alternative, Burbank would like to impose a 10 p.m.-to-7 a.m. curfew, limit the number of gates to 16 and cap traffic growth to 10 percent over 1996 levels.

Neither side was willing to yield ground until the recent breakthrough, and instead the two were waging a courtroom battle through a series of lawsuits and counter suits.

Burbank spent an estimated $3.5 million in legal fees to fight the expansion last year, while the Airport Authority spent between $1 million and $1.5 million. The Authority has budgeted another $1.2 million for legal expenses this year, and Burbank previously said it has budgeted $3 million for legal fees in 1997.

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