Pasadena Council Re-Approves Burbank Airport Joint Powers Agreement, Supports New Terminal

 [Editor’s Note:  This article has been edited since it was originally published. Descriptions of the proposed construction at the Airport which originally referred to the work as a renovation have been changed to reflect the fact that the construction actually would replace the existing terminal with a new one. The references to renovating the terminal, rather than outright replacing it, reflected the City Council’s Agenda Report and Council discussion on this matter.]

 

[Updated Wednesday, July 20, 2016 | 12:00 p.m.]   The cities of Pasadena, Burbank and Glendale are once again affirming their determination to work together in managing the Hollywood-Burbank Airport, also known as the Bob Hope Airport, after the Pasadena City Council voted Monday evening to enter into a second amended and restated Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement.

The three cities voted to form an authority in 1977, to acquire and operate the Airport, by way of a Joint Powers Agreement. The most current agreement has been amended and restated several times over the years, most recently in 2003.

The airport authority is governed by a nine-member commission, with Pasadena, Burbank, Glendale each appointing three members to the commission.

The newly proposed second amendment to the Exercise of Powers Agreement would help the construction of a new airport terminal to replace the existing circa-1930s terminal.

According to the agenda report by Mayor Terry Tornek, Pasadena’s representative to the Authority, a new replacement terminal would be “beneficial to Pasadena residents, and is necessary for the future of the airport’s viability.”

The $100 million-plus replacement terminal would modernize amenities, provide a safer distance between the terminal and the runways, and bring the airport’s primary facility up to current earthquake design standards.

The City of Burbank would release an easement that would be necessary for the new terminal.

Changes to the governance of the airport authority would also be made. Certain Commission actions would now require a “supermajority” vote, with at least two Commissioners of each city approving various actions.

According to the agenda report, a supermajority vote would be required, for example, to engage in construction or expansion of the terminal beyond the current plans — leaving 14 gates at the terminal.

The voters of the City of Burbank would also need to approve the new replacement terminal. by way of a measure on the November 2016 ballot to consider the construction.

The airport would also retain the name “Bob Hope Airport” locally, but be known officially as Hollywood-Burbank Airport.

As Mayor Tornek explained, the official name is important in marketing the airport to other regions, particularly on the East Coast, where some airport officials thought the airport was “located in Palm Springs or Vietnam.”