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Date: 9/2/2020
WESTFIELD – At its Aug. 26 meeting, the Westfield Airport Commission heard a presentation from the Jones Payne group about a three-year noise mitigation services contract.
To start the presentation, Jones Payne CEO John Hansen joined the call and discussed his experience working in noise mitigation.
“I bring 32 years of noise mitigation experience to the table. Over that 32 year span I’ve had the good fortune of helping sponsors such as yourselves successfully deliver and implement noise mitigation plans. Most importantly I get to work in projects to help improve people’s experiences living next to airports,” he said.
As a part of the project, Hansen would serve as project executive, Diane Carter would be the project director, Andrew Walter would be the information management lead, Prudence Perry would be the construction manager, and Brianna Whiteman would be the customer service coordinator.
Perry then explained the seven steps the group will take before any construction would begin.
“We follow a basic linear process of planning, schematic design, design and bidding, and then construction. Some of the key points include research and development, acoustic testing, assessment support, recording, design development, and then we finalized design documents before construction,” she said.
Paul McDonnell with Clough Harbour Associates, a firm working under Jones Payne for the potential project said that public input would be a necessity.
“For step two we bring it to the public. I could see bringing our ideas and concepts to smaller public meeting for the neighborhoods that are affected by your noise program as well as an overall public meeting, but really focusing on the individuals most affected,” he said.
Carter then closed the presentation by saying that Jones Payne was the best fit for the project.
“This is what we do, we started this firm 30 years ago specifically to provide noise mitigation to communities that are impacted by airport noise, it’s how we make livable communities and its our corporate mission,” she said.
During the question and answer segment of the presentation, Hansen explained some of the ways the group would engage the community during the project.
“We use interactive websites to engage with our communities so they can get real time information. We log every conversation and outcome with any stake holder so that the team can be consistent. We believe in community workshops and to engage the community in a collaborative way,” he said.
Ultimately, the commission unanimously voted to allow the city’s Procurement Director Tammy Teft to continue the negotiations with the Jones Payne group for the project.