Plymouth Independent

YOUR VIEW: ‘Fiefdom’ runs out of runway

by Al DiNardo06/18/2026‍

Airport Commission gets a shakeup

by Andrea Estes - Independent Staff 06/18/2026

CHANGE IS HAPPENING - Select Board ousted two longtime airport commissioners, including chair Kenneth Fosdick and vice-chair Douglas Crociati!

Appointed to fill their slots were Alan Costello, who has been a member of the Plymouth Airport Community Advisory Committee, a group representing airport neighbors, and Thomas Bodie, a West Plymouth resident who described himself as an expert in data analysis, project management and technical research.

The Town can never stop paying attention to this Airport. The Airport commission can no longer spin their tales like they did in 2016 when they convinced the Town approve the move to make both runways the same length (2016 Patriot Ledger). “Airport Manager Tom Maher said the project enhances safety by enabling all aircraft to use the same runway. Having both runways the same length has the additional benefit of mitigating aircraft noise by minimizing go-arounds, balancing the noise of larger aircraft more fairly and having aircraft at higher altitudes during climbs over various neighborhoods, Maher said.” So why is it better to have one runway longer now?

Thankfully, more residents have become involved and are making a huge difference! Please contact us on this site if you can help to be a part of the important changes going on right now. Below is the story of how we started with this site.

We, the founders of this site, were long-time (39 year) residents of West Plymouth.  We had no political agenda. We were simply your neighbors, fighting to preserve our community. We lived within a mile and a half from the Plymouth airport with no issues for 35 years.  In the last several years, something changed.  Airport neighbors have been affected by an increase in multiple flight schools repetitively circling over homes on any given day.  The planes seem to be flying at lower altitudes than ever before and are consistently louder, disturbing the peace and quiet in backyards and even inside homes.  And now, the jets are flying over homes at all hours of the day, and the proposed 351 ft. runway extension is all about accommodating private luxury jets. You won’t know how this will impact you until you feel it. They also discuss in the Airport Master Plan, the potential of adding a 24-hour fuel kiosk, which would increase traffic in the middle of the night. Don’t wait to find out what that feels like.

The increased traffic and fuel sales will only help the airport make money, with no consideration to the inevitable negative impact on the residents’ lives. It’s important to note that there has been no study related to the loss of real estate values around the airport and how that will have to be picked up town wide. There was no study of the perceived economic development generated by the airport runway expansion and if that would be far outweighed by the loss of real estate value. The loss of income for the town would have to be made up town wide through higher property taxes.

In Spring of 2024 we learned from a neighbor of the plans already underway (since 2022) for an extension of Runway 6/24 that runs parallel to South Meadow Road. This is the runway that flies over the most heavily concentrated noise-sensitive residential neighborhoods in West Plymouth and Carver. The residents of the last extension, Runway 15/33 have been negatively impacted as well (see the Testimonials tab for that reality). We were shocked, as you may also be, that there was very, very limited publication of the extension or notices to the residents of all of the surrounding neighborhoods. To this day, the Airport has not directly or actively tried to notify or reach out to neighbors for input on the proposed expansion (even though they still have it in their plans).

We immediately began attending Airport Commission meetings every month explaining our existing intolerable conditions of noise, low-flying planes, circling training planes, increased jet activity, most recently the super mid-size private luxury jets.  We expressed our concerns of any runway extension with our already troubling conditions and asked why this was necessary.  We were told it was for safety as they repeatedly claim.  We later learned that the 351 ft. increase (to a total length of 5,001 ft. is directly and specifically related to expanding the capacity of the airport to accommodate the private luxury jets, that minimally use our airport now, but that will change with the additional 351 ft. extension. There are so many reasons why this additional 351 ft. has the potential to increase the volume of the luxury jets and how they will have a negative impact to everyone’s quality of life forever. We were driven very early on by the lack of transparency and the dismissive attitude we all received from the Airport commission and manager on anything related to the runway extension or any complaints related to the current conditions to the neighbors of the airport. With the new Airport Commissioners replacing the ‘Good Ole Boy’s’ the neighbors are now encouraged to speak up

Many residents soon lost confidence that the airport commission and manager were looking out for the residents. We believe that priority one and the main responsibility for the airport commission and manager should be looking out for the benefit of all residents and that is why they were chosen by the Selectmen. They are supposed to be the “stewards” of our small hometown airport, and they are supposed to be protecting us. Their main responsibility should not be for the benefit of a few people and a few businesses at the airport at the expense of the neighbors. Matt Cardillo resigned as Airport Manager so that position is now open.

As stated by the FAA, the runway, as it stands today, IS safe for the smaller planes and the existing luxury jets that are under current extreme weight restrictions.

Along our journey to figure out what has been going on with our airport and what we can do about it, we met incredible neighbors, activists and members in and outside our community who have become more and more involved. Many experience the same or worse conditions than we have. All have the heart and enthusiasm to be a part of change. For that, neighbors of the airport should be immensely grateful. Whether you live near the airport or not, this airport impacts the entire town’s health and safety.

Ongoing research reveals that there are several negative environmental impacts to neighbors surrounding small airports including but not limited to; air quality, noise quality, soil contamination and particularly for Plymouth, threats to our sole source water supply. We have found multiple articles that support these threats to our health and wellbeing. We hope you will take the time to explore our site and educate yourselves on these issues. We appreciate any support. Small steps add up.

NO MORE SNEAKING IN ARTICLES TO TOWN MEETINGS AS THE PREVIOUS AIRPORT COMMISSION HAS BEEN DOING FOR YEARS, AS LISTED BELOW.

2026 Spring Town Meeting, 2 articles from the Airport have surprised the residents. They had no knowledge of the articles that were submitted by the Airport even though they attend every Airport Commission Meeting and CAC meetings. One, is extending the Wastewater Treatment Plant Gravity Line an estimated 2,900 feet. As quoted by the interim Airport Manager “The current line cannot be added on to and serves the current aviation business on the South side. The gravity line would be a new line that runs behind the commercial non-aviation businesses. The primary intent of this line would be to support the commercial non-aviation side. But yes it could be used for any future development on the aviation side, they would however have to run their own line in order to meet it.” Sounds like a plan for airport growth, expansion? Why wasn’t this discussed at any commission meetings with the residents?

2025 Annual Fall Town Meeting, the Airport Commission submitted an article for Runway 6/24 Reconstruction (reconstruction not ‘resurfacing') without a public vote as required by the Town Bylaws. Even when asked 2 weeks prior to the submission date, an airport commissioner denied they were submitting anything to the CAC, the group that is supposed to be working with the Airport to improve communications. Town legal and management did nothing to pull the Article. Then a select person helped the Airport management and commission use the town’s resources to create a video, manipulated to make the airport look worse than it was, to show at Town Meeting. A town meeting member, the grandson of the Airport Commission Chair, got up and lied to the entire town at Town Meeting, stating that the CAC had discussed the runway reconstruction for months, when, in fact, it did not. Hopefully he abstained from voting to avoid a conflict of interest. So basically, 18 months later, after working tirelessly to open communications between the Airport Commission and the town residents, the Airport Commission stays on the course of smoke and mirrors. Next up, you know for sure…is the extension of the runway. Because don’t you think for one minute, they have stopped getting permits etc., for that.