Editor,

It looks like the city will fund a study to determine the cost of a parking garage which apparently is necessary to entice companies to come to Biddeford. It makes me wonder if the mayor mentioned a 123-acre parcel of land in the southern section of the city which could be available. That parcel would have adequate space for parking.

Former Ward 3 Councilman Brad Cote requested that the city fund a study to determine what other use could be made of the land which now is used to store seldom used airplanes. The City Council agreed but the request got lost in a political smoke screen.

The city fathers have let the FAA dictate the need to build a fence that doesn’t even completely surround the airport and pay neighbors good money for easements to cut trees which are not really high enough to impede air traffic.

90 percent of these costs are paid by the FAA “free money.” In a Sept. 2, 2008 council meeting someone compared this to taking cocaine. It feels good at first but it drives you to get more. The plan is to get the city so deep that when expansion comes up for discussion it will seem like the only viable option.

I think it’s time for the city to do the study to determine how to use those 123 acres to benefit Biddeford.

Raymond E. Tardif

Biddeford