Warren County, New York: Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport (KGFL) expansion foes question land, equipment purchases

QUEENSBURY --  Warren County supervisors agreed Tuesday to go forward with $1.1 million in land and easement purchases to remove obstructions from the end of the airport’s auxiliary runway, but opponents of the purchase are questioning why an $80,000 solution that was seen as a fix four years ago was not pursued.

The county will buy land and/or avigation easements on 34 acres to the east of Runway 30, which runs east-west, so that obstructions can be removed from the approach. The issue has been controversial because the county had purchased avigation easements over part of this land 70 years ago, but maps detailing the location of those easements have been lost.

Some county supervisors wanted the county to litigate the issue, to try to enforce the old easements, but the county instead opted to buy land and new easements.

Queensbury resident Travis Whitehead questioned why the erection of a “precision approach path indicator light,” which was viewed as a solution to the obstruction issue by former Airport Manager Don Degraw in 2011, was not pursued. It would have cost $80,000.

“It takes care of this issue,” he said.

Ross Dubarry, the airport’s current manager, said the Federal Aviation Administration concluded the light would not suffice because the aircraft approach angle would be too steep and was “unsafe.”

Opponents have questioned the price the county will pay, but Bolton Supervisor Ron Conover said the purchase price was established through a federally reviewed appraisal process.

“No one in this room set the price,” Conover said.

County leaders have also argued that some of the land can eventually be sold by the county, although Queensbury at-Large Supervisor Doug Beaty pointed out the owner hasn’t had luck with trying to sell it in the past.

“There’s a reason why this hasn’t been developed,” he said.

Beaty had also advocated for the county to try to enforce the old easements, and he said he was “very troubled” by the decision to go forward with the purchase.

Ninety-five percent of the purchase price will be paid by federal and state funding.

The county Facilities Committee also agreed to spend $675,000 for a snowblower/snow plow/street sweeper and firefighting equipment for the airport. Federal and state funding will pay 95 percent of the price, with the local share amounting to 5 percent.

Dubarry said the machine will replace two vehicles that are nearing the end of their service time, one of which is a truck that will be used by the county Department of Public Works.

Beaty questioned the need for it, and asked whether Saratoga County Airport — to which foes routinely compare Warren County Airport operations — has anything similar. It does not.

Warren County Public Works Superintendent Jeff Tennyson also told supervisors the cleanup of fuel-contaminated soil at the airport has been completed, with 80 to 100 tons of material removed. The area is the site where a new restaurant will be located, and construction should resume shortly, he said.

Original article can be found here:  http://poststar.com