Airport Master Plan process starts; 40+ turn out, voice input

By Ben Westcott, Chronicle Staff Writer

The June 4 public meeting at SUNY Adirondack on a proposed update to the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport master plan drew a mix of support, skepticism and cautious optimism from the 40-plus attendees.

County officials and consultants from McFarland Johnson, a Binghamton-based infrastructure engineering and planning firm. said emphasized the master plan process is in its early stages.

The plan’s cost of $250,000 is being paid by the county, Federal Aviation Administration and New York State Department of Transportation.

Warren County Superintendent of Public Works Kevin Hajos said the county is only paying “five cents on the dollar.”

The master plan will guide future development and funding priorities at the airport, McFarland Johnson senior planner Steve Bourque said.

As part of the public outreach process, mailers were sent to residents living within a half-mile of the airport.

Several at the meeting expressed discontent with the airport’s operations.

In an online poll done in real time at the meeting, organizers asked audience, “What word reflects the airport’s relationship with its neighbors?”

Among the answers: “lacking, hahaha, honestly, should be good, terrible, county doesn’t care, want good, contentious.”

Also asked: “What word describes what we want the airport to become?”

The answers included “smaller” and “a proud resource.” The most frequent answer was “self-sufficient.”

Mr. Hajos said, “We expect to make the airport self-sufficient. That’s our goal. We are gaining there, but it doesn’t happen overnight.”

He said the airport was “a million dollars in the hole” when he came onboard but that revenue from solar fields, hangar leases, and a renegotiated contract with Rich Air has reduced losses to “roughly $1,000 to $2,000 annually.” He said the airport’s two solar fields generate approximately $65,000 each annually.

Sharon Lowell said she has lived next to the airport on Chestnut Ridge Road for 33 years. She told The Chronicle that if the airport “can support itself, it will be positive,” but she balks at the solar fields.

“I feel terrible for the people that live by them,” she said. “What an eyesore.”

Mrs. Lowell and others at the meeting spoke firmly against airport expansion, prompting Mr. Hajos to assure them, “We haven’t talked about increasing the runway at all. No one has said anything about increasing the runway.”

But Steve Bourque, a Senior Planner for the engineering and planning firm, said, “Runway length is something we’ll look at.”

He noted the last master plan “recommended a 1,000 foot runway extension.”

He also said the airport has “a waitlist for folks that want to base their airplane here” and “they’re short of space.”

One pilot at the meeting said, “What we need right now is hangars.”

Mrs. Lowell recalled that “In 2001, we shut down the expansion. So many people have a bad taste in their mouth,” from that experience.

“They wanted to come in and cut down tree canopies,” she said, but “everybody rallied.”

But Mrs. Lowell approves of the current Master Plan process. “It sounds like they are trying to do things differently,” she said.

Bill VanNess, a Republican candidate for town supervisor, similarly remarked, “The transparency is a huge step for the county. I think this is what we lacked the last time around.”

Queensbury County Supervisor At-Large Doug Beaty said, “This is a major step forward compared to the past; this is a much better first step in transparency.”

One man at the meeting complained that “a relatively small number of pilots” use the airport and “everybody else in the community subsidizes their action.”

Mr. Bourque retorted that the airport “brings millions of tourist dollars to the area every year.”

“There’s a lot of positive that comes out of the airport,” he said, arguing it provides good paying jobs and is used by military, law enforcement and search and rescue.

“How is it determined who gets to use the airport?” one man asked.

“The airport has to accept any kind of aviation activity as long as it’s done safely,” Mr. Hajos replied.

The man asked how it is determined that the military uses this particular airport as opposed to others in the region.

“I’m sure they use all the airports in the region,” Mr. Hajos replied, but said “I can’t speak for them.”

One woman complained that low helicopters “rattle her whole house” and her neighbors’ houses, even at night. She asked if Mr. Hajos can address that issue.

He said “I don’t have somebody at the airport at 7:30 at night,” but promised to “make some calls.”

When someone asked if the airport would ever become commercial, Mr. Hajos said, “We’re too close to Albany for commercial service to take place.”

Someone asked if there’s any other major activity at the airport beside the annual Balloon Festival.

Mr. Hajos said he’s looking into the airport hosting an “air race.”

Mr. Beatty said, “I’ve already had 10 people call me wanting to know about it.” He said it “will be a huge revenue maker for the county.”

Mr. Hajos said the county is also looking at doing an “air show,” but the show’s “acrobatic box” would displace residents at the time of the show, so it’s “not one of our priorities.”

McFarland Johnson provided general airport stats showing the airport had 23,652 aircraft operations in 2025 and is projected to have 33,787 by 2045. The number of based aircraft is also expected to grow from 49 in 2025 to 65 in 2045.

Another public meeting is planned later in the Master Plan process at a date to be determined. The entire process is scheduled to be completed by next May.

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