Two Franklin County airports are among the 26 in Massachusetts set to split $171 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, an unprecedented federal economic stimulus package signed into law March 27.
The Orange and Turners Falls municipal airports will each receive $30,000 to help them navigate through the hardship brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan Camden, manager of the Turners Falls airport, and Leonard Bedaw, his counterpart in Orange, said information on how they can spend the money is still a bit vague and they are awaiting federal guidance to find out what projects are eligible for funding.
“We’re kind of learning about it as we go,” Camden said.
He said he would like to spend the money on some infrastructure improvements to the airport’s administrative offices and to fix existing asphalt around the facility. There are also some ADA-compliance issues that could be dealt with. Camden said he is hoping for some guidelines by the middle of next week.
He mentioned he might also use money to hire some part-time help at the airport. He is now the only employee, as a student set up for part-time work through Franklin County Technical School had to stop when Massachusetts schools were shut down due to the pandemic.
Camden said the airport’s revenue comes from land leases for hangars, facility usage fees and some rental properties the airport owns. A private flight school operated at the airport shut down nearly a month ago.
Camden said the airport’s general operations are down 60 to 70 percent in the past month or so.
Bedaw said once he hears from the federal government he will likely pick an eligible project from the airport’s capital improvement plan. He also said the airport needs to replace its 1983 plow truck and he would like to finish the security fencing around the facility. He said chain-link fence spans around roughly half the facility, protecting all critical areas. But the wide side, near a forested area, remains somewhat vulnerable to wildlife.
Bedaw, one of two employees at the airport, said some fiscal year 2021 projects include replacing the lighting system on one of the runways. He said with the CARES Act money would cover the required 5-percent local share of the project, which would be funded 90 percent by the federal government and 5 percent at the state level.
Boston’s Logan International Airport is the recipient of the most money of any airport in the state, at $141,340,992. Barnstable Municipal-Boardman/Polando Field in Hyannis is the runner-up, at $17,971,966. In its original form, the bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Joe Courtney, a Connecticut Democrat, though it was amended before it was passed.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.