ALBANY – County airports in Dutchess and Orange counties as well as two smaller facilities have been awarded a total of just under $2 million in state funding for aviation capital improvements.
The $889,650 awarded to Dutchess County will enable the county to make improvements to the airport terminal, helping to attract new tenants and make it more inviting to pilots and visitors, said County Executive Marcus Molinaro. The county has been pushing to make the airport in the Town of Wappinger part of its economic development strategy with the installation of municipal water and solar energy at the site.
The $882,000 awarded to the Orange County Airport in Montgomery will help p-ay for a corporate storage hangar. County Executive Steven Neuhaus said the airport is out of corporate hangar space. The grant will enable the county to construct a bulk hangar large enough to accommodate the growing base of transient jet traffic at the facility. The growth at the airport is “the result of good management by our Director of Aviation Ed Magryta, a growing economy and the repeal of the aviation tax in 2015,” Neuhaus said.
Receiving smaller state grants are Sky Acres Airport in Dutchess County, which will get $139,875 for installation of a self-service Jet-A fueling Station and Warwick Municipal Airport in Orange County, getting $23,400 for taxiway edge repair and resurfacing.
