Committee schedules hearing for car-rental tenant, approves Lexi's lease at Saratoga County Airport

At its May 6 meeting, the Saratoga County Airport Improvement Committee voted to schedule a public hearing next month on a proposed lease with 2116 Rent A Car LLC (Lea Auto Group) and approved a lease authorizing Lexi’s to operate food service in the terminal.

The committee scheduled the car-rental lease public hearing after airport staff said 2116 Rent A Car (Lea Auto Group) has been renting cars at the airport for several years and requested the office space plus access to the heated wash bay. “This item is simply to schedule a public hearing so that the following month the board could consider an actual lease agreement with 2116 rent a car,” Airport staff said.

The committee then authorized a lease with Lexi’s to operate the food service in the old terminal. Airport staff described the Lexi’s lease terms as a one-year initial term with two five-year renewal options and annual rent of $26,040 (about $2,000 monthly) for the first and second years, followed by a 5% rent increase each year thereafter. The lease covers the kitchen, bar, dining area, back-house storage and catering area; the tenant will be responsible for garbage removal, grease-trap cleaning, equipment maintenance and cleaning. Airport staff said Lexi’s would be “the exclusive provider of food service at the airport.”

Committee members described the new tenants as advancing earlier goals to provide services for travelers and the local community. One committee member said the Lexi’s operator is experienced in food service and that the county expects community support. The committee also asked about electric vehicle charging: in response to a question about charging stations at the airport, Airport staff replied, “We will,” and added that the county station has five or six chargers.

Members discussed the top-floor meeting area near the airport manager’s office as a community space that could be scheduled and overseen by the airport manager rather than a regular rentable commercial space. When asked about capacity, Airport staff said, “I think you could easily put 25, 30 people in that room.” The committee said introducing a rental component for the space would be the board’s prerogative.

All actions related to the leases were approved by voice vote at the May 6 meeting. The car-rental lease was advanced to a public hearing for formal consideration at the next meeting; the Lexi’s lease was authorized for execution subject to the usual procedural steps.

The committee framed both leases as additional airport revenue to offset operating costs and as part of broader efforts to bring more services to the airport and surrounding community.