Beverly Regional Airport secures state and federal grants for runway environmental work and snow removal vehicle

The City Council on June 2 approved acceptance of a $19,915 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Aeronautics Division for the Beverly Regional Airport and set a public hearing on a $453,435 federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration to purchase a snow removal and spreader vehicle.

Airport Director Gabriel Hannafin told the Finance and Property Committee that the $19,915 state grant is the state portion of a larger environmental grant supporting preliminary environmental and permitting work tied to a planned full rebuild of the airport’s main runway. He said the federal portion of that grant arrived last year and that state paperwork was delayed; the city’s local share was already budgeted.

On the snow removal vehicle, Hannafin said the airport’s last new plow was acquired in 2001 and that funds for this purchase are available through allocations tied to the federal bipartisan infrastructure law; the airport will use portions of its federal allocations across several fiscal years to cover the purchase. Hannafin said the grant now before the council covers the federal portion; a small state contribution will follow and the local match (about $15,833) will come from the airport enterprise fund, which will require a separate public hearing and appropriation.

Finance committee members praised the airport for leveraging grant funds and for using the airport enterprise fund for the local match so that the purchase does not come from the city’s general tax levy. The council approved the state grant (order 173) and voted to set a public hearing for the federal grant on June 16 at 8:30 p.m.