Select board hears updates on hangar construction, Rye Harbor study and town noise ordinance

The Greenland Board of Selectmen received several related updates April 20 about maritime and aviation activity near the town, including a new corporate hangar at the local airfield, a regional Rye Harbor study and a resident complaint about military flight noise.

Board members heard that a developer — identified in the packet as Thermo Fisher (Thermo Fisher Scientific) — obtained approval for a new hangar that will sit on a rare apron-side parcel and will accommodate two corporate aircraft after a 35,000-square-foot lot was subdivided into two parcels. "It's fabulous if a private entity has a hangar that opens up right onto this apron," a board member said in a report on the prior planning discussions.

The board also received an update on the Rye Harbor study, described as a PDA-run planning process (the packet named the port authority and a planning consultant). The first public meeting was April 17 and a second meeting was scheduled for April 23 at 9:30 a.m. at the PDA’s large conference room, with a Zoom option. Board members expressed concern about the flow and availability of federal funds for ports work; staff noted the PDA has $750,000 in federal funds referenced in the packet and that those funds come through various Department of Transportation authorizations.

A resident had called with a complaint about a KC‑46 tanker and runway use; a board member clarified that the town’s noise ordinance includes time and decibel limits between approximately 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. but that military flights are excluded from the town noise ordinance. "Just for the record, military flights are excluded from noise ordinance," the select board recorded.

Ending: Board members said they would continue monitoring port planning and airfield development and pass any resident noise complaints to the appropriate enforcement official or agency.