Gardner City airport staff aim for 2026 FAA grant to buy airspace easements for tree clearing

Gardner City airport staff said at a recent commission meeting that they plan to pursue federal funding in fiscal year 2026 to acquire aviation easements and clear trees near the runway, after a wildlife hazard site visit identified animal incursions and obstructions.

Gail, speaking to the commission, said the Federal Aviation Administration informed staff during an October capital‑improvements meeting “that they would only fund clearing of the airport's visual approaches,” reducing the number of easements the airport needs to acquire and lowering the project scope. She said the draft obstruction‑study report and the environmental review process are under way and that the environmental assessment has been reduced to a documented categorical exclusion for trim clearing, easements and fence installation.

The issue matters because federal grants through the Airport Improvement Program (AIP) require perpetual property rights for cleared airspace. Staff explained that easements give the airport the right to enter parcels to remove and maintain vegetation that encroaches on an approved approach; property owners keep full use of their ground‑level property subject to height limits on plantings and structures.

Staff recommended initiating easement work in 2026 to take advantage of a temporary increase in AIP federal share. “Typically AIP funds 90 percent; for fiscal years ’25 and ’26 they are contributing 95 percent,” Gail said, noting that a 95 percent federal share would reduce the local contribution to roughly 2.5 percent. Staff cited an estimated local share of about $15,000 to qualify for that reduced percentage, though they also cautioned that per‑easement payments depend on appraisals and could vary.

Gail described the pre‑grant steps the airport must complete before FAA will fund an easement: identify easement boundaries by survey, obtain an appraisal and an independent review of that appraisal, perform title searches and produce a purchase‑and‑sale agreement for each affected parcel. She said the FAA requires at least an executed purchase‑and‑sale agreement to include easement purchases in a grant application.

Commission discussion covered the projected number of easements and timing. Staff said the likely scope has been trimmed to nine visual‑approach easements (down from earlier counts in the teens) and outlined a timeline in which easement acquisition work would be pursued in 2026, design and permitting for tree clearing would follow in the subsequent year, and actual clearing would occur in 2028.

Commissioners also flagged a practical concern: one parcel on the south end of the airport may be sold for housing within the next year. Staff said initiating the project this fiscal year could secure easement rights before a sale complicates negotiations. They also noted that an easement purchased in the 1980s for one parcel may not satisfy current FAA approach standards and that legal review will confirm whether a new easement is required.

Gail emphasized that FAA funding typically covers initial tree clearing, not long‑term maintenance; perpetual easements allow the airport to perform future maintenance without re‑negotiating rights with subsequent owners.

Next steps: staff asked the commission to confirm a commitment of local funds so the consultant can scope the work, prepare appraisals and surveys, and assemble a grant application for the FAA and MassDOT. The commission will seek city council approval for the local share before the application is submitted.