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Saratoga County committee accepts FAA entitlement grant, authorizes easements near runway
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Summary
The Saratoga County Airport Improvements Committee on April 8 accepted an FAA entitlement grant to help reimburse terminal construction costs and authorized navigation and airspace easements for newly subdivided lots near Runway 14, with the county to pay for any vegetation removal.
The Saratoga County Board of Supervisors’ Airport Improvements Committee voted April 8 to accept an FAA entitlement grant and to authorize navigation and airspace easements for properties near Runway 14.
The committee’s chair sought and received approval to accept grant number 50-2026, which a staff member described as FAA entitlement funding that will “reimburse the county for its costs associated with construction of the terminal.” According to staff statements in the meeting, the grant amount was given as 300,000, the FAA share was cited as 885,000 and a county figure of 77,500 was also recorded in the discussion. The motion to accept the grant carried with no recorded opposition.
Committee members then authorized navigation easements related to property owned by James and Deborah Zaloga. A staff member explained the easements cover the runway protection zone (RPZ) at the ground surface and three-dimensional airspace surfaces (approach surfaces and Part 77 surfaces), allowing the county to remove or trim vegetation that penetrates those surfaces and to prohibit new structures within protected areas.
During discussion, a committee member asked whether the lots had been created before or after the RPZ was established; the staff member said he did not know the full historical order but stated that one of the lots appears to have been constructed after the RPZ was already in place. The staff member also said the easement would be granted at no cost to the county, but that any future costs to remove or trim vegetation would be the county’s responsibility.
The staff member described a current obstruction study (a refresh of a 2015 study) intended to identify properties and specific trees that penetrate the protected surfaces; he said the county expects to receive the study report this year, which will support outreach to homeowners and a follow-up project, funded through the FAA, to acquire easements.
The committee approved the easement motion after discussion and a roll-call vote of 'Aye'.
The committee’s action on the grant and easements advances work on the airport terminal project and on measures intended to protect aircraft operations by managing vegetation and limiting structures in protected airspace. The committee did not set any additional funding approvals at the meeting; staff said details of subsequent outreach and any costs for vegetation removal would follow the obstruction study and related FAA processes.
