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Committee OKs $185,000 amendment to monitoring contract for airport butterfly habitat to allow expanded safety mowing
Summary
Saratoga County committee approved a roughly $185,000 amendment to the McFarland Johnson contract to fund plantings and continued monitoring of three FAA-funded butterfly habitats, aiming to secure DEC and U.S. Fish and Wildlife certification so wider safety mowing near runways can proceed; the amendment will be covered by available FAA grant revenues.
The Saratoga County Airport Improvement Committee voted March 4 to amend a contract with consultant McFarland Johnson by approximately $185,000 to fund planting work and ongoing monitoring of three habitats built with FAA funds.
Ed Cook, the presenter, said the county received roughly $5 million in FAA funding during the COVID period to construct three habitat sites (north, south and east) in the towns of Wilton and Northumberland to compensate for wildlife habitat restrictions adjacent to airport runways. "We spent $5 million to build habitat so we can mow an area that's a couple hundred feet wide for safety purposes," Cook said, describing the tradeoff between habitat creation and the need to clear taller vegetation near runways for safety.
Cook said the…
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