BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

POTSDAM — The village has agreed to accept three state matching grants for continued planning and improvements at the Damon Field municipal airport.

The village has already received Federal Aviation Administration grants which will pay for 90 percent of allowable costs for three projects related to the airport — a pavement management program, design of the terminal aircraft apron pavement rehabilitation and expansion, and to conduct an airport master plan update.

At the village board meeting Monday, Feb. 5, the mayor and board of trustees voted to accept three matching grants from the state Department of Transportation that will cover 50 percent of the non-federal share of the eligible costs for each of those projects.

“We continue to work with Passero Associates on the future plans of the Potsdam Airport,” Village Administrator Greg Thompson told Potsdam village trustees and the mayor at the meeting.

Thompson said village officials will be meeting with the firm soon to discuss the master plan for the airfield. He said he and Village Director of Planning and Development Fred Hanss had a preliminary meeting with Procero and discussed the plans for Damon Field for the next 6 to 8 years.

“What this will do is this will get us set in motion in a direction,” the administrator said. “We will have to make changes obviously, both due to financial issues which I’m sure we’ll see. And the availability of land surrounding the airport so we that we might be able to expand our runway another four or five hundred feet, which will allow us to bring larger planes in from UPS which will be great for them.”

Thompson said it was his “dream” that the airfield may someday play host to a small commercial carrier to service the university and healthcare populations and other North Country residents.

“And possibly reinstate that flight back to Albany that was so popular amongst everyone,” he said.

The administrator said those types of expansions and enhancements were the types of things that would be discussed with the airport planning group in the future.

Thompson urged the board to pass all three of the airport related resolutions “to ensure the continuing success of our airport.”

“When you own an airport, you learn very quickly that there are certain things you just have to do. There are certain studies, there are certain improvements, there are certain projects that have to take place. These (the resolutions passed later during the meeting by the board) are part of that,” Thompson said.