by Hilary Niles vtdigger.org
A draft environmental assessment for proposed development at the Newport State Airport was released in February. The Agency of Transportation will hold a public hearing on March 20 about the development and environmental impact mitigation plans.
Newport State Airport. File photo by Hilary Niles/VTDigger
In addition to the light plane manufacturing facility and possible flight school slated for the airport, key developments include:
- a 1,002-foot runway extension to accommodate larger planes
- tree removal to clear the flight path
- a new terminal building
- more parking and a storage unit for snow removal equipment
- new hangars for maintenance and private use
- a new fuel farm
- two new warehouses
The plan to revamp the state-owned airport is a lynchpin in the regional development strategy of Bill Stenger and Ariel Quiros, who have turned Jay Peak into a year-round destination resort. They are also hatching plans for elite athletic training facilities at Q Burke Mountain, and they intend to bring a waterfront convention center and biomedical research park to Newport.
The airport will be a hub for transporting goods in and out of the three-county Foreign Trade Zone that has been established in the Northeast Kingdom to encourage local manufacturing and international trade.
Business executives and tourists are also expected to take advantage of the expanded airport capacity. Jay Peak plans to run helicopter shuttles to the nearby resort, the report says, with more service possible for Q Burke Mountain as demand grows. VTrans is pursuing customs and border patrol service at the airport.
According to the draft environmental assessment report, prepared for the Agency of Transportation by the New Hampshire-consulting firm McFarland Johnson, a handful of upgrades are required regardless of pending business developments at the airport. Officials say tree removal to clear the flight path is long overdue, for example, and the sole maintenance hangar and existing fuel farm are no longer sufficient to meet current demand — much less anticipated increases.
Other developments, like a new private road and more parking, would be necessary to accommodate the airport’s expanded physical site and activities.
A projected timeline follows:
2014
Runway 36 extension (begin)
Terminal apron
Aircraft manufacturing building and gravel wetland
Gravel wetland (southwest of proposed manufacturing building)
2015
Runway 36 extension (complete)
Snow removal equipment building and gravel wetland
Bonded warehouse, access drive and sand filter
Hangar expansion (two hangars)
2016
Terminal building (begin)
2017
Taxiway A, D and E and Taxilane A4
Terminal building (complete) and access to Airport Road
Hangar expansion (four hangars)
Fixed Base Operator building and Taxilane A5
Corporate hangars (two hangars)
2018
Taxiway A (Part II)
Taxiway B and C, Taxilane A2 and A1 and sand filter
Hangars (two hangars)
Fuel farm
Corporate hangar (one)
Some recommendations do not require physical mitigation, but rather payments to support preservation of farmland or wetlands.
The complete draft environmental assessment, along with the complete exhibit documentation, can be viewed online at the links below.
A public meeting to discuss the project is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday, March 20, at the Coventry Community Center. For more information, contact Larry Lackey, aviation program project manager with VTrans, at 802-828-3554 or [email protected].