North Adams Airport Welcomes New Manager, New Commissioners
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission moved through its regular business Tuesday night, marking a significant step forward with the presence of a new manager, Andrew Franklin, and a fully functioning commission.
"It is cool to see that the band is back together here, and I think that is worth acknowledging and celebrating," said Andrew Fitch, new commissioner and city councilor. "Thank you everyone for making this a robust commission again, and it seems like the airport is moving forward."
The Airport Commission had been inactive for the past few months. With only two commissioners and no manager, much of the airport's business had been put on pause.
But on Tuesday, the commission welcomed back former member Dean Bullett. With the addition of Fitch, the commission now has four members.
Chairman Jim Haskins then introduced Franklin, who replaces Bruce Goff after Goff stepped down earlier this year.
"It is my first time living out here in New England and I love it," Franklin said. "I am excited to learn more about airport operations and spruce up the airport to bring more people in."
The commission also met the city's Procurement and Grant Coordinator Thomas Peterson, who introduced himself as the new airport city liaison, replacing the recently retired Kathy Eade.
Peterson noted he is still learning about the airport but brought to the commission's attention that the State Ethics Commission had contacted the city regarding Chairman Haskins' past appointment as interim airport manager.
Peterson explained that during Goff's absence, there was no one actually running the day-to-day operations at the airport. Without a functioning commission, it was impossible to officially appoint an interim manager, so the mayor appointed Haskins out of necessity.
Peterson said the state was informed the appointment was made out of necessity. The Ethics Commission, which reportedly appreciates the airport's efforts to improve transparency, asked that the commission officially vote to ratify the position at its next meeting.
Before the hearing of visitors, Haskins read out some new rules regarding meeting etiquette to limit disruption. He stated the commission will no longer tolerate unsolicited discussion or crosstalk between attendees, adding that attendees can only address the commission if called upon by the chair.
The chairman added that those who plan to record meetings must announce to the chair they are doing so, and stressed that no recording will be allowed in executive session. The chairman can terminate discussion from attendees at their discretion.
During the hearing of visitors, attendees can speak to items on the agenda for no more than three minutes and to general business at the airport for two minutes. Attendees are welcome to contact commissioners outside of the meeting.
Abuse of this process will result in attendees being asked to leave the meeting or to be escorted from the airport. If disruption continues, they will be asked not to attend future meetings.
The chairman said the commission is working to codify these new meeting procedures; once completed, they will be distributed among meeting attendees and airport users.
Moving into regular business, the commission heard from Stantec engineer Peter Enzien, representing the airport's engineer of record, who provided updates on various airport projects.
Enzien said the Federal Aviation Administration project to construct a six-unit T-hangar building west of the city hangar that was to be completed this year, has been pushed out. It will be funded through Airport Improvement Project (AIP) funding and federal funding the city has banked over the last three years.
The city must now hire a surveyor and a geotech company to conduct soil borings to inform the foundation design.
"We did get a contract for design and will be starting that soon," he said. "... Those are the first two things that are going to happen relatively soon."
He said the surveying and borings will not impact normal airport business.
Design will take place over the winter, with the project slated to go out to bid in February. The grant application is due in May, and the city plans on making an offer in July 2026. Construction should start in late August or early September of that year.
The foundation work should be complete in 2026; the actual building is a larger project that will take another six to eight months.
"We would not expect the actual superstructure of the building to go up until 2027, but it will be a brand-new building and they go up very quickly once they start," he said.
He added that two ASMP projects have been completed, and that the state Department of Transportation visited the airport to conduct crack sealing and other runway maintenance, work last performed in 2020.
"COVID impacted that," he said. "They try to go around to all the airports every three years … it is a great preventative maintenance program they have, and it does extend the life of the pavement."
He added that new gate operators have also been installed. These two projects are at no cost to the city.
In other business, the commission voted to extend Turboprop's Jet A lease agreement for five years. The last agreement was four years.
The agreement also includes an increase from 30 to 40 cents per gallon that Turboprop will pay the city, money which goes directly into the airport's general operating budget.
"Prices have gone up like everything else so we decided to go up," Haskins said. "We negotiated that."
Turboprop agreed to handle all pump maintenance.
• The commission also voted to take David Crowell to small claims court.
Haskins noted that in 2022, Crowell's abandoned, derelict plane flipped over during a windstorm. The city had to hire a crane to flip the plane upright, incurring a cost of $7,000.
The city was unable to contact Crowell, but when they finally did, he refused to make the payment, indicating that the bill was too expensive and he could have flipped it himself, Haskins said.
• Fitch read a proclamation from the mayor proclaiming September as General Aviation Appreciation Month.
• The commission tabled a discussion on the Mohawk Soaring Club's request for abatement because representatives from the club were unable to attend the meeting. Some airport users have opposed the abatement as unfair.
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