North Adams Airport Welcomes Flight School
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Hewison Aviation operations manager Maura Hewison told the Airport Commission on Tuesday that the company plans to bring a flight school to North Adams.
"We have great things that we are going to be unveiling in the coming months," Hewison said. "You will see people in the airport and in classes. It will liven up the airport and bring a lot of joy."
The flight school has three locations in New York state; the North Adams operation will be its fourth. It offers private and commercial pilot training, as well as discovery flights, among other services.
Hewison was standing in for Airport Manager Andrew Franklin. Hewison Aviation is the manager of the North Adams airport, and Franklin is an employee of the firm.
Hewison said the company worked throughout the winter to establish a presence at Harriman and West. Now that the snow has melted, its presence will become much more visible.
"I am looking forward to sprucing up the place," she said. "I want it to be a welcoming environment, and I want people to be happy when they walk into the airport."
She said the airport has a lot of potential, especially with the possibility of a restaurant.
"You guys have the most beautiful airport I have ever seen. Hopefully you get the restaurant going," she said. "I will fly for a $100 hamburger. You have such untapped potential. We want to bring people together and have people smile."
The "$100 hamburger" is a common aviation slang term for a pilot finding any excuse, usually a meal at another airport, to fly. The cost refers to the expenses of fuel and aircraft fees rather than the price of the meal itself.
Hewison said she is still learning about the region but has already made strong connections with community members and airport users. Once the flight school is up and running, she hopes to invite area residents to the airport for events and work with local high schools and colleges.
She noted they will have a base plane located in North Adams.
"We want to have one plane here for now and grow the flight school originally like we have done at our other flight schools," she said. "Start offering discovery flights. So stay tuned, there are a lot of exciting things happening and I am not letting everything out of the bag at once."
In other business, the commission heard from Stantec engineer Peter Enzien about the new six-unit T-hangar project.
He said the plans have been completed with updates from the state Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration. He noted the only major change was a multi-meter center so all units can be metered for electricity separately.
The project went out to bid in late March. Concerningly, no one showed up to the pre-bid conference.
Enzien said they have already opened the electric sub-bid. The low bidder was Elm Electric with a $180,250 bid. The other bidder was Summer at $185,000.
"They were really competitive and right in line with our engineer estimate," he said.
The city will open the general contractor bids this week. The general contractor will award the electrical sub-bid, though they are not obligated to pick the low bidder.
"We will have a better idea of where we stand at that point," he said. "Hopefully we get two or three."
If there are no bids, the city must go back to the FAA and ask for an extension.
Included in the project is the renovation of the city-owned Shamrock Hangar roof. A large portion of the repair could be covered by grant funding.
The commission tabled a deeper discussion on the Shamrock Hangar, seeking clarity on how lease agreements would look with an outside organization.
The city purchased the hangar in 2017 with FAA funds. It was subsequently renovated and opened as a public space. Because it is a public space, the hangar cannot be leased. Only a portion of the property that was left untouched during the renovation can be leased.
The city could pay back the funds used to renovate the hangar, which would allow it to be leased privately. The city would not simply cut the FAA a check; instead, the value would be credited against future airport project funding.
At that point, the city could even sell the hangar.
Chairman James Haskins said there is some urgency because the longer the property sits vacant, the deeper it falls into disrepair.
"It definitely needs maintenance. It needs to be painted and cleaned," he said. "... We don't want it to sit and rot."
Over the winter, pipes froze in the building, though they have since been repaired. The proposed roof project would not count against a possible payout to the FAA.
Tags: airport commission, flight instruction, harriman west,
