Obstruction Clearance Project Proceeds Amidst Public Concern
By BRIANNA FERGUSON
SUNY Institute for Local News
ONEONTA
The City of Oneonta Airport Commission welcomed three new commissioners and approved two budgetary motions at its monthly meeting on Thursday, October 9. The newly-appointed commissioners are Richard Brockway, Isaiah Gibbs and Michael Lynch. The motions, which are now being recommended to the Common Council for its approval, involve the construction of a partial parallel taxiway and the design of a new entry road to the Albert S. Nader Regional Airport.
Many of the more than a dozen area residents in attendance were there for another reason, however: to hear updates on, and to voice concerns about, the airport’s runway obstruction clearance project. The project has been an ongoing topic of distress within the community since April, when the Common Council approved a resolution to accept a Federal Aviation Administration grant. A condition of that federal funding is to clear approximately 150 acres of trees that sit on privately-owned land surrounding the airport. The topic appeared on the commission’s October meeting agenda as “on-premises clearance” and “off-premises clearance.”
Airport Commission Chair Martijn Kamerbeek and Vice Chair Justin Osterhoudt repeatedly reassured the landowners of the approximately one-dozen properties affected by the “off-premises clearance” that the city and its consultants have not yet made any decisions about forest clearance.
“There’s no ill intent. There’s no secret agenda,” Kamerbeek declared.
The meeting contained frequent back-and-forth exchanges between the commissioners and members of the public that broke from Robert’s Rules of Order. Allowing those conversations to continue, Kamerbeek argued, proves the commission’s commitment to transparency and accountability.
The use of drones to create aerial maps of the land around the airport was one of the updates given regarding the obstruction clearance project. The Common Council previously approved a budget transfer of $15,000.00 on October 7 to collect this aerial imagery. It will be used to precisely identify trees and other obstructions that need to be removed, including whether obstructions can be mitigated through less invasive actions like tree-topping as opposed to clear-cutting.
Kamerbeek claimed that “the goal always is to do the minimum amount necessary.” Osterhoudt argued that the data gathered by the drones will provide “better information for everybody” and “step us in the right direction.”
Some residents, however, objected to the use of drones on or near their property.
Nathaniel Schwed told the commissioners, “I think it’s dubious, the mapping out with drones… at least I can say for my grandmother on her behalf. She put out ‘no trespassing’ signs to prevent [engineers] from going in and evaluating.”
“When it comes to my family’s property,” Schwed continued, “I’m strongly opposed to any government going in and doing whatever they want with it. What’s to prevent the negotiation from being one-sided? You are basically forcing it upon us to do however you decide.”
Osterhoudt replied that any action taken will be a negotiation between the city and the individual landowners.
“It’s your property, it’s your timber,” Osterhoudt also pointed out, adding, “If you want to sell the trees you can do that. As long as the airway gets clear, that’s acceptable.”
Osterhoudt reminded everyone that safety is the main objective. He said that if an airplane were to strike a tall tree while approaching the runway and crash, then that would be bad for everyone, especially the neighbors living in the immediate vicinity.
“The issue we are really working on right now is neglect,” explained Osterhoudt. “The airport has been neglected. And that’s nobody’s fault. But it’s really exciting to see some people getting involved and pushing some energy toward the airport. We are correcting the neglect, and a lot of this is maintenance.”
Another owner of property bordering the airport is Randy Miritello. Immediately following Thursday’s meeting, Miritello shared his concerns with AllOtsego.
“There has to be some sort of compromise,” Miritello stated. “You work at [building a home] for 30 years and someone wants to come and take it. The initial threat was to clear-cut everything, [which would] change the whole character of the property. There would be no privacy, and it’s not why I built there.”
Miritello added that he was hopeful about the new appointments to the Airport Commission and the discussions that emerged during this month’s meeting.
“There’s a little more balance on the commission now,” Miritello said, anticipating that it “will eventually draw the scope back into more realistic points of view.”
In other business, the Airport Commission also introduced two motions tied to the 2026 budget. The first proposal was a two-phase capital improvement project to build a partial parallel taxiway. The project was previously bid but not awarded, and now needs to be re-bid. It has an estimated cost of $6.6 million. Osterhoudt described this project as a “massive safety improvement for the airport [that] we can’t afford not to go through with it.” The motion to proceed with the taxiway passed 3-1.
The second budgetary motion supported a reconstructed and partially relocated access road into the airport. Osterhoudt stated that the roadway is in need of repair and relocating it now will free up space for future development. This proposal is for design only, not construction. The access road motion also passed in a 3-1 vote.
For both motions, Commissioner Lynch was the dissenting vote. Commissioner Brockway abstained, since he had not yet been officially sworn in to his position. Both projects are to be funded by 95 percent federal and 2.5 percent state grants, with the local share being only 2.5 percent. Both of these budget recommendations will now go to the Common Council for final approval.
After the meeting adjourned, new commissioner Michael Lynch told AllOtsego that he voted against the motions because he did not have sufficient time to review them.
“I voted no on those two items today because I only read through them once. So I’m not going to vote on something that I don’t fully understand yet,” Lynch said.
His appointment by Mayor Mark Drnek was only just approved by the Common Council two days prior, on October 7. Commissioners Brockway and Gibbs were approved in September. Their terms are for three years each.
Speaking about what he hopes to achieve on the Airport Commission, former Common Council member Lynch said, “We are going to engage our neighbors around the airport in a meaningful way. A full and thorough examination of the off-site obstruction removal… and about what is in the capital improvement plan, specifically the measure to extend the runway. We need to talk about that.”
The meeting began with Lou Shields being awarded a certificate of recognition signed by Mayor Drnek. It was a gesture of appreciation for Shields’ four years of service to the Airport Commission, as well as nearly a decade of prior work with the city’s Zoning and Housing Board of Appeals. In front of the crowd, Kamerbeek said to Shields, “One thing that I always really appreciated about you, Lou, is that you’re not speaking to be relevant, you’re speaking with relevance. And there’s a big difference between the two.”
Kamerbeek expressed that he has been dealing with personal health issues and suggested that he will need someone else to take over the Airport Commission chair role soon. No volunteers emerged during the meeting.
The October monthly meeting was held in the Common Council Chambers in City Hall. The session ended with the commission approving a motion to continue meeting at the downtown location and to move its monthly meetings to every third Wednesday at 5 p.m., in order to better accommodate members of the public.
This story was created by student reporters through the OnNY Community Media Service, a program of SUNY Oneonta and the SUNY Institute for Local News.
