The fate of the Biddeford City Airport rests in the hands of voters. A referendum question on the ballot for the June 4 general election asks voters if the airport should be shut down.
A task that would cost about $3 million from general operating funds, the Airport Authority would be brought in to shut down the airport.
“Once we started looking at the airport, we came to the conclusion that there is no financial benefit at its existing size and capacity,” says Paul Archambault, chairman of Get Rid of Our Little Airport. “It continues to be a tax burden.”
Archambault has lived in a house at the end of one of the runways of the airport for 24 years.
The airport was at risk of losing Federal Aviation Administrating funding three years ago due to safety regulations. To comply, the airport began cutting trees and enforcing no-trespassing rules on airport grounds.
The tree trimming has created disputes among the neighboring residents of the airport, and the trespassing rules were ill received.
“We had pedestrians, motorcycles, four-wheelers (and) ATVs using it,” says Tom Bryand, Airport Manager. “They just use it as a backyard and that’s against regulations.”
While tree trimming and trespassing have been an issue in the past for the airport, residents are now concern with where their money is being allocated.
“Sure this started out as a fight about trees and public access. But it’s not about that anymore,” says Archambault. “Now it’s about money.”
According to the City manager, the airport takes in about $56,000 annually from sales of gas, property taxes, and land leases while the cost of running the airport has varied over the years.
In 2006, the cost of running the airport, which includes maintenance, utilities and improvements, was $47,000. In 2007, the cost rose to $72,000 and decreased in 2008 to $60,000.
The 126-acre property is worth $1.6 million according the records in the City Assessor’s office.
Some residents are against the referendum, hoping to keep the airport running as it has.
“Maybe it’s expensive to run the airport, but it’s a great resource,” says Phyllis Landry, a private pilot who keeps her plane in Biddeford. “I know business people who fly in here all the time.
While Biddeford residents dispute over the airport, city officials remain neutral on the issue.
“The City Council really hasn’t come down on one side of the issue or the other,” says John Bubier, City Manager. “I think they’d prefer to have the voters settle this one.”
Residents will have the opportunity to vote on the issue on June 4 during the general election.
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