UPDATE: Board meeting addresses future of Dansville airport

North Dansville considers future of municipal airport

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DANSVILLE, N.Y. — The North Dansville Town Board held a public forum on Monday night on the future of the Dansville Municipal Airport.

As News10NBC has covered, Dansville leaders have debated on whether to close the airport for financial reasons. It comes after concerns over large construction cranes, used by a nearby business, that were blocking the runway’s landing path. The FAA threatened to pull federal funds if the cranes aren’t moved.

North Dansville Town Supervisor Gregery Horr has hold News10NBC that he believes the airport is financially unsustainable in the long term. Monday night, he explained how he’d have to raise taxes over the coming years to cover the cost of the airport.

“If we increase our taxes by the amount of the deficits that we are running on the airport, this is the impact that it will have on the taxpayers. So if your house currently is assessed at $110,000 in 2027, your taxes are going to go up by $24.84. and they’re going to continue to go up. You can see that 2029 is higher, because that’s, again, one of those big years that we’ve got a lot of expenditures. And then 2030 is $141. So the total over those four years is going to be $354.”

But some residents believe the value of the airport is worth the costs.

“The airport has value to the community that you can’t quantify in in a town budget,” said Cy Kastner, a member of Finger Lakes Soaring Club, which is headquartered at the airport. “It brings people in. Dansville is in a unique position. It’s got an airport. It’s got 390 that runs through it. And they have a railroad.”

While some on the Town Board aren’t even sure they’ll be able to close the airport due to funding they receive from the FAA.

“It is unlikely, very, very unlikely that we could even have the possibility of closing, even if we want to,” said Councilperson Louis Colella. “Which, as I said, we’re already looking at options. Even if we want to close, it is very, very unlikely that we will be able to close.”

Still no word on when the Town Board plans to vote to close the airport, or if they can legally do that.