Dear Friends and Neighbors,
We all can provide examples of poor road conditions. We all use the roads.
DPW Superintendent Jeff Tennyson presented a report 2/5/14 outlining $3.5 million of road repair projects are needed in Warren County:
• Category 1 (Main priority): $2 Million
• Category 2 (Sustainable level) $1 million
• Category 3 (Reclaim road work): $500,000
TOTAL $3.5 MILLION NEEDED ROAD REPAIRS
Source: http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2014-Additional-Rd-Projects-Recommendation-2014-2-5.pdf
At the 3/5/14 budget meeting, “Mr. Tennyson stated that an additional $1 million in funding (over the $2 million) would keep the roads at a sustainable level and any additional money would help to reclaim road work postponed in prior years, thereby improving the highway infrastructure.”
Source: http://www.warrencountyny.gov/gov/comm/budget/03-05-14.pdf
The 2015 Warren County road repair budget includes:
• $350,000 from Warren County taxpayers
• $1.65 million from CHIPS (NYS Consolidated Highway Improvement Program)
TOTAL $2 MILLION BUDGETED FOR ROAD REPAIRS
The 2015 airport budget includes:
• $125,900 in revenue
• $846,205 in expenditures
• $166,000 Airport Hanger bond payments (last payment)
• Millions more (primarily federal tax money) will be spent on other projects – Runway expansion, land purchases, avigation easements, new equipment, etc.
Source: http://www.warrencountyny.gov/budget/2015/docs/budget.pdf
Twice as much Warren County taxpayer money is going to the airport than for the roads – $350,000 for roads versus $846,205 for the airport.
How do you feel about this?
For three years I’ve been asking the county to look at cutting the airport expenditures for this very reason. We can put this money into our roads.
That’s why it’s important and why you should care.
Warren County can cut the airport budget by $300,000 – $400,000 a year. The Airport FBO who runs the airport agrees. We can cut the Warren airport budget in half and it would still be four times what Saratoga spends.
Saratoga County spends less than $100,000 a year on their airport. Here is the documentation – http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Saratoga-Airport-documented-expense.pdf.
I recently had lunch with Queensbury Supervisor John Strough. After lunch we headed to our cars. I said, “I saw something this morning I hadn’t seen in a few weeks.” He said, “what?” I said “An airplane.”
He laughed. I wasn’t joking.
I still can’t get a straight answer on how many flights go in and out of Warren’s airport. The airport manager in a public meeting admitted he doesn’t know. I can look up into the sky to see how many planes are up there. Not many.
I also don’t know how many cars use our roads, but I see a lot of them out there.
Mark Westcott
Note:
The spending spree at the airport continues. Last Friday the board voted for additional expenditures mostly paid for by federal taxpayer money:
• $600,000 for Phase III of runway I Environmental Assessment for runway extension
• $1.120 million for avigation easements/land acquisitions off the shorter cross runway 30
• $675,000 for a new plow/sweeper. Click below to look at this equipment:
http://www.westcottupny.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Airport-plow-sweeper.jpg