Runway lights could signal new life for Greene County Airport
Runway lights may soon be back on at Greene County Airport, allowing it to once again be used by pilots for takeoffs and landings at night.
Nighttime operations at the airport were restricted by the Federal Aviation Administration several years ago after trees at the eastern end of the runway climbed to a height that encroached on the airport’s flight path, making all but daylight airport use unsafe.
But Greene County’s commissioners approved an agreement last week with Larry Varner, the owner of property at that side of the runway, that will allow the county to trim, or top, the trees on his land, paying him $4,650.
The negotiations with Varner to top the trees were reported to have been difficult because of his dispute with local pilots. He maintains they have flown too close to his house. A local pilots’ organization, Support Our Aviation Resources, or SOAR, originally asked the commissioners in the fall to top the trees on Varner’s land to permit nighttime use of the airport. The pilots said they have tried to accommodate Varner by using a wider landing approach, though they admitted out-of-town pilots were probably unaware of the arrangement.
Members of SOAR also believe the resumption of nighttime operations at the airport will increase the airport’s overall use. Such a development would be welcome, but it remains to be seen whether it will actually happen. During the last few years, the only activity at the airport that attracted a significant number of people has, in fact, been when the runway is closed to airplanes and open for flashlight drag races. We doubt many county residents even knew the runway lights were not in use.
The commissioners earlier decided to move forward with the plan to help make the airport financially sustainable and not a drag on the county budget. In the last few years, the county invested a large amount of grant money in the airport, both to further a plan to make part of the property fronting Route 21 available for retail development and to improve aviation facilities with the construction of new hangars. Expanding the runway to accommodate larger airplanes has always been considered too costly. As a result, the primary use of the airport has and will remain recreational. We do not believe, as some argue, the airport is important when it comes to air ambulance services, nor do we know any instances in which it was a factor in attracting any businesses or corporations to the county. But we have supported the county’s plan to develop a retail complex at the airport. Its location, so close to the interstate, makes it a prime spot.
The possible restoration of the airport’s runway lights would be a welcome development for local pilots, and it’s our hope that this, along with other airport improvements such as a new airplane hangar and a four-way intersection to Route 21, will spur more air traffic at the facility. But if air traffic doesn’t increase with these infrastructure improvements, the county commissioners should think hard about using the property for economic development purposes even if it means the end of Greene County Airport.