A successful air show and project updates were the main focuses of the Board of Aviation Commissioners meeting Tuesday evening.
Airport manager Nick King said this year’s air show was great overall with an impressive attendance of approximately 19,000 people over the three days. He said this year they made changes to accommodate as many guests as possible. This was one reason to hold the show for three nights instead of only two, because many people said they missed the show last year due to working on the weekends.
He said right now he’s in the process of moving forward for next year’s show and putting in various requests for different acts. He said he hopes the show is financially viable, and extending the show to three days doesn’t change the cost as much. He believes the Zimmer Biomet merge may have affected donors this year.
King said right now they are still receiving donations to help fund this year’s show. He said volunteers who will be able to donate time to set up for next year’s show is the biggest need right now. He said when it comes down to the last months of preparation, there is a lot of meticulous work that needs to be done.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said he enjoyed the air show and agrees there are things to improve for next year.
“As far as logistics and day to day operation, I see a huge improvement,” Thallemer said.
Engineer Ken Ross gave updates to a few of the projects that are near finished. He said for the land acquisition project, the board is just waiting to hear back from the FAA. He said the grant for Warsaw is slightly more than what they originally applied for.
He said he plans to receive the grant soon because it must be completed no later than Sept. 16. The board approved for President Jay Rigdon to sign the final pay request for this project.
Ross said the guidance sign installation project is finished and slight tweaks were made. He said a final pay request needs to be submitted. The board is responsible for $990.08 for this project.
King said it has been a pretty normal couple of months overall. The next regular meeting is moved to Oct. 20.
(Story By The Times Union)
