Pending approval by the Governor & Council on Wednesday, the Jaffrey Airfield Silver Ranch is set to embark on a runway paving project this spring that has been needed for decades.
Jaffrey Airfield owner Harvey Sawyer said the project will be on the agenda for the next Governor & Council meeting on March 3, something that has been two years in the making. While the approval is not set in stone, Sawyer said “from what I’ve been told I’m pretty confident.”
“They said we were at the top of the priority list,” Sawyer said. “It should just be a sign off, but its been a long and arduous road to get to this point.”
The project will include ripping up what is left of the cold-mix pavement that was put down at the beginning of the 1960s, getting the grade just right and repaving. Jaffrey Airfield will also receive new runway lights and repainted runway markings.
If approved, the state would cover 80 percent of the nearly $600,000 project, with the rest to be raised by the airport proprietor.
“We’re hoping to raise somewhere around $135,000 to cover our share of the project,” Sawyer said, also accounting for some of the engineering costs.
Sawyer, who was a founding member of the Granite State Airport Management Association and a member of the NH Aeronautics Commission, said he constantly picking up pieces of asphalt and now has a pile that is about the size of a small barn.
The runway has not been repaved since it was put down in 1960, beyond some spot repairs to keep it in use. The expectant life of the pavement was 25 years.
“We’ve been trying to hold it together,” Sawyer said.
Carol Niewola, senior aviation planner with the NH Bureau of Aeronautics, said that of all the paved runways open to the public in the state, Sawyer’s needed the most repair work.
“He’s more than outlived the useful life of what he has,” Niewola said. “It’s probably one of the worst conditions, while still being usable. Harvey’s project rose to the top.”
Through the New Hampshire Airport Improvement and Maintenance Program, the state provides New Hampshire’s public-use airports with funding assistance to make needed airport improvements or assist with maintenance efforts. The program began in 2019 and was created to boost financial efforts to support airports around the state.
Once it begins, the project is expected to take one month, and the goal is to be back up and running for the busy summer months, Sawyer said.
“If he doesn’t have a runway, where do those aircrafts go?” Niewola said, adding that it would have a direct impact on the local economy. “It would be a shame to lose all that activity.”
Niewola said Sawyer has been looking for assistance for more than a decade, but the previous program, which allotted just $20,000 a year for airport projects, didn’t have the kind of funding behind it that would give Sawyer the kind of financial support needed. But four years ago, Niewola said, the FAA required states to put taxes generated from the sale of aviation fuel into an aeronautics specific program. She said NH brings in about $220,000 to $225,000 from aviation fuel taxes.
Niewola said that to support the Jaffrey Airfield project, it will take two years of funding. She said other airport operators decided not to seek funding last year so the Jaffrey project could go forward in 2021.
“They all understand the plight of other airports in the state,” Niewola said.
The runway is 3,000 feet long and the paved portion is 50 feet wide, while a grassy area on either side is maintained as well, bringing the total width to be refurbished to 150 feet.
In 1960, when the runway was last paved, he said estimates forecasted about $1,000 a year for maintenance.
“Today, in reality, it costs about $50,000 a year to keep up with all of that,” Sawyer said.
There are 24 airports open to the public in the state of New Hampshire, half of which are publicly owned and the remainder which are private, like Jaffrey Airfield Silver Ranch. All 24 are eligible for the state funding, Niewola said.
Sawyer said that even though the airfield is privately owned, it is used by various businesses and residents year round, as well as medical flights. They sell gasoline, rent hanger space and offer flying opportunities through Silver Ranch Airpark. He said the airfield is not often thought of as a public entity, but they perform about 7,000 operations per year, which is counted for each takeoff and landing.
“It’s kind of like the highway that goes by your business,” he said. “People don’t realize how much is done here.”
Niewola said she was not anticipating any opposition to the project, partially funded through the New Hampshire Airport Improvement and Maintenance Program, getting final approval.
“I don’t suspect they are going to have an issue with it,” Niewola said. “Without a safe runway, you don’t have an airport.”