Seward Announces $70,000 Grant
For Remodeled Airport Terminal
By IAN AUSTIN • for www.AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA – At the ribbon cutting at the Oneonta Municipal Airport this afternoon, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, hailed the work with an announcement that he has secured a $70,000 grant to help complete the job. “First impressions mean a lot,” said Seward. “This terminal tells those who arrive in our community ‘this is a great place to live, to visit and to work.'”
In remarks beforehand, Oneonta Job Corps Director Chris Kuhn praised his students’ work on th terminal. “They did not disappoint. We’ve been involved with a lot of projects over the years, this has been the best so far.”
Mayor Gary Herzig, who had lunch with former Mayor Sam Nader earlier today, recounted how Nader was most proud of what he had accomplished at the airport: For a period, there was daily flights back and forth to New York City. “For years the airport languished, and was even given up for dead,” said Herzig. “But you” – the OJC team – “have brought back this facility for Oneonta’s future. You have done us a real service.”
Many cited the passion of current Airport Commissioner Dennis Finn, who worked at the airport from its first days. “I love this place and people who come here love it too,” Finn said.