I was at the Biddeford Council meeting on Jan. 20 to observe the “Discussion of Airport Status and Operations”. Since this was an information session, only the presenters and the council could speak. The chairman of the Airport Commission introduced people from Gale Associates, Maine D.O.T., and Frank Nicosea-Rusin from the FAA

After the presentation the council asked questions and a debate soon ensued about whether the changes being contemplated were justified and whether it made more sense to use the 137 acres for purposes more beneficial to the city. After much discussion Nicosea-Rusin stated that the airport is not intended to return a profit on the city’s investment. He said it should be similar to the police station, a service to the citizens of Biddeford.

I thought of Frank’s comments the next day and decided to examine the statements gathered by one of the airport commissioners concerning the businesses that have hangars at the airport.

The following is a list of the companies and their location: Arundel Machine in Arundel, CPM Constructors in Yarmouth, Haverfield Aviation Services in Gettysburg, Ryco Aviation in Biddeford, Great Moose Lake Corporation in Scarborough, Great Moose Aerial Art in Scarborough, Great Moose Real Estate in Scarborough, and John Apte Banner Flying in Biddeford.

It’s time for Biddeford to take a hard look at this operation before this “free” money leads us into serious expenditures (Reconstruct runway -2018- $1,200,000) (Expansion -??????)

Ray Tardif

Biddeford