BIDDEFORD — A long-awaited project to clear trees from the Runway 6 approach of the Biddeford Municipal Airport is nearly done and on track for completion, according to officials at City Hall.

The city announced in Monday’s “Biddeford Beat,” City Hall’s electronic newsletter, that tree clearing efforts at the southeastern end of the airport’s runway, known as Runway 6, are 90 percent complete, with the exception of stump removal and additional seeding work, which will be completed this summer.

The tree removal project was approved by the Biddeford City Council in February 2015 at an anticipated cost of $900,000 to clear trees on Runway 6 and its opposing runway, Runway 24.

The work is being done to improve safety during take-offs and landings at the municipal airport. The Federal Aviation Administration had in the past told city officials that trees surrounding the airport are too tall to be considered safe for landing planes.

Ninety percent of the project was to be funded by the federal government, with the state and the city each paying 5 percent of the cost.

The airport received $337,345 from the FAA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, to clear trees from Runway 6 in July.

Stu Moncrieff, project manager with supervising consulting firm Gale Associates, told the Journal Tribune in July that the total project cost for the Runway 6 removal is $427,000, with the state DOT and city each contributing $21,350. With the federal grant, the project balance would be $46,955.

The airport closed bidding on contractors for tree removal on the Runway 6 approach in May. According to Moncrieff, the lowest bid was $202,950 from Hermon-based Gary M. Pomeroy Logging Inc., which is currently performing tree removal work.

Airport Manager Kristopher Reynolds could not be reached for comment Monday regarding progress on plans to remove trees from the runway’s northeastern approach, Runway 24.

In July, he said plans to move forward with that project were temporarily on hold because the airport did not have the proper easements to clear as many trees as the FAA deems necessary to bring the approach up to federal standards.

This is primarily because of abutting landowners who would lose trees on their properties if the airport acquires the easements.

In its Jan. 19 meeting, the Airport Commission unanimously approved a scope of work plan to gather fees for the tree removal project. That plan is anticipated to begin in early March.

Property owners who spoke before the commission expressed their dissatisfaction with the commission’s transparency. Paul Archambault, who lives on Bretton Street adjacent to Runway 24, said he was upset the commission had not announced which property owners would be affected by the tree clearing.

“You just can’t come in and come in and clearcut in the middle of winter and leave my property looking like a third-world country,” he said.

Airport Commission Chair Rick Laverriere said it wouldn’t be fair to homeowners to publicly announce whether their properties would be affected. He also said the commission does not yet have a list of homeowners.

“It’s just not right that we broadcast the list when they haven’t been notified yet,” he said during comments from another member of the public. “There is no way we’re going to go there and screw people over, that’s not the intent of this committee, that’s not the intent of Gale associates. We’re going to notify everybody when we can meet.”

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.