MONTICELLO — During the Public Works Committee on October 16, Chairman and District 7 Legislator Joseph Perrello shared his vision for the economic viability of the newly renovated Sullivan County International Airport, which includes investing in large storage hangars for airplanes. 

He began by reporting that an attorney had recently reached out to rent an office in the new terminal. He also informally announced an upcoming open house to welcome the public to see the new renovations. 

“This is part of the infrastructure of our county,” Perrello said. “We have a very pristine airport right now and we need to grow off of this, we need to bring some type of industry, we need to commercialize it more.”

He said one way to commercialize the terminal is to invest in hangars to use for plane storage, citing UPS, Federal Express, Amazon, and private businesses as potential clients. 

“The only way to work off of [the new renovation] is to invest into it. And I think we’re at a good place right now that we can do that because all these other hangars in Westchester, Teterboro—for a jet, they’re paying over $15,000 to $25,000 a month for rent to store a jet,” he said.

Deputy Commissioner of Facilities and Bridges Ryan Brown supported the initiative, saying, “Box hangars are what the most recommended thing is for growth.”

Perrello concurred, saying that they should look into a large hangar that could house five to six jets.

District 5 Legislator Cat Scott shared her thoughts on the airport and also characterized some pushback legislators have received: “Now I support the development at the airport because I firmly believe that economic development will help us better serve people who need services like gateway housing and help us better address the housing crisis… There are people out there really struggling. And I think that’s where the frustration comes from and the criticism for the airport—because people see this as a resource that they are never going to utilize.”

After a question was raised as to whether the airport could accommodate a large commercial airplane, Perrello said, “This is an international airport, and six to eight years ago, we had a vendor that wanted to bring commercial airlines here with customs, and we were almost there but the guy backed away, but it’s possible to do it there, yes it is.”

Scott responded, “So I think that further adds to the frustration from the public, which is that this is an airport that doesn’t have commercial flights, even though we might have [them] in the future.”

District 6 Legislator Luis Alvarez provided some context of the airport’s history: “When that airport was opened… actually there were commercial planes landing there. Hertz had a place there, Enterprise had a place there. All these companies had rent-a-cars, and commercial planes were coming and landing here and leaving the passengers.”

“We have to work off of this,” concluded Perrello, who clearly sees the new terminal revitalization as a step towards expanding local infrastructure, an opportunity to invest in commercialization, and a launchpad for the economic growth of Sullivan County.