Relations between pilots at Columbia County Airport and the neighboring Meadowsgreen Golf Course in Ghent, New York have been strained since a pilot reported a golfer taking aim and striking an aircraft in flight with a golf ball ten years ago. Earlier this spring, the owner of the golf course, Carmen Nero, escalated the conflict by putting up a flagpole on short final for Runway 21. “It was Earth Day and I put up a flag and planted some flowers,” Nero told the local newspaper. “A person can put an American flag up. I pay property taxes.”
The flagpole is estimated to be 20 to 25 feet high, located 200 feet from the start of runway pavement and 360 feet from the start of the displaced threshold, according to Daniel Spitzer, a local pilot. Although the patriotic protest almost rises enough to meet a 4-degree glide slope from the threshold, it may not run afoul of FAA regulations on airport obstacles. The county had been in talks with Nero to buy a portion of the golf course—or acquire it through eminent domain—but that acquisition was to be made with FAA airport improvement program funds. The FAA determined that because Columbia County Airport didn’t have regular jet traffic (at least 500 operations per year) the enlarged safety area was not required, scuttling the sale. Instead, the airport’s threshold was displaced to provide a 300-foot safety area.
While not doubting Nero’s patriotism, Mahlon Richards, founder of Richmor Aviation, the local FBO and flight school at Columbia County, doesn’t think celebration of Earth Day or property taxation is the reason for the pole. Richards told AVweb that he believes the prospect of selling land to the county was at least part of the reason Nero bought the golf course in the first place, and was disappointed when the sale didn’t go through. This latest stunt may be an effort to force the county to buy some of the golf course land to protect the runway approach area or otherwise compensate Nero for keeping the area safe for low-flying aircraft.
Updated: AVweb spoke with Nero, who says the flagpole is a protest against the county’s decision to rezone some of the land owned by Nero in a way that prevents him from developing it.
