Natasha Vaughn is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the Columbia County Airport has received nearly $2.1 million in federal grants for three projects. The Federal Aviation Administration will increase its funding of local project costs this year to 100 percent. The total amount of the award is $2,062.815. Columbia County Director of Engineering Dean Knox said, “The FAA will cover 100 percent of all eligible costs for each project. That’s due to the COVID pandemic. The additional 10 percent came from the first COVID stimulus passed in April by Congress.” Knox said the three projects are sizable. The first includes construction on the north apron of the airport, slated to begin in October and completed by either November or early next spring, depending on the weather. The second grant-funded project is the construction and installation of beacons and premier fencing around the airport. Work on that project is expected to start in November and be finished in 2021. The third project is for airport pavement management, including field surveys, data collection and ratings of all existing pavement areas of the airport. That project is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The Columbia County Airport is one of 15 in New York to receive improvement grants this year. In 2019 the airport received a $405,000 Airport Improvement Program grant for apron improvements. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.