Commissioners approve land purchase for county airport

June 21, 2019

Barbara Miller
Observer Reporter

Eventual expansion of the flight path around the Washington County Airport runway was on the minds of the commissioners as they approved the purchase of 2.58 acres on Mounts Road in Buffalo Township.

The proposed sale, discussed in a closed session for real estate acquisition Wednesday, passed unanimously the next day.

Joel and Stephanie M. Pettit offered their home and land to the Washington County Redevelopment Authority, operator of the airport, and the parties arrived at a purchase price of $450,000. Closing on the property is expected to take about a month.

Although lengthening the 5,004-foot runway will add 496 feet, planes taking off and carrying passengers and a full load of fuel are not able to quickly achieve the necessary altitude to clear the hillside, said redevelopment authority Executive Director William McGowen.

The two-story Pettit home at some point will be demolished and the ridge that is Mounts Road will be carved out to form what McGowen described as a “saddle.”