Several Block Island representatives met with officials from the Rhode Island Airport Corporation on the mainland to help ensure that several pressing issues concerning the airport, such as capital improvement projects and an injunction that prevents the state from doing some necessary tree trimming at the Westerly Airport, stay on track.
Town Manager Jim Kern, councilor Sven Risom, and Henry duPont, of the Block Island State Airport Stakeholders group, met with five senior officials from RIAC at their Warwick offices on Friday, Jan. 24.
duPont, in a letter to RIAC Senior Vice President Christine Vitt, dated Jan. 24, outlined the above topics, as well as a discussion on revenue-producing opportunities at the airport, that he had hoped to discuss at the meeting.
After the meeting, duPont told The Block Island Times that the RIAC team discussed what opportunities the town and RIAC could work collaboratively on at two state-owned properties located adjacent to the airport that could be the source of new revenue duPont said the RIAC team wondered if the town would allow boat storage, as an example.
The reason is that the Block Island State Airport