Future of Soaring Club in doubt in North Dansville Club negotiating terms with town

The Finger Lakes Soaring Club may be leaving the Dansville Municipal Airport after 60 years.

The club is in negotiations with the town of North Dansville to resolve an ongoing issue regarding the club's lease agreement. A club representative said the club can not afford terms of the new lease.

The new lease agreement would require the Finger Lakes Soaring Club to pay $500 a month to the town of North Dansville, a $1,000 deposit, a $5 million liability insurance policy naming the town as additional insured.

"This is far above what we can afford," said Cy Kastner, a pilot and officer with the Finger Lakes Soaring Club.

The club, according to the proposed lease, would be responsible for maintenance of the town owned hangar and mowing all grass areas used by glider operations. The lease would also require the club to turn over ownership of their teaching facility to the town and then pay rent on the facility as well.

"We're willing to pay our fair share. We understand that the hangar has no value to the town if they can't charge some rent and our lease is expired and we should pay something," said Kastner. "But we want it to be reasonable."

The Finger Lakes Soaring Club is a 501c3, with no salaried members, all members pay a monthly membership fee.

According to Kastner, the town has asked the club to draw up a lease agreement that the club would be able to accept. Kastner is hopeful that this is a sign that the town values the club's presence in Dansville.

On Aug. 8, the Finger Lakes Soaring Club attended a town board meeting to discuss an expired lease agreement.

The Finger Lakes Soaring Club was founded in 1949 and has been at the Dansville Municipal Airport since 1963.

In 2017, the club received notice that the town of North Dansville would not renew the lease agreement, leaving it to expire in July 2023.

In July, the club received a copy of an internal town communication proposing a new lease agreement that would take effect July 1.

Deputy Town Supervisor Peter Bacon said that he believed "it was time to sit back down at the table" to see if they can come to a new lease agreement.

Kastner said there are only two other tenants at the Dansville Municipal Airport, The Dansville Pilots Association and the LMC, and according to Kastner, these tenants are not required to abide by the same requirements as the Finger Lakes Soaring Club.

Town officials did not respond to a request for further comment.

"I think it'd be a sad thing to lose here in Dansville," said a community member who showed up to voice their support at the town board meeting.

More than 30 of the junior flyers who have been members of the Soaring Club have gotten into the field, going on to careers such as commercial airline pilot, naval aviator, Federal Aviation Administration-certified airplane mechanic, and aeronautical engineer.

One of the current juniors, Josh, was 14 when he started the program and, now 18, wants to go to college for aerospace engineering.

"He's just a shining example of what we can do," said Rick Lafford, CFIG, secretary of the club. Lafford has been a volunteer member since 1978.

The Finger Lakes Soaring Club has five gliders and two towplanes. The club hosts an array of flight programing and competitions, along with a glider simulator.

"We would prefer to be right here. It's the hangar we built and the teaching facility that we built, and we're pretty well established there," Kastner said. "People know where we are on our website. It's got Dansville all over it."