ITHACA — The Gratiot County Board of Commissioners, sitting as the Airport Authority on the evening of March 17, 2026, approved a lighting upgrade at the Gratiot Community Airport at a cost not to exceed $436,650. It is the largest single airport commitment in the county’s meeting records this year.
Three votes in 20 minutes
Vice Chair Bunting called the Airport Authority meeting to order at 6:34 p.m., after the regular board meeting. Chair Owens was absent. The minutes record three resolutions, each on a motion by Commissioner Bailey seconded by Commissioner Sopocy, each carried 4-0:
- Resolution 26-397, “to accept a proposal for Airport Lighting Upgrades at a cost of not to exceed $436,650.00.”
- Resolution 26-398, runway crack sealing at a cost not to exceed $10,000.
- Resolution 26-399, hangar leases, “subject to County Attorney approval.”
The minutes do not name the lighting contractor, say how many proposals were received, or state how the work is funded. The text of Resolution 26-397 and the proposal it accepted were not included in the March 17 or April 7 packets posted online.
The farm lease
On Feb. 2, 2026, the county issued Invitation to Bid 03-26 for farmland at the airport. One bid came in. On April 7 the board adopted Resolution 26-408 accepting it: Stone Fence Organics, LLC will lease Plot No. 2, 153.3 acres, for five years, 2026 through 2030, at $6,300 a year. That is about $41 an acre per year, or $31,500 over the term. The administrator was directed to negotiate the lease and the chair to sign it, subject to the county attorney’s review.
The invitation to bid and any other plots offered are not in the packet, so it is not known whether other airport land went unleased. The minutes of the April 7 meeting were not included in the packets this publication downloaded, so the roll call on the lease is not reported here.
Context
This publication reported on Sept. 28 that fuel sales at the airport were down this year while the taxilanes were repaved. The lighting contract, the crack sealing and the farm lease are the other side of the ledger: what the county is putting into the field and what it collects from the land around it. Hangar rents, fuel margins and farm rent are the airport’s main local revenue; the lease approved in April fixes one of those numbers through 2030.
Gratiot County and Stone Fence Organics have not been asked to comment for this report. Either is welcome to respond at contactus@gcwhistleblower.com, and any response will be published in full.