East Hampton Town seeks authority to hike airport landing fees

The East Hampton Town board will hold a public hearing Thursday night on a proposal to give itself the authority to raise landing fees at the town’s airport without having to first call a formal public hearing every time it wants to change the fee structure.

Once it gets that authority to raise fees “from time to time,” the board expects to vote on another resolution to raise fees landing fees for the first time since September 2008.

The biggest change would be a hike in fees for Large Cabin class helicopters — town code defines those aircraft as S-58/S-61/S-92/Super Puma models or larger — from $350 to $500. Private single-engine propeller aircraft would see their landing fees go up from $7 to $10.

The town has 15 different landing rate classifications at its airport; large helicopters is the biggest.

The hearing will be in Town Hall at 7 p.m.