Vermont Air Guard, Burlington reach agreement to extend airport lease to 2073

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The National Guard and city of Burlington have reached an agreement that will keep the Green Mountain Boys flying here for another 50 years.

The Air Guard wasn’t planning on leaving the Burlington International Airport. Their current lease goes until 2048. But this agreement would add on another 25 years.

The Guard says they needed the extension to meet rules for unlocking federal funds for capital investments.

“That secures the federal interest. So if they look at where they’re going to spend their money, they obviously want that to be a value-added resource. And if the lease is not renewed, then it brings into question. So whether or not they should continue to invest,” said Col. Daniel Finnegan, the Vt. Air National Guard wing commander.

The city is touting a Memorandum of Understanding in the agreement that includes formalizing green initiatives VTANG says they’ve largely been doing, such as working with the noise mitigation program, and working to build net zero buildings to help the city reach its net zero energy goal.

The MOU also formalizes the process for continued communication with the mayor and airport, and exploring using simulator time instead of actually flying to reduce noise from the Guard’s F-35 jets.

“I am hopeful that this could be one of the many areas where Vermont and Burlington are nimble and we move robustly to make that meaningful, not just a policy statement and a planning document, but actually something that is starting to have impacts on the ground,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger, D-Burlington.

The City Council still needs to approve this extension of the lease which would secure the Guard until 2073.

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