NORWICH – Those responsible in Chenango County for pulling together a take-over plan and budget for Lt. Warren Eaton Airport are in hyper mode: The fixed base operator for the past decade is leaving Nov. 1.

The airport must stay open because it has received more than $15 million from the federal government for various improvements over the years and would be obliged to pay the money back if it didn’t.

“We have an extremely short window to get our act together,” said City of Norwich Supervisor Linda E. Natoli with an emphasis on the word “extremely.” Natoli was addressing members of the Planning & Economic Development Committee for which she serves as chairperson, as well as the airport’s part-time director, Donald MacIntosh.

She said the county is “committed to keeping it open.”

The committee reviewed briefly the airport’s 2010 budget before tabling it until November’s meeting. The budget carries no local share because interest from a trust fund (which totaled $500,000 in 2008) is used to pay for personnel and expenses that were originally projected to be about $37,200. The airport derives revenues from fuel sales and t-hangar rentals. It is positioned to generate more rental revenues after building10 more t-hangars as planned. MacIntosh said private plans owners “call all of the time” for storage space.