LAKE PLACID — The Lake Placid Airport is one of four North Country airports to receive grants from the Federal Aviation Administration Airport Improvement Program. The grants included $270,154 for snow removal equipment and $156,037 for apron pavement.

The grants were announced Friday by senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer. Across the state, 16 airports were awarded a total of $21,155,843.

The Lake Placid Airport is owned by the town of North Elba. Supervisor Derek Doty said FAA grants tend to come in two broad categories: things like the snow removal equipment that are on the airport’s “wish list” and other things, like runway lights, that address safety needs.

“Safety issues, like the runway lights, they get funding, usually, a lot more easily,” he said.

The smaller of the two grants will go towards reconstructing and rehabilitating a relatively small area of the airport called the apron, which refers to the area where planes are parked, boarded and maintained. The snow equipment in question is a new bucket loader — the current one is about 20 years old, Doty said.

“Let’s just hope we always have snow for that bucket loader to pick up,” he said.

Within the last two months, the town completed work on a project that included repaving the runway. Last August, the town received a $1.8 million FAA grant to cover the majority of the cost for that project. Doty estimated that the Lake Placid Airport has had about $22 to 24 million in FAA grants in the last 30 years.

“For a little tiny airport, we’ve been very fortunate,” Doty said.

Generally, these grants include a 5% contribution from both the town and the state. The FAA usually contributes about 80 or 90%. For these particular grants, Doty did not yet have the exact amount the town would contribute on hand.

In their joint press release, Gillibrand and Schumer emphasized the role airports play in economic vitality.

“From big cities to rural communities, New York’s airports are gateways for commerce, tourism and travel. It’s vital that every airport has the resources it needs to provide a safe and comfortable experience for anyone who travels through our state,” Gillibrand said.