The Jamestown Regional Airport Authority has received $657,715 in grant funds from the North Dakota Aeronautics Commission for improvements to the airport.
The authority held a special meeting Wednesday to finalize plans to build a 10-unit hangar building at an estimated cost of $772,000. The hangar project is part of the improvements the authority wants to make to the airport, but may not be funded by the state grants the airport just received.
The authority authorized Steve Aldinger, a consultant engineer, to update the terminal area layout plan. In order to move forward on the other improvement projects, the authority must first update the airport layout plan and its master plan. Aldinger said by having the authority update the terminal area layout plan first, they should be able to move forward on other improvements funded by the Aeronautics Commission grant.
The Airport Authority also formed a committee with members Keith Veil, Jim Boyd and Airport Manager Matt Leitner to explore ways to lower the cost of the proposed hangar building. The committee will make a report at the authority’s regular meeting June 19.
Leitner said the Airport Authority had requested $1.36 million for improvements to the airport earlier this year from the state Aeronautics Commission. Initially the commission granted preliminary approval for $579,715 in grants for the improvements.
The Aeronautics Commission met June 6 to give final approval for all grant requests. Leitner said he was able to convince the commission to include another $78,000 for the improvements for the Jamestown airport.
“I would like to thank the state Aeronautics Commission for granting us the additional amount,” he said.
Most of the state grant funding, $468,000, will go toward taxi-lanes and concrete apron construction for the new hangar building. The total cost for this work is $520,000, so the Airport Authority will have to come up with the remaining $52,000.
Other projects being partially funded by the state grants are crack sealing on the runway, replacement of the existing beacon and tower, and new runway lights.
Leitner said of the eight airports that applied for these state grants, Jamestown received the most grant funding. Airports servicing Bismarck, Fargo, Grand Forks, Dickinson, Devils Lake, Minot and Williston also applied for and received grant funds from the state Aeronautics Commission.
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