JmstnAirport2Jamestown (CSi) Jamestown Regional Airport reports, 872 commercial passenger boardings in July, making it the highest total in a month since 1978, when Jamestown boardings were at 10,000 per year, with three or four Boeing 727 aircrafts per day.

Jamestown Airport Manager Sam Seafeldt told the Regional Airport Authority members that with the 450 August boardings through Tuesday the total boardings for the year come to 5,226.

Regional Airport Authority Chairman Jim Boyd said the goal is to reach 10,000 passengers per year and with the step up in possible funding that comes with the increase, and then Jamestown Regional Airport should aim for 15,000 passengers per year.

In other business, the Airport Authority received a new aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicle on Wednesday. The $512,000 vehicle is 90 percent federally funded with the state of North Dakota and the Airport Authority pitching in around $25,000 each and the Federal Aviation Administration with another $23,000.

The sale includes a $43,000 trade-in value of the current aircraft rescue and fire fighting vehicle.

The new vehicle has three times the capacity and holds 1,500 gallons of water versus a 500-gallon tank in the current vehicle. The new vehicle pumps 1,800 gallons per minute with two turrets versus the 600 gallons per minute with one turret in the current truck.

Linda Schauer of Schauer & Associates PC presented the authority audit report. The report found a deficiency with the financial statement preparation process and recommended that the Airport Authority designate an individual or firm to be responsible for the financial reports.

The board also approved a $3,741 bid for a new public-address system that will alert passengers with information and boarding information inside and outside the terminal….and approve an aggregate 4.5 percent budget increase for employee raises with airport manager discretion effective Octobers 1st, and approved the performance appraisal of Manager, Sam Seafeldt.