JmstnAirport2Jamestown (CSi) The Jamestown Regional Airport Authority reviewed commercial airline boardings in Jamestown which tripled in September this year.

As reported earlier by CSiNewsNow.com, there were 643 UnitedExpressSkyWest Airlines passenger boardings last month. That compares to 448 in 2014, 253 in 2013 and 171 in 2012. The year-to-date total so far is 6,101, compared to 1,940 in 2014.

Airport Manager Samuel Seafeldt said the 2014 boarding totals contrast somewhat in that they increased monthly from August through December. The 2015 numbers are higher than each month of 2014, but have declined since August.

October so far has been a good month and pre-booking reports from the airline shows daily boardings from 20 to 40 passengers.

With November and December as big travel months, if the airport stays above last year’s boardings as it has every month this year then it will meet the 8,000-seat goal.

The figure is consistent with the long-range plans of the airport, Boyd said. Since the opening of the new terminal in 2011, it is now attracting seating numbers not seen since 1978.

The Airport Authority declined an unsolicited lease renewal request from Dale Reimers, who has contracted to farm the 798 tillable acres surrounding the airport for the past five years. Reimers is a good tenant, Boyd said, but in the interest of transparency the Airport Authority members agreed 5-0 to open the lease for bids.

After discussion on how to proceed, the Airport Authority scheduled a special meeting on Nov. 4 to decide on the lease language and whether to pursue a sealed bid or an auction process.

Seafeldt also reported that the year-end budget was now at a negative $69,561. He attributed this to salary overrun, projects and unanticipated expenses for the new aircraft rescue firefighter vehicle.

The airport announced the $1,000 grant from Jamestown Tourism to renovate the kiosk advertising sign in the terminal.