Airport continues mitigation plan

The Jamestown Regional Airport Authority moved ahead with plans for a wetlands mitigation project at a special meeting Thursday.

The project will eliminate approximately 22 acres of wetlands near the airport, which will help decrease the possibility of bird strikes.

The wetlands must be restored elsewhere, and the JRAA will utilize 17 acres of wetlands it had already purchased to do the work, with an additional purchase of 8.65 acres to make up the difference. The extra acreage will be banked.

The $1 million project is expected to be complete by the end of 2014, and will be paid for with state-apportioned federal funds.

On Thursday, the board learned the project would cost $12,000 more than expected due to some features in the area to be restored that would add to that restoration cost, such as a culvert. The JRAA voted to move ahead with the project and request extra grant money to pay the increased cost.

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