SANDPOINT — Sandpoint Airport is one step closer to becoming self-sustaining after Bonner County commissioners approved a new contract Tuesday. 

In a regular Tuesday business meeting, Airports Manager Dave Schuck was approved to enter into a contract with Glahe & Associates for six lease lot surveys. The surveys, estimated at $2,000 a lot, are the first step toward the airport establishing six new lease lots, according to a memorandum. 

The lots will eventually be leased to future tenants, with the requirement that they be responsible for building a hangar to the airport’s standards. The hangar’s title would revert to the county after the lease expires, allowing the county to lease out the hangar “at considerably more than the initial raw land lease rates.” 

Commissioner Asia Williams shared her support on the surveys, saying that they symbolize a major goal in making the airports self-sustaining.  

“This is one of the goals of the airport is for it to be self-sustaining, and in order to do that, we have to do some surveying,” said Williams. “This is a necessary component with Dave and the airport board recognizing the desire for us to have a little bit of a shift that recognizes the smaller local pilots needs as well as the larger pilot developer needs. So, I think this is a move in the right direction.” 

Once leased, the lots are projected to generate an estimated $60,000 a year in revenue.