The Yorkton Municipal Airport has once again been the recipient of a provincial grant.
The Yorkton facility received $173,000, for runway and taxiway repairs, runway lighting and drainage rehabilitation through the province's Community Airport Partnership.
Ron Evinou, chair of the Yorkton Airport Authority said plans are already under way for the work. The money "will complete the work on lighting and lighting pods, the primary focus for safety."
The money is an annual grant.
"It's an annual program, our largest source of funding, but it's still very small for our needs," said Evinou.
Yorkton was one of 11 eligible community airports which will share the $700,000 available for this year's provincial cost-shared infrastructure grants.
The program has been enhanced by $200,000 for 2011.
"We've increased the province's investment by 40 per cent for this grant program so more can be done to improve airport infrastructure," said Highways and Infrastructure Minister Jim Reiter in a prepared release. "Community airports are important to our economy as they are used by the energy and mining sectors and also provide vital air ambulance service to Saskatchewan residents."
The grants are through the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure's Community Airports Partnership (CAP) program and are equally matched by eligible recipients, which means up to $1.4 million is expected to be invested by the end of the fiscal year.
The grant money is only a portion of that being spent at the Yorkton airport this year.
The total "will be $340,000," he said. "We have a $50,000 carry-over that will help us prepare for leased properties, new hangars etc."
