Cape airport passenger volume on a steady uptick

The use of Cape Girardeau Regional Airport in northern Scott County remains on the rebound from COVID, according to the most recent data released by airport officials.

Hope persists CGI, as the facility is known, will reach at least 8,000 passengers -- or "enplanements" -- for the full calendar year of 2021.

If the Cape Girardeau city-owned airport breaks through the threshold, the attainment will unlock a large amount of Federal Aviation Administration funding through FAA's Airport Improvement Program (AIP).

Airport manager Katrina Amos reported 798 passengers boarded aircraft in September for a total of 5,919 thus far for the year.

For airports such as Cape Girardeau Regional, reaching a passenger volume level between 8,000 and 9,999 will make CGI eligible for $600,000 in new federal funding.

Consultant

Amos told the Airport Advisory Board on Tuesday representatives from the consulting firm Burns and McDonnell will be present for the November AAB meeting to discuss the new terminal project.

The terminal is part of the Terminal Access Master Plan (TAMP), which is to be funded by the city's capital improvements sales tax and also by some proceeds of the $17.5 million federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act grant.

Use tax

Deputy city manager Molly Mehner and 6th Ward Councilwoman Stacy Kinder discussed before the AAB the city's 2.75% use tax referendum on the Nov. 2 ballot.

"A resident will never be subject to a use tax and a sales tax on the same purchase -- you will pay either one or the other," Mehner said, adding 200 Missouri communities have a use, or internet sales, tax already on the books -- including Sikeston.

Kinder, who has announced her candidacy for mayor, called passage of the plebiscite a "quality of life issue," and urged voter approval.

Mehner said if voters pass the online levy by majority vote, it will go into effect in January 2023.