Collingwood Mayor Chris Carrier and Wasaga Beach Mayor Cal Patterson attended Monday night's Town of the Blue Mountains council meeting to ask the council to consider investing money in the Colingwood Regional Airport.

Carrier asked the Town council to consider investing $25,000 a year in the regional airport, which would be the same as contributions made by Clearview and Wasaga Beach at this time. Collingwood itself, full owners of the airport, invests $75,000 on average per year.

Airport Manager Pierre Lajoie said the operating costs of the airport are near $500,000 a year, and, although they draw significant revenue from fuel sales, hangar leasing and commercial landing fees, they are usually short about $150,000 a year. That amount is made up by town investments.

Patterson told the council that their investment may not see a dollar-for-dollar return, but the significance of the regional partnership and a seat on the airport board was a valuable return on investment.

Carrier said there are more people using the airport to visit Blue Mountain than there are to visit Wasaga Beach, Collingwood, and Clearview, and those numbers keep increasing. In past years, Collingwood's mayors have approached the Town of the Blue Mountains asking them to commit to funding, but have been denied.

The report presented by Carrier and Patterson, said "a common theme in each of the rebuffs has been that the Airport exists primarily for the enjoyment of rich boys and their toys, and that the airport should be operated on a cost recovery basis."

Council agreed to discuss the matter further and will be talking with airport staff to get more information about the budget and operation of the regional airport.

Clearview Mayor Ken Ferguson was also listed on the report and expected at the presentation, but did not attend the meeting.

No decision to invest or not to invest has been made at this time.