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PITTSTON TWP. &#8212; The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport will be home to a Pennsylvania State Police helicopter.The airport approved a 15-year lease with MBC Development LP of Schuylkill Haven to build a hangar to house a helicopter on the general aviation side of the airport.Under the terms of the lease approved Thursday by the bi-county airport board at its regularly scheduled monthly meeting, the developer will pay $2,000 a month to the airport and a one-time fee of $22,000 to purchase hangar building plans of a contractor commissioned by the airport. MBC will have two separate 5-year extension options.Carl Beardsley, executive director of the airport owned and operated by Lackawanna and Luzerne counties, said construction is expected to begin in the spring and be completed by the fall.&#8220;There will be no cost to the airport. It&#8217;s just going to be a developer incurring the cost and paying us rent for the land lease,&#8221; Beardsley said.James Miller of MBC welcomed news of the lease and said his son James Jr., who is more familiar with the project, was unavailable.The state police last March solicited bids to relocate the aircraft from Hazleton where it had been located for more than 40 years. The state police wanted to locate its five aviation patrol units strategically across the state and said the airport provided a good geographical location for regional responses. The bid specifications stated the hangar would be located within a 1-mile radius of the airport.Acting Luzerne County Manager attorney David Pedri voted against the lease. He said there were minor issues, such as language about assignment of the lease, that concerned him.Beardsley said MBC, which has worked with the state on similar projects, gave no indication it planned to assign the lease to a third party.Beardsley provided the board with December and year-end enplanements, with both showing increases over 2014 numbers. For the month, 17,878 passengers boarded commercial aircraft, compared to 17,801 in December 2014. It marked the fifth consecutive month of increases in year-over comparisons. For 2015, there were 220,863 enplanements compared to 216,256 in 2014.Financially, the airport reported net income of $67,323 in December compared to $210,952 in December 2014, according to figures provided by Gary Borthwick, director of finance and administration. He attributed the decrease to a $200,000 settlement of a claim with Sordoni Construction Services Inc., a contractor on the terminal that opened in 2006. For the year, the airport reported net income of $322,760 compared to $255,029 for 2014.The board reorganized its leadership, approving Lackawanna County Commissioner Patrick O&#8217;Malley as chairman and Luzerne County Councilman Rick Williams as vice chairman.Board members had a preview of the new website featuring the theme of &#8220;Rising Above&#8221; developed by MLB Advertising. The tentative launch date for the site is Feb. 1, said John Nackley of MLB.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott</shirttailMeta></div>

State police helicopter to be stationed at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport