Legislator Larson urged the Chautauqua County Legislature on Jan. 2 to make restoring Essential Air Service (EAS) to the Chautauqua County Airport at Jamestown a top priority for 2025, saying the county lost EAS in January 2018 and that the legislature should seek to regain it before the end of the year.

"We should not have lost essential air service in January 2018, and we deserve to get essential air service back before the end of 2025," Larson said, urging the legislature to resolve to pursue restoration to promote economic development and reconnect the county to the national air map. Larson also referenced an air-service study presented to the legislature the previous month and a count he said shows "112 communities" (excluding Alaska) retain EAS and that, between 1978 and 2018, "only five cities" were stripped of the program; he framed Chautauqua County as one of those five.

County Executive PJ Wendell, who addressed the second privilege of the floor earlier in the meeting, congratulated newly designated leaders and said he looked forward to working with the legislature in 2025. "My door is always open. My phone is always on," Wendell said, offering county executive office support for legislative priorities.

The transcript records Larson speaking during the second segment of the meeting's public comment period (the "second privilege of the floor"). No formal motion or resolution to seek EAS restoration was introduced during the Jan. 2 session; Larson's remarks were framed as a call to action rather than as a specific motion recorded in the meeting.

Neither the transcript nor accompanying materials provided a staff plan, timeline, or funding request for pursuing EAS restoration; Larson referred to a prior air-service study but did not state formal next steps in the Jan. 2 remarks.