While local officials want Cape Air to continue providing commercial passenger service at the Adirondack Regional Airport in Lake Clear, Clinton County legislators want a different airline to take over service at Plattsburgh International Airport - joined with the local airport by a subsidy.

Legislators voted 7-3 Wednesday to support Colgan Air's bid for a two-year federal subsidy under the Essential Air Service program, according to Deputy Clinton County Administrator Rodney Brown.

Cape Air, which has been serving the Plattsburgh and Lake Clear airports since February 2008, was seeking Clinton County's support but didn't get the backing of a majority of legislators.

Colgan Air proposed two flights a day between Plattsburgh and Boston and one each on Saturday and Sunday using 34-seat aircraft, Brown said. The company's average fare would be $75 one-way.

Cape Air offered to continue providing three flights a day to Boston, four in the summer, using its nine-seat Cessna planes. The carrier promised an average fare of $65 one-way.

Brown said legislators were swayed by the prospect of Colgan's larger planes, which he said would allow the Plattsburgh airport to grow and expand.

"They need a commuter that will have more seats," he said. "More seats is more opportunity to fly to Boston. A lot of the legislators said their constituents were not comfortable taking the nine-seat aircraft."

The U.S. Department of Transportation asked for a new round of bids in December after officials in Plattsburgh and the Saranac Lake area were split over which carrier they wanted. Colgan and Cape Air ultimately submitted separate bids for each airport, which had traditionally received service from the same airline.

Now both airports could get what they want. DOT could pick Colgan Air for Plattsburgh and Cape Air for Lake Clear.

The town of Harrietstown, which owns and operates the Lake Clear airport, continues to support Cape Air's bid to serve the Saranac Lake area.

"They've brought more people to our airport," Supervisor Larry Miller said earlier this week. "Why would I want to get rid of them now?"

The U.S. DOT will make the final decision on which airline gets the EAS subsidy at each airport sometime in the next month.