After nearly a year of negotiations, South Alabama Regional Airport and Vector Aerospace signed a new, five-year lease.

SARA co-director Jed Blackwell said under the new agreement, Vector will pay $25,000 per month for the first two years and $30,000 per month for the last three years.

There is also a three-year renewal clause that would allow Vector to pay $30,000 per month for an additional three years.

Blackwell said the lease agreement is expected to generate $1.7 million to $1.8 million for the airport.

“I want to thank Anne Sumblin, board members, Misty Jones and Rick Clifton for their work in this,” he said. “This will keep 120 jobs in Covington County.

Blackwell said that a 12-month termination clause is included in the lease.

Additionally, Blackwell said that Vector has shown interest in leasing a portion of the twin hangar complex.

Previously, Vector was paying $13,013 per month for phase one of its complex. That expired in August. For phase 2, it was paying $22,846. It was set to expire this August.

Blackwell said after the meeting that the lease agreement would be backdated to the beginning of the fiscal year, which was Oct. 1, 2015, and it will cancel out the remaining part of the phase 2 portion of the lease.