You want what for that ticket?

Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is getting up at 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning and he's a little ticked at the reason.

He's getting up early to drive all the way to Dayton's airport in time to catch a morning flight to Washington DC.

Why Dayton, you ask? After all, CVG is much closer to the commissioner's Green Township home.

Well, a round trip flight from Dayton costs around $500. That same flight from CVG costs more than $1,500, Portune said.

He pointedly mentioned the price discrepancy during Wednesday's commission meeting. He intends to also raise the point with lawmakers Thursday.

"Lack of competition is contributing to these fares," Portune said. Groups of local officials have already been to Washington to drum up support for keeping the Delta hub open. But talk about fares was completely missing from that conversation, Portune said.

"Fares didn't come up. Lack of competition didn't come up," he said. He hopes to meet up with some of the legislators to explain his point Thursday.

The primary reasons for the trip though, is so Portune can seek support for a green-build project by the Metropolitan Sewer District. The district is being forced to update its sewers at a cost of several billion dollars, resulting in double-digit percent increases for sewer customers. Portune said the U.S. EPA and the Department of Justice unexpectedly withdrew support for a green-build project that would have saved money for the district -- and the county water customers. Portune hopes to talk the groups into supporting the project again.