FAA procedure delay and DBE requalification slow Carson City airport projects
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Summary
Engineers and staff reported delays in FAA instrument procedure work for new PAPI lights and uncertainty from federal DBE requalification rules that could change bidding goals and timing for grant-funded pavement work and drainage projects.
Carson City Airport staff and consultants told the Airport Authority that work on several grant-funded airfield projects is moving forward but faces procedural delays from the Federal Aviation Administration and a requalification of disadvantaged-business-enterprise (DBE) certifications that could change contracting goals.
Brian Martinez Smolos of Wood Rodgers summarized the airport's active project list, saying design work is underway for the runway safety-area (RSA) drainage project and that geotechnical work has been completed. He said design for the main apron rehabilitation is essentially complete and a non-grant pavement preservation package will be combined with a slurry project for bidding efficiency.
A consultant reported that Carson City's PAPI (precision approach path indicator) installation was certified as equipment but has not yet been approved for nighttime use within an instrument approach procedure. The consultant said the FAA procedures team had no record of an earlier application and that the airport had to gather historical material before reapplying. The consultant warned that the offset PAPI approach was never guaranteed to be approved for nighttime use and that flight-check scheduling may take substantial time.
Staff also told the authority they had received notice of forthcoming FAA grants for construction on the RSA drainage project and a design grant for taxiway Bravo reconstruction and North Apron sealing. Those grants are expected to support the next phases of work, but staff said they will coordinate with the FAA ADO before advertising work because the federal government recently changed DBE qualification rules. Under that change, local DBE firms must reprove eligibility, which could lower DBE goals for individual projects. Staff said advertising a project with a higher DBE goal before those qualifications are finalized could jeopardize meeting the goal during procurement.
"The qualification factors to be a DBE have changed," a staff member said. "All of these DBE firms have to reprove whether they qualify as a DBE. And so as such, the goals could drastically change." Staff recommended waiting for guidance from the FAA Airport District Office before issuing bids for spring construction.
Board members emphasized the work's importance and that the study commissioned under the recently approved Kauffman contract will be needed to evaluate whether the airport requires a runway category change in addition to an extension. That additional determination would require substantially more design work if confirmed.
The authority did not set new deadlines at the meeting; staff said next steps are coordination with the FAA ADO and completion of the study and design tasks required to move to bidding and construction.
