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Muskegon County airport approves $27,500 purchase of portable boarding bridge, waives procurement rules
Summary
The Muskegon County Transportation Committee on Feb. 13 approved an unbudgeted $27,500 purchase of a manual external boarding bridge from Timberline GSE, agreeing to waive standard procurement procedures to expedite delivery; staff said the unit is intended as a portable backup to avoid passenger deplaning incidents.
The Muskegon County Transportation Committee on Feb. 13 voted to waive the county procurement policy and approve an unbudgeted purchase of a manual external boarding bridge from Timberline GSE for $27,500.
Airport Director Ken Huttin said the existing jet bridge is beyond its typical service life and recent failures created an operational incident in which passengers could not be offloaded easily late at night. Huttin described the purchase as a portable, lower-complexity unit that can be used as a backup for boarding and for other airport needs, including static displays at events.
Huttin told the committee he solicited three quotes, including a used unit offered at roughly $30,000, and that the Timberline GSE product met the airport’s needs with a simpler hand-pump design and an estimated 6–10 week lead time; waiving procurement rules was requested to shorten delivery by about one month. He said the purchase is unbudgeted and will increase the airport’s year-end general fund contribution by the purchase amount.
Committee members asked about procurement justification and lead time; staff confirmed written quotes were included in the agenda packet. The motion to waive procurement policy and approve the purchase passed on a recorded roll call with seven yes votes.
The county instructed staff to complete the purchase and proceed with delivery and integration into airport ground-support equipment inventories.
