Morrow County opens bids for airport runway lighting; commissioners hold submissions for review

The Morrow County Board of Commissioners opened four bids March 10 for runway lighting work at the county airport and voted to hold the submissions for review by airport staff.

County staff announced the bid opening and read the four base bids into the record. The companies and base bids recorded were Kobo Utility Construction Corporation, $317,262.50; Perham Electrics Incorporated, $262,286.25; Jay Rank Electric, $391,412.50; and a fourth bidder listed with a base bid of $219,389 (name in transcript unclear).

The commissioners then moved and seconded a motion to hold the bids for review by the airport authority. The motion passed with recorded "yes" votes from Commissioners Mason, Abraham and Siegfried.

The commissioners did not award the contract at the meeting; they instead placed the bids in the hands of airport staff for evaluation and tabulation. No timeline for award or additional review criteria were specified in the meeting record.

The county did not provide details at the meeting about funding sources for the runway lighting project, any required state or federal approvals, or whether the bids include alternate line items. The transcript also does not specify the airport's internal deadline for returning a recommendation to the board.

The commissioners recessed and returned to regular session later in the meeting, with no further action on the runway lighting bids recorded.