Burke County awards terminal contract to Kendrick's Construction, forgoes ornamental fence

Burke County commissioners approved awarding the Burke County Airport terminal contract to Kendrick's Construction and decided not to include a proposed ornamental fence, county officials said at the meeting.

The action follows a presentation from airport consultant Tim Fredlund, who told commissioners the two bids received were $1,920,783.65 from Kendrick's Construction and $2,035,535.35 from Koki (listed in the materials as a second bidder). Fredlund said, "The net project cost is $2,344,000," and outlined two funding scenarios that change how much the county would need to contribute locally.

Fredlund said the project has multiple funding sources, including a $750,000 FAA terminal grant and state funding allocations through the Georgia Department of Transportation. He described one scenario that would maximize federal dollars and reduce the county's local share to roughly $367,000, and a second scenario that would use more state funds and raise the local share to about $507,000. He noted that using more state money could leave federal reimbursement capacity available for hangar reimbursements; "if we put the federal money on the terminal building, then we have less reimbursement for what we've already spent for the hangars," Fredlund said.

Commissioners discussed a bid alternate: an ornamental, black-metal fence with a motorized gate adjacent to the terminal. Fredlund said the ornamental option would add about $88,000 to the project total; without it the base bid included chain-link fencing. The board debated aesthetics versus cost: one commissioner said, "I'm good with chain link." Commissioners voted to award the base contract to Kendrick's Construction without the ornamental fence option; the motion was made by Commissioner Nix and seconded by Commissioner Kelly, and the board approved the award (vote tally not specified in the transcript).

Fredlund described the motorized gate feature as included in either fencing option and explained its function: keypad access for airport tenants and automatic loop detectors to open the gate on exit. He also said because the project was previously in GDOT's pipeline, a contract from GDOT could be issued within days and the county could potentially receive a notice to proceed as soon as mid-March.

The county will finalize the funding allocation (federal vs. state leverage) as a follow-up step and then proceed to contract execution and construction administration.