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Commissioners approve $184,750 engineering contract for airport frontage road; KDOT traffic study flagged as additional cost
Summary
The Coffee County Commission authorized up to $184,750 for design and inspection services for the airport frontage road; the project is funded through a CDBG grant, and county staff warned a separate traffic study requested by KDOT could add roughly $21,754 in engineering fees.
The Coffee County Board of Commissioners voted to authorize professional engineering services for the Coffee County Airport frontage road design and inspection with CFS Engineers in an amount not to exceed $184,750. The boardapproved the task order as part of the countyCDBG-funded SSM/Frontage Road Phase 2 project; staff said the design and inspection costs are eligible for reimbursement under the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
The motion to approve the professional engineering services task order for up to $184,750 was moved by Commissioner Thompson and seconded by Commissioner Peterson and passed by voice vote.
During discussion, county staff and the project engineer explained that the CDBG portion covers the design and inspection dollars already in the project budget and that the $184,750 figure had been included in prior project authorizations. The engineer advised that KDOT may require a separate traffic study focused on the 75 Highway access and potential future impacts from development at the airport; the countyengineer estimated that the modeling and data-collection work would cost about $21,754 if the study is required. Commissioners and staff discussed options for cost-sharing: the engineering firm indicated the county would typically be billed for a KDOT-style traffic analysis while KDOT has programs to cost-share construction if improvements become required.
Why it matters: The frontage-road design is intended to improve access to the airport and to support planned development adjacent to the airport. The design contract being reimbursable under CDBG reduces the countylocal cash outlay for design and inspection, but potential KDOT-mandated work could create additional engineering costs.
Funding and next steps: Staff said the $184,750 is covered by the existing CDBG award; invoices submitted against the task order have been held pending an executed contract. Commissioners asked staff to try to lower the separate traffic-study fee or to pursue cost-sharing; an engineer said he would try to seek a contribution. No separate vote was taken on the $21,754 traffic-study estimate during the meeting.
