Alamosa County approves SLV Airport apron rehab; board adds $1.43 million project to agenda

The Alamosa County Board of Commissioners voted May 28 to award construction of the San Luis Valley (SLV) Airport commercial-apron rehabilitation to Oldcastle Southwest Group and to approve the overall project expenditure of $1,433,365.

The board approved the bid after Wolpert project staff and airport leadership explained that only one qualified bid was received. Airport staff said the contractor’s initial bid of about $1,261,136 was negotiated down to $1,157,086 for the construction contract; the larger $1,433,365 figure discussed at the meeting represents the total project cost when design and administrative expenses are included.

"We were able to get the contractor to reduce the total cost by about $103,000," said John Weeks, project manager with Wolpert. Weeks told the board the drainage work was included in the contract as a separate schedule because staff identified persistent ponding at the southeast corner of the apron and a small drainage pipe and retention-pond work are required to move water away from the paved surface.

Commissioners debated two options: include the drainage schedule now, which staff said would raise the county’s local share by roughly $8,000 (local airport-share figures were described in staff comments as moving from about $27,729 to $35,834), or defer the drainage work to a later airport-improvement project. Commissioner Lasky urged doing both the apron and drainage now, citing available airport fund balance and the risk that rebidding later could be costlier.

"I would like to do the drainage with it," Commissioner Lasky said. "We have the fund balance; this is the best value for the county to do it now and do it correctly moving forward." Other commissioners warned that prices can be volatile and noted the county had solicited many contractors without success.

Board members approved the construction bid motion and then approved the overall project expenditure on separate roll calls. The construction contract approval carried with a 2–1 vote (two commissioners in favor, one opposed on the construction amount). The final motion to approve the overall project expenditure of $1,433,365 also carried 2–1.

Project staff said they had reached out to several contractors and could not attract multiple bidders for this federally funded project; they also warned that pausing the project would not necessarily forfeit FAA entitlements but could risk higher future bids. The staff presentation recommended proceeding now while funds and FAA programming were in place.

The board’s action authorizes staff to finalize the contract and proceed with construction planning and phasing to allow continued aircraft operations during work. No start date was set publicly at the meeting; staff noted the work is planned for summer months and will be phased to keep half the apron available for aircraft operations during construction.