Aurora committee approves $99,900 design agreement for airport beacon, signage and runway safety upgrades

The Building, Zoning and Economic Development Committee on July 9 approved a resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute a not-to-exceed $99,900 agreement with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc. for design-phase engineering and planning services for airfield signage, wind cones, runway identifier lights (Runway 15 and 27), rotating beacon replacement and related navigational aids at Aurora Municipal Airports.

Vice Chair Patty Smith moved approval; Alderwoman Juan Garza seconded. The committee recorded the ayes and the motion carried.

Steve, the project presenter, told the committee the item is a routine block-grant request and that much of the work will be funded through federal and state-administered aviation funds. “As with all of our block grant projects, the local match amount stated in the program letter … is the maximum amount that the city of Aurora will have to pay,” he said, noting that any payments above the stated local match will be refunded to the city after project completion. The program letter as read in the meeting listed the city’s local share as “37,000, $499” (as read).

Steve described the rotating beacon as the project’s largest visible-ticket item and said Aurora has had problems with the beacon for about five years. He said the federal/state funding structure makes the project attractive: “Here’s an opportunity for us to get 90% federal funds to have that replaced,” Steve said, adding the beacon will be relocated as part of the work.

The Runway Safety Action Team (RSAT) recommended adding runway guard lights to the package after a safety review, Steve said. He explained guard lights are pavement-mounted, blinking lights installed on taxiways to warn pilots approaching a runway.

Committee members asked about timing and the risk that federal funds could be rescinded. Steve said the state is the administrator for federal aviation funds and that program letters earmark funding, but work cannot begin until the federal government releases funds to the state. “I don’t think any of it will be rescinded,” he said, while cautioning that the state’s processing timeline can be slow and that, in past cases, long delays have forced rebids or allowed contractors to withdraw.

He outlined the expected next steps: the approval on design-phase engineering is the first step; the state will advertise the construction contract (the city’s target is to go to bid in November), report a low bidder to the city, and the state then prepares a contractor agreement and an agency agreement with the city. A construction-phase engineering agreement and the agency agreement will return to the city for approval before work begins.

Steve also told the committee the city has experienced procurement delays on other airport projects when state processing lagged and when contractors pulled out; he said one contractor previously was subject to an investigation described in the meeting as “for, I’m gonna say, bid rigging,” which delayed award and required rebidding of an unrelated vault/generator project.

The committee approved the design-phase agreement. The next procedural step is state review and federal fund release and, pending those steps, the state-run bidding process in the fall; construction-phase agreements would return to the city for approval before construction proceeds.