Staff briefs commission on road contracts, taxiway rehab, VOR upgrade and hangar occupancy
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Summary
Staff told the commission three firms bid for road work and one was selected to take a recommendation to council on Jan. 6; taxiway rehabilitation is at ~75% review and a VOR upgrade is being expedited. Staff provided occupancy and revenue figures but several transcript figures appear inconsistent and were noted as such.
City and airport staff used the reports portion of the meeting to update commissioners on several infrastructure and procurement matters affecting the airport and nearby roads.
Roads: Staff said four bids were received for Transport Way and Government Way; staff selected a bidder and will present the contract to the city council on Jan. 6. If council approves as expected within about 10 days, the selected contractor would have roughly 180 days to complete both roads. Staff said the low bids came in under the grant amount, enabling both roads to be done under the current funding package.
Airport capital projects: Taxiway Delta rehabilitation is at approximately 75% plan review; staff said electrical layout changes are required to comply with a federal requirement to use 90-degree taxiway edge lights, and some storm-water adjustments will also be needed. Staff described this as a multi-year funding effort because FAA entitlement funding is estimated at roughly $1.3 million per year and the Delta rehab is a multi-million-dollar project (staff estimated about $5,000,000 total), meaning construction will likely be staged across multiple entitlement cycles.
Navigational aid and procurement: The FAA is expediting an upgrade to the airport's VOR, including installation of fiber optics to replace older coaxial cables; staff said they will try to schedule any necessary closures at night to minimize impacts. Staff also said a new airfield sweeper procurement is expected to go to council for approval next month.
Hangars, occupancy and finances: Staff reported hangar wait lists (Hangar A: 6 waiting; B and C full with seven on wait lists; D: one available) and that all 10 covered tie-downs are leased. The transcript reported airport revenue of $481,780 and about $60,000 for the industrial park, for a combined total of roughly $542,138 as of October. During the verbal report several expense figures were read that appear inconsistent in the transcript (for example, a line rendered as "$702,000, $552" and an apparent total of "$707,707,152") — the commission did not receive a corrected figure during the meeting; staff characterized many amounts as encumbered and said year-end adjustments would change final totals. These apparent transcription anomalies are noted here rather than presented as finalized budget figures.
Operational context: Staff said fuel sales are normalizing after a COVID-era spike. They also projected aircraft storage will decline as planes return to service, which could reduce storage-related revenue compared with the recent elevated levels.
Next steps: staff will return with final contract documents for council consideration, continue design and funds-planning for the taxiway project, and complete the industrial-park economic impact report in early spring. Commissioners requested staff coordinate site tours of industrial-park businesses.
Quotation (from meeting audio): "We did receive 4 different bid proposals...the contract should be executed, and they have 180 days to do both roads," said a staff presenter during the roads update (verbatim from meeting audio).
