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County board approves terminal restaurant, rebids fuel-farm project and backs FAA grant for runway work
Summary
The Muskegon County Board approved a concession lease to reopen a terminal restaurant, rejected fuel-farm bids to revise and rebid the project, and authorized acceptance of an FAA grant for runway surface treatment (county match under $11,000).
The Muskegon County Board on April 16 approved three airport-related moves: a concession lease to bring a restaurant back to the terminal, rejection of all bids for a planned fuel-farm project with a plan to revise and rebid, and authorization to accept an FAA Airport Improvement Program grant to fund surface treatment on Runway 14/32.
"We've been working on getting a restaurant ready to open and, we've finally turned to the administrative phase," Airport Director Ken Efting told the board as he presented a lease with LL Cafe West LLC (Crosswind Cafe). Efting said the first year of the lease is advantageous to the operator to offset start-up risk, with escalating terms in later years that shift to a percentage of gross revenue and rise to as high as 10% by year five. He said the operator hopes to open in two to three weeks with a soft opening targeted to fly-in traffic.
On the fuel-farm project, Efting said bids returned significantly higher than the engineer's estimate, with much contingency baked in. The board voted to reject all current bids and direct staff to revise the project scope to focus on near-term needs and reissue the solicitation in coordination with the FAA; the FAA agreed to extend a grant deadline to accommodate a rebid.
Separately, the board authorized the airport to apply for and accept an FAA Airport Improvement Program grant not to exceed $438,000 to fund seal-coat surface treatment and remarking on Runway 14/32. Efting said the runway's top course had not been rehabilitated since 2008 and that the work is aimed at reducing loose surface material and foreign-object debris risk. He described the project as about 95% FAA-funded, leaving the county's local match at just under $11,000, which the airport plans to cover from its operating/capital budgets.
Board members voted to approve the concession lease and to award the runway construction to the lowest responsible bidder; they also rejected the fuel-farm bids and approved staff to pursue a revised solicitation and coordinate with the FAA. Efting said the airport does not expect the concession to be a major revenue source in year one but sees it as an amenity for airport users and a step toward broader growth planning.
