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Board delays entrance-road construction; apron finishes await testing and possible damages
Summary
The airport board agreed to delay the entrance-road work until July next year to avoid disruption during an airline changeover; the new apron is complete pending final testing, and staff said liquidated damages are available if contractor delays or failures are confirmed.
The Grand County Airport Board on July 6 agreed to postpone construction of the airport's front entrance road until July of next year rather than proceed during an airline changeover in October, citing operational disruption and "construction fatigue."
"I just made a unilateral decision that we're gonna wait and do this in July of next year, rather than do that while we're doing a changeover of an airline," Airport Director Steve said, explaining the choice to complete engineering now, go to bid in January and start work in the June'July window when asphalt work is feasible.
Presenter (speaker 7) previewed a three-phase construction plan: a roughly 25-day phase 1 restricting daily parking in front of the terminal, a phase 2 that will block rental-car access and be the most disruptive (about 10 days), and a phase 3 to build a temporary bypass road (about 10 days) so terminal access can be restored. The board discussed temporary pedestrian routes, alternate access for general aviation tenants and fire/EMS access around the fuel farm.
On apron work, staff reported phase 1 paving is finished but final test results are pending before final contractor payment. The apron project required multiple trial pours and removal of failed panels; the contractor ultimately placed roughly 10,300 square yards of concrete and 11,000 square yards of asphalt. Presenter (speaker 7) said those quantities make the apron larger than the county's biggest parking lot and called the project "monumental."
Board members confirmed liquidated damages were built into the paving contract and could be imposed at the county's discretion. Staff discussed a daily LD figure (discussed in the meeting as about $17.50 per day over approximately 40 days) and said the final testing results would determine whether to assess damages.
Why it matters: Delaying the entrance road reduces risk of disrupting passenger connections and ground operations during a carrier transition. The apron's test results determine final acceptance and payments; potential LDs are the county's remedy if contract requirements were not met.
Next steps: Staff will finalize testing results and provide them to the board; they will also proceed with bid-ready design documents for the entrance road and notify tenants about phased construction impacts and parking restrictions in advance.
