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Commissioners approve Mannik & Smith plans for Lorain County Regional Airport apron; commissioners reaffirm airport will stay open
Summary
The board authorized a $60,560 engineering agreement with The Mannik & Smith Group to design and coordinate ODOT grant documents for a Phase III main apron rehabilitation at Lorain County Regional Airport; commissioners said federal grant obligations and cost of relocation make decommissioning unlikely.
The Lorain County Board of Commissioners on April 7 approved an agreement with The Mannik & Smith Group, Inc., of Mansfield for engineering and grant coordination to rehabilitate a portion of the main apron at Lorain County Regional Airport. The board approved the contract as Resolution No. 26-211, with the agreement components and dollar amounts broken out (preliminary site investigation and ODOT grant information $3,919; preliminary plans $19,674; final design plans $24,579; construction documents $6,722; construction bidding $5,666; total $60,560). The project will be funded with a 95% state share through ODOT Aviation, and payment will be made from the airport capital improvements account.
Commissioner David J. Moore and other commissioners used the discussion to address public questions about whether the county intends to keep or decommission the airport. Moore described earlier regional conversations and said federal grant obligations and the high cost of relocating airport infrastructure make decommissioning impractical. He told the room that, in his view, "you can not get away with it here" when referring to abruptly decommissioning an airport and noted that repaying federal and state grants or rebuilding elsewhere would be costly. County staff described airport revenues and matches: Perkins said tenants, fuel service fees and agricultural lease income support airport operations and that the general fund contributes roughly $1 million as match and is later reimbursed by federal or state aviation programs.
The board voted unanimously to adopt the resolution authorizing the agreement with Mannik & Smith; the vote was recorded as Ayes: Gallagher, Moore & Riddell / Nays: None. Commissioners and staff emphasized the project will proceed in phases because ODOT project dollars for the airport have been relatively limited per project year; the contract is intended to gather existing conditions, prepare plans and coordinate required ODOT grant documentation before construction.
