Washington’s City Council tentatively awarded a $352,700 contract to Triangle Grading and Pavement for pavement rehabilitation to two runways and taxiways at city-owned Warren Field Airport.
The unanimous action came during the council’s Nov. 5 meeting. The council also approved a work authorization in the amount of $48,105 for Talbert & Bright, its airport engineers.
Triangle Grading and Paving was the only entity to submit a bid for the work, even after a second request for bids was made. The N.C. Department of Transportation’s Division of Aviation has reviewed the bid and approved it. Repairs will be made to primary runway -23, secondary runway 17-35 and taxiways B and C.
Vision 100 grant funds from 2009, 2010 and 2011 and local “matching” funds (10 percent) will be used to help pay for the work. The city has $401,076 in such funds it may use toward the project.
Councilman Bobby Roberson, who voted to award the contract, questioned $78,900 in mobilization fees included in the project bid, saying that amount seemed a bit excessive.
“I mean, how much money are they going to charge us for mobilizing if they’re out there doing the contract work?” questioned Roberson. “That’s the thing I don’t understand. … That’s a lot of mobilization cost, I think. … It’s almost a third of the total contract just to go and stabilize and get ready to go.”
Other work at the airport is under way.
The airport’s terminal building was destroyed July by a “gustnado,” according to the National Weather Service.
Last month, the city opted to rebuild the terminal, with the project cost estimated at a little more than $1 million.
The projected cost of the project includes $700,000 in construction costs, $150,000 for building design, $100,000 in building administration/inspection costs, $27,000 for a temporary terminal building (modular) and $97,700 in contingency funds, according to a document related to the project.
In addition to the $500,000 in state aid to airports from DOT’s aviation division, other funding sources for the project include two $150,000 grants and $274,700 from a partial insurance payout. The two Vision 100 grants, one for fiscal year 2012 and the other for fiscal year 2013, are grants the city receives on an annual basis to use for airport improvements.