Aviation Board Tentatively Chooses CHA As Consulting Firm
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
The Board of Aviation Commissioners approved CHA Design/Construction Solutions, Indianapolis, as the new tentative aviation consultant for the Warsaw Municipal Airport at its meeting Tuesday.
Airport Manager Nick King reminded the board it sent out requests for qualifications to airport engineering firms throughout Indiana. There were three firms that submitted, with a committee from the board interviewing all three. The committee met Tuesday morning and put together a recommendation.
Jay Rigdon, board president, said, “After reviewing all three groups that came and talked to us, the committee is recommending that the board go with CHA Consulting.”
He said the process to select a new firm started a few months ago and was motivated by the board’s feeling to do its due diligence on reviewing the contract every few years.
“This review process, at no point, should be taken by anybody as dissatisfaction by anybody’s behavior. It was just time to review it,” Rigdon said.
Secondly, he said that all groups that the committee talked to were very well qualified. “But I also know that after an independent review, everybody who was on the committee had the same reaction: that CHA had put itself just a little bit above its competitors in its presentation,” Rigdon said.
Dan Robinson, board member, said it was a really hard decision as all three firms were well qualified and there was no clear choice.
Mayor Joe Thallemer said he felt the process was “very good” and there were three very qualified candidates. He said there’s a large amount of work coming up with the power line lowering project in 2020, and the process in selecting a new aviation consulting firm was “very critical.”
Rigdon said after the board makes a tentative recommendation, on merits and quality, the two sides will discuss finances and come up with an agreement.
After the board approved to engage in negotiations with CHA, Mary D. Kerstein, project manager with CHA, said everyone that was in the interview team is in the Indianapolis office, and she named them and their jobs.
The selection of CHA was made after King gave the board an update on the design phase for runway 1836. That total project amount was $160,000, with $28,000 of FAA grant funds available.
He also talked about the power line relocation project, which was awarded a $6.3 million grant from the FAA in the last month. King said that grant comes from funds generated by user fees and federal aircraft fuel tax.
The day before the airport learned of that funding, King said he, city engineer James Emans and Ken Ross, of NGC Aviation Consultants, sat down with American Electric Power to discuss tower lighting.
“The reason that the cost has gone up on the maintenance is some of the infrastructure is failing on those lights. The actual underground electric feeds that go to those power poles and lights are starting to fail. They were put in during the early ’80s,” King said.
He said AEP was concerned that if certain parts failed, parts of the system could go out of service completely.
“So we met to try to come up with a good plan of attack on these lights. As the original estimate, they were thinking it could be $120,000 to $150,000,” King said. After the discussion with AEP about what the airport’s goals were with the power lines for the next few years, King said they were able to bring that cost down to roughly $70,000 to $72,000 for the lights.
“Now that we have received supplemental funding, we have submitted a rush order on some air spacing for the proposed lowered power lines to see when those power lines come down, which towers will need lights, if any lights are required and then can we reuse the lights if we have to go up and replace them now,” King said, adding that they didn’t want to spend money twice on the same lights.
AEP pushed back its meeting with the airport a couple of weeks to allow it to select a new airport consultant. At the meeting, King said they will sit down and look at what absolutely will be required and what can be done now to keep the lights from going out and maintain them.
In other business, the board:
• Approved a new airport tenant land lease draft. The FAA still must review it.
• Approved courtesy car guidelines and standard operating procedures. King was also given permission to seek bids for a new courtesy car, a 2020 Ford Escape, from Ford dealerships. The car will come out of the 2020 budget.
He also will seek a new pickup truck and present the information to the board at its Jan. 14 meeting.
