Memphis airport officials approved more than $52 million in contracts today contingent on getting federal grants to cover improvements ranging from family restrooms to a new screening system for checked baggage.
Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority officials were confident grants from the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Homeland Security will materialize, despite budget-cutting fervor in Washington. The airport anticipates the grants in the federal fiscal year that starts Oct. 1.
About $21 million is being sought from Homeland Security for a project that will shift checked baggage screening from behind airline counters to a behind-the-scenes labyrinth of high-speed conveyor belts and explosives scanners.
The rest would come from the FAA, an agency that has been caught in a crossfire between the Democrat-controlled Senate and Republican majority House. Congress extended FAA's funding authorization to Friday in early August, delaying resolution of disputes over federally subsidized air service to many small markets and liberalized union election rules.
Scott Brockman, Airport Authority executive vice president and chief operating officer, told board member John Stokes he didn't believe the grants would be jeopardized.
"We know what's going on in Washington these days about cutting back on spending," Stokes said. "Is it possible we won't get these grants?"
Brockman replied, "To me, there is no concern in the grant." However, Brockman said airport officials will have to carefully consider next year's capital improvement program.
Some of the contracts conditionally awarded to lowest bidders meeting bid criteria:
-- Construction or conversion of existing restrooms into 18 family restrooms, $903,841, EMJ Corp.
-- Seismic upgrades to bridges that carry runways over Winchester Road and improvements to the airfield's inner roadways, $6,375,592, Dement construction Co. LLC.
-- Escalator replacement in Terminals A and C, $773,886, EMJ Corp.
-- Terminal elevator replacement, $1,240,800, EMJ Corp.
-- Design and construction of in-line baggage security screening system and facility, $21,053,466, W.G. Yates & Sons Construction Co.
-- Security system upgrades, including replacement of 20-year-old closed circuit television system and personal identification system, $9,016,865, Schneider Electric.
-- Building modifications to accommodate the security upgrades, Montgomery Martin Contractors, $11,188,412.
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