City officials were
forced to delay improvements to Leesville’s municipal airport on Monday
after bids came in more than what engineers had estimated for the
project.
During the City Council meeting, city officials heard
competing bids to clear a hill at the Leesville Municipal Airport. Three
bids were opened during the meeting with the lowest coming from Apeck
Construction at $676,374, more than $71,000 over Leesville’s projected
price. The project was estimated to cost $605,000.
The project, explained Leesville Mayor Rick Allen, will involve removing a hill near the safe landing and takeoff zone.
“The
ground has to be level with the airport or below,” he said. “There
cannot be a hill of any kind for so many feet outside the airport. And
unfortunately, our airport was dug into the side of a hill.”
The
project would remove the hill, he said, and fill in a hole at the end of
the runway. It would take approximately three months to see its
completion.
The project will be paid for with grants from the
state Department of Transportation Development and Federal Aviation
Administration, according to Kyle Randall, a senior project manager with
Pan American Engineers, who is overseeing the project. He said Pan
American Engineers would seek additional funding to make up the
difference between the low bid and the amount of funding currently
secured for the municipal airport.
Allen said he was unsure of
the difference between where the city was in securing grants versus how
much the project will actually cost. If engineers are unable to seek
additional funding, Allen said he would work to reduce the cost of the
project so it could move forward.
Upon completion of the project,
Allen said the city would be seeking funding to try and extend the
runway in the hopes of one day having a functioning regional airport
that could host larger aircraft. Currently the airport serves small
private planes only.
“This is a step forward to where we want to be with the airport,” Allen said.
No date has been set for when bids will come back for the council’s review.
Source: http://www.americanpress.com
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