Legal counsel appointed for South Central Regional Airport Agency board

PELLA — Brick Gentry P.C. was appointed as legal counsel for the South Central Regional Airport Agency Wednesday evening.

Three firms had submitted proposals to be legal counsel for the SCRAA, and all were evaluated by the agency's executive committee before being brought to the SCRAA board for consideration.

The resolution appointing Brick Gentry P.C. as legal counsel also approved the engagement letter, which provides an overview of fees, established the fees for the legal service guaranteed for the next three years and provides the scope of services provided by Brick Gentry P.C.

“After discussion it appears that Brick Gentry would be a really good fit for what we're doing here and going on various aspects as we move forward to the next phase,” said SCRAA board Chairman James Hansen.

The SCRAA is the governing body directly coordinating the planning, construction and other aspects of the proposed South Central Regional Airport, which is planned for on more than 580 acres of prime farm land located north of Highway 163 and in between Pella and Oskaloosa.

The project is a joint effort via a 28E Agreement between the cities of Pella and Oskaloosa, as well as Mahaska County. However, the Mahaska County Board of Supervisors voted in July to stop participating in the project and ordered the removal of their SCRAA board representative, Joe Warrick.

During Wednesday's meeting, Pella City Administrator Mike Nardini also reminded the SCRAA board that Brick Gentry P.C. also provides legal services for the Polk County Aviation Authorities, and they have also served several municipalities around the Des Moines area.

Engineering services will be chosen at the next meeting, which was scheduled for 6 p.m., Aug. 24, in Oskaloosa.

Four engineering firms have submitted proposals for the project, Nardini said. The bids from the four firms were presented to the board during Wednesday's meeting.

The SCRAA board will now need to evaluate the four engineering services. Evaluation paperwork was provided to the board, who will score each of the four engineering firms separately and give those evaluations to Nardini.

The executive committee will then review the board's scored evaluations and recommend two finalists that the board will then review on Aug. 24.

SCRAA Board Member Sid Pinney asked Nardini why the fees within the engineering firm's bids were not included in this particular evaluation form.

Nardini responded that the overall cost of the project will not be included in the first step of the selection process because the Federal Aviation Administration views the project should focus more on quality of the services and the qualifications of the firm, rather than focusing on the price of that firm.

“Overall, this is a $30 million project. It's a significant project,” Nardini said. “That's why the decision cannot be based on fees. They have other mechanisms to ensure that fees are reasonable.”

After answering more general questions about returning the evaluation form, the board adjourned.

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