Local bidder gets $374,000 airport project

Local bidder Williams Electric was awarded an approximate $374,000 contract Tuesday night to replace the runway lighting system at Clinton Regional Airport.
Williams submitted a bid of $373,999 compared to $389,710 from Libra Electric of Oklahoma City, the only other bidder. The engineer’s estimate was $383,145.
Toby Baker – representing the city’s airport engineering contractor, CEC of Oklahoma City – recommended that the Williams bid be accepted. Don Rodolph made the motion to do so at Tuesday’s meeting of the Clinton Airport Authority held in conjunction with that night’s City Council session. Chuy Rosales seconded, and the vote was 4-0 with Bobby Stewart and Mayor David Berrong also saying yes. Councilman Jason Hulin was not present.
The project calls for replacing the airport’s 58 runway lights with LED lights, plus new conduit. It also will include new “precision approach path indicator systems,” called PAPIS, on both end and side approaches for airplanes making instrument landings. The PAPIS, as they’re called, will replace a single ”visual approach sloped indicator,” called a VASI, which is now used. Basically, those help pilots of landing aircraft make sure they’re approaching at the correct angle.
Baker said it’s been more than 20 years since the runway lights were replaced.
New LED signage lights also will be installed.
Other costs associated with the project, including inspections by the Federal Aviation Authority, will run the total tab to almost $450,000. All but 5 percent of that will be paid with a grant from the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. Baker said the city’s share of the total project cost will be $24,397.89.
Thursday, he explained that the city normally receives a certain amount of money each year from the FAA for major projects and often some or all of it is carried over to the next year so it can be combined with that year’s funding to finance bigger projects.
A few years back, Baker said his company prepared a five-year capital improvement plan for the runway lighting system and the OAC decided it would like to be the primary financier.
“OAC is not a guaranteed source (of money annually) like the FAA,” said Baker. “They just said they would like to fund this project.”
Consequently, he said that will leave money the FAA would have spent on it still at the city’s disposal for future airport projects.
Another good thing about the OAC grant is that it’s 95-5 instead of 90-10 like FAA grants. That is, OAC pays for 95 percent of an approved project with the city having to pay only 5 percent, whereas the FAA pays 90 percent and leaves 10 percent for the city to pay.
FAA tests of the runway lights, once they’re installed, will be performed from the air to make sure they’re visible and will be bringing planes in at the proper approach angle, said Baker.
Finally, councilmen were asked to approve a change order for the Jet A fuel tank that was recently installed at the airport and the access road to the tank. But this was a change order they happily agreed to, since it lowered the cost by nearly $4,500, from $280,939 to $276,470.