By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
The contract for improvements to the runway at Port Bucyrus came down to a matter of dollars and sense on Tuesday – the bid for the fewest dollars made the most sense.
The Board of Control for the City of Bucyrus awarded the contract for the airport project to Kokosing Construction. Kokosing’s bid was $606,001.80. The only other bid received came from Shelly and Sands, Inc. and was for $710,684.30.
The Board of Control went over the letter from Greg Heaton of Crawford, Murphy and Tilly which reviewed the bids once they were opened last week. Heaton recommended the city go with Kokosing for the project contingent on the city receiving the federal AIP grant funding.
Mayor Jeff Reser noted the estimated cost of the project at the time the bid packages went out was approximately $744,000, $138,000 higher than what Kokosing bid.
Service/Safety Director Jeff Wagner pointed out the lower than expected project costs would leave some value of the donation of land to the city for the airport that can be used as match money by the city for future projects.
In the project contract awarded to Kokosing, the airport’s 3,900-feet-by-75-feet runway will be milled two inches and filled. Another 2,000 cubic feet of berm work is also part of the project.
The work is needed to keep the airport up to FAA standards.
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