Staff recommends that the City Council approve Amendment 28 with Morrison-Maierle, Inc. for the engineering services associated with the reconstruction and extension of Runway 7/25 in the amount of $650,560.00

On May 5, 2022, the City Council approved a five-year contract with Morrison-Maierle, Inc. (M-M) to provide all pre-design, scope of work activities, survey, plans and specifications, project management and closeout reports for the Aviation & Transit Department for all civil engineering work required during the five-year term.  This base contract with M-M is amended each time a new project is undertaken.  Amendment 28 for $650,560 will provide funding for M-M to provide all construction management oversight and complete closeout reports in order for a contractor to reconstruct and extend Runway 7/25.

Runway 7/25 is the only crosswind runway at the Airport which was originally built in 1991 and has now exceeded its useful life and needs to be replaced.  The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has also determined that the end of Runway 7 intersects the general aviation Runway 10R/28L and no longer meets airfield geometry standards.  This project will resolve both of these problems by removing and replacing the asphalt surface full-depth and relocating the end of Runway 7 so it no longer intersects the general aviation runway.  A new connector taxiway will also be built, all incandescent runway lighting and informational signs will be replaced with new LED lighting and the overall length of the reconstructed runway will increase, allowing larger and heavier aircraft to operate on it.         

On November 11, 2024, City Council approved Amendment 22 for $348,630 with M-M to create the scope of work, survey, conduct preliminary and final design activities, prepare plans and specifications and provide bidding assistance to reconstruct and extend Runway 7/25, which has now been completed.  Additionally, on March 3, 2025, City Council approved the low bid award from Askin Construction in the amount of $6,169,295.00 to perform the construction on Runway 7/25 which will begin in May and take approximately six months to complete.  Amendment 28 for $650,560 with M-M for the construction management oversight will be the final piece of the puzzle in order to complete this major runway reconstruction project.

The scope of work and associated fees for these services have been reviewed by Ardurra Engineering from Cody, WY and negotiated by staff and will be approved by the FAA.  The FAA requires all engineering fees to be reviewed by a second engineering firm to verify that these fees are reasonable, fair, and equitable.  Ardurra was contracted to perform the secondary review, providing staff with an independent cost estimate to negotiate fees with M-M.

City Council may:

• Approve Amendment 28 for the engineering fees with M-M; or,
• Not Approve Amendment 28 with M-M, delay this important safety-critical runway project and advise staff on how to proceed

The total cost of the engineering services in Amendment 28 are $650,560.  These fees will be funded 95% with FAA Airport Improvement Program (AIP) grant funds and 5% with local match funds.  The FAA's grant funding will be $618,032 and the Airport's local match will be $32,528.  The local match funds are budgeted and available in the Airport's Capital Account and will be reimbursed at a later date through the Airport's Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) program.  Ultimately, all of these engineering fees are paid for with federal funding or PFC's and essentially do not cost the City or Airport anything.