The Plymouth Board of Aviation Commissioners met Tuesday night. The first order of business was to open bids for airport improvements. The board is seeking a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration to pay for a number of possible improvements to the airport. They would like to resurface the runway and possibly widen it. The board received bids from six different companies for the project. The low bidder depends on what work is done.
If the whole project is approved the low bid is from Phend and Brown at a cost of under 2 and a half million dollars but if only the resurfacing is done the low bid is from E and B Paving. If the full project is done, the airport lighting will need to be moved and Michiana Contracting offered the low bid at about $144,000. The FAA will pay 90% of the project the State 5% and the city would have to pay the rest. For the full widening and resurfacing project the city would have to pay $125,215. If only the resurfacing is done the city would have to pay $88,275.
Troy Church from Plymouth Sky sports who run the skydiving operation from the airport addressed the board about the problems that the project will cause his business. Church said that closing the airport during September and October would cause his to lose enough business to go out of business. He explained that additional cost and time to relocate the business to the Rochester airport would also be damaging. He wanted a time table for the project. Church would like the project start to be delayed until mid October or even next spring.
The board told him that they would inform him as much as possible however they don’t know if the FAA will approve the project at all. Project engineer, Mark Shillington, told them that there was a better than 80% chance of approval. The problem was that if the project was approved they could not know when that would be. The earliest grant approval would be in early September and it was doubtful that the project could start until the time frame Church wished for.
Jim Kunze Correspondent
