Foothills Regional Airport board awards bid for T-hangar site preparation

The Foothills Regional Airport Authority approved a bid from Mountaineer Contractors, Inc., for site preparation work on the new T-Hangar project during its Dec. 18 meeting.

The decision followed a review of four bids submitted during the second bid opening on Dec. 10.

The board’s consulting firm, Talbert, Bright & Ellington, represented by Airport Engineering and Planning Consultant Pat Turney, recommended Mountaineer Contractors, Inc., of Kingwood, W. Va.

Mountaineer’s bid totaled $661,780, significantly less than the $1,162,802 engineer’s estimate of “Probable Construction Costs” for the project. The company also committed to subcontracting 3.04% of the total bid amount to certified Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBE), exceeding the 2% DBE goal for the project.

Board member Butch McSwain questioned the substantial disparity between the bid amounts, with the highest bid, $1,549,497.38, submitted by G.E.M. Constructors, Inc.

Turney attributed the differences primarily to variations in earthwork costs, noting that Mountaineer’s bid included a rate of $16 per cubic yard of soil moved, compared to $52 per cubic yard proposed by Atriax Building Solutions, LLC, which submitted the third-highest bid at $1,465,071.22.

Turney also highlighted Mountaineer’s experience in similar airport projects and emphasized the contract award remains contingent upon concurrence from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) Division of Aviation and receipt of Federal Airport Improvement Program (AIG) grant funds, which are expected to be allocated in January 2025.

This marks the culmination of an extended bidding process that began in July 2024, when the authority initially failed to attract the three required bidders to open a bid package for the T-hangar project.

At the time, the authority rejected the only bid received from Marion-based G.E.M. Constructors, Inc., totaling $4.37 million, citing excessive cost and the firm’s lack of prequalification as a prime contractor with the NCDOT.

To address these challenges, the authority separated the T-hangar project into two schedules: Schedule I, covering drainage and paving for site preparation; and Schedule II, focusing on the T-hangar structure itself.

With these assurances, the board voted unanimously to approve Mountaineer Contractors’ bid. Construction on the T-Hangar project is expected to begin mid-spring 2025, pending the required approvals.

The board will meet again Jan. 29 to discuss further developments on the T-hangar project and other airport initiatives.