Contract For Work At Taylor Airport Is Awarded To Combs Construction

By Naomi Hatch
   Seven bids for the Taylor Airport runway reconstruction project were received and reviewed for compliance, then the council was asked to award the contract to the low bidder May 13.
   Town Manager Eric Duthie reminded the council that the project will be fully funded by the federal government through the stimulus package as a result of work done by Congressman Ann Kirkpatrick.
   Town Engineer Stu Spaulding explained that the project was estimated to cost $3.5 million to $3.6 million, but the bids ranged from $1.5 million to $1.9 million. He noted that there is $10,000 for bid preparation, $89,999 for the field survey and the cost of the reconstruction of the runway.
   Spaulding said the bids were consistent and recommended that the low bid of $1,654,754.24 from Combs Construction be accepted.
   Councilman Brian Birtcher noted that the next bid is two percent higher, but was received from a local company. He suggested the local firm be awarded the contract.
   Duthie and Spaulding explained that there were no exceptions to accepting the low bid unless it was an emergency project. Duthie also referred to an ordinance approved in October 2007 that states that the town will take the low bid.
   The council approved a motion to award the contract to Combs Construction, with Birtcher casting the lone dissenting vote.
   In other action May 12, the council:
   * Met in executive session and upon returning to regular session, unanimously approved a motion to table the appeal of Taylor Planning and Zoning Commission approval to TBS Waste Inc. to operate a recycle center located on Pinedale Road.
   * Was asked by Mayor John Cole to consider who to appoint as a member of the Snowflake-Taylor Police Strategic Planning Committee. The mayor pointed out that this is not a group that will replace another committee, it is a targeted task force for strategic planning to get a feel of what the community feels is important for law enforcement to be doing.
   “It was our request that this be undertaken to get some better ideas of what the community is expecting of our police department and, quite frankly, of what members of the police department think of themselves,” said Duthie.
   No decision will be made until the new council is seated.
   Received a status report on the 2008-09 and 2009-10 town budgets from Finance Director Gus Lundberg. He said that currently the town is about 15 percent under estimated revenues for the year and 10 percent below the anticipated expenditures. Department heads have been directed to cancel all new uniform purchases, overnight travel and newspaper sub scri ptions to help with spending for this year’s budget. He said they are working on a cell phone policy that should also save money. Lundberg said that they anticipate a 20 percent reduction for the 2009-10 fiscal year, and are working with department heads to figure out a way to operate their departments with that reduction in mind. They are not planning to dip into any reserve funds next year, according to Lundberg.