Tulsa airport to repair runways: Funding also is approved for the ongoing
jet-noise program
May 13, 2008
Tulsa Airport Improvement Trustees awarded $4.3 million in runway and taxiway
reconstruction contracts Thursday and $4.25 million in aircraft noise mitigation
contracts.
Trustees also accepted $3.47 million in Federal Aviation Administration grants
for the design, construction and construction management of new taxi lanes and
roads to serve the North Development Area, and taxiways and related projects for
the east-west crosswind runway.
Trustees discussed TAIT's proposed $41.37 million 2008-2009 budget but took no
action on it pending further negotiations on a new Airline Lease Agreement with
eight airlines serving Tulsa.
The board awarded a $4.02 million runway and taxiway reconstruction contract
with Crossland Heavy Contractors Inc. of Pittsburg, Kan., for pavement repairs
to the east-west crosswind runway at Tulsa International Airport. The contract
includes replacement of airfield guidance signs and relocation of the Oklahoma
Air National Guard's barrier arrestor system.
Crossland's bid was the lowest of two received and 16.7 percent more than the
engineer's estimate.
"It's a tough market to predict
right now," said Jeff Hough, deputy airport director of engineering and
facilities.
Also approved was a $293,789 construction management and materials testing
contract with Garver Engineers Inc. to oversee the crosswind runway project.
Trustees awarded a $2.05 million noise mitigation contract with Superior
Insulation Inc. for the noise insulation work on 76 homes south of the airport.
Superior's bid was the lowest of five received and 14 percent below the
engineer's estimate.
A $2.2 million noise mitigation management and professional services contract
was awarded to C&S Cos. Inc. for the next phase of the nine-year, $40 million
noise mitigation program. The program has provided sound insulation, sales
assistance or flyover easements to about 1,000 of 1,700 property owners in the
65-decibel noise contour.
The board deferred for the third straight month a decision on whether to
implement automated pay parking using the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority's
PikePass.
One by one, board members said they thought the PikePass is the future, would
add convenience and a competitive edge to airport parking operations, which last
year generated $7.3 million in revenue, the largest single revenue source at
Tulsa International.
But the costs of implementing the system are daunting, trustees agreed.
Equipment installation costs are estimated at $610,000. The turnpike authority's
fee for software and accounting systems is 6 percent of PikePass revenue.
Airports Director Jeff Mulder said he spoke with officials at Dallas' Love
Field, which has had an automated-pay-parking system for three years. Mulder
said Love officials were pleased with the system, which they say has stimulated
airport parking activity and has a three- to four-year investment payback.
Trustee Dewey Bartlett Jr. noted that parking revenue rose in 2007 and so far
this year, but parking activity is relatively flat owing to recent rate
increases.
"Whatever we can do to increase convenience would be a sizable marketing hook we
could take to our customers," Bartlett said. "When I was on the turnpike
authority and we implemented the PikePass, it was like we created a new church."
Trustee Carl Clay said the turnpike authority's 6 percent cut of revenue is
steep.
"We're going to need 1,000 customers a month to get back to break even," Clay
said. "We need to be careful. It's an important source of revenue."
Trustee Charles Sublett said he's undecided.
"We're trying to predict something we can't accurately predict," he said. "We
need to be innovative and try to anticipate the needs of people in the future."
Trustees debated whether to implement a scaled-down version of an automated-pay
system with one or more PikePass lanes instead of five. Sublett asked about an
exit strategy -- whether there would be a market for the equipment investment if
the board opted out of PikePass after three years.
After the PikePass decision was deferred, Chairwoman Meredith Siegfried asked
Mulder to investigate whether a "full-bore" investment of $600,000 could be
downsized.
Source: Tulsa World
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