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Airport News, "Toledo, Ohio airport taxiway contract is on port board agenda"
Wednesday, October 13, 1999
Airport taxiway contract is on port board agenda
BY DAVID PATCH
TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITER
A key contract for a taxiway project that the Toledo-Lucas County Port
Authority's president deemed essential for Toledo Express Airport's
continued development is on the agenda for a port board meeting Friday.
The port authority's airport committee recommended yesterday that S.E.
Johnson Cos. of Maumee receive a $1,156,901.65 contract to grade and build
drainage systems for the final 3,600 feet of the airport's South Parallel
Taxiway. The Johnson bid was the lowest of five the port authority opened
last month.
Smith and Hills, Inc., of Naperville, Ill., is slated for a $140,000
contract to oversee the work. Smith and Hills designed the project and is
preparing specifications for paving the taxiway after it is graded.
During its meeting, the committee recommended full board approval of a
proposal to expand the aircraft parking apron near the Grand Aire, Inc.,
express cargo center; to spend $234,000 to match a $2.1 million federal
grant that continues the airport noise mitigation program, and pay a Toledo
firm $78,000 for furnishings inside a new concourse at the airport's
passenger terminal.
The port board is to meet at 8 a.m. Friday in the Toledo Area Regional
Transit Authority's headquarters, 1127 West Central Ave.
Airport committee members talked for more than an hour yesterday with
businessmen heading a plan to develop a perishables terminal at Toledo
Express. The project would start with a proposed 400,000-square-foot
building housing a customs and inspection facility and cold-storage
warehouse.
David Hall, of Hudson, O.-based Ohio International Developers, said the
project appears about 80 per cent likely to be built, and is intended to be
a distribution hub for imports of fresh flowers, fish, and other perishables
from Africa bound for points within a 500-mile radius of Toledo.
Manufactured goods from the United States and Canada would be flown to
Africa on the return flights.
The planned South Parallel Taxiway extension runs in front of the site
targeted for the perishables terminal. Port authority President James
Hartung said his agency is seeking about $30 million in federal grants for
taxiway construction and other airport improvements to support the project.
He said the taxiway is vital for airport growth, whether or not the
perishables terminal is built.
"This is like building the road through an industrial park,'' Mr. Hartung
said.
Work on the passenger terminal expansion began in July. Mr. Hartung said he
expects it to open in January. The concourse is intended to serve primarily
commuter-plane passengers, and will feature the airport's first ground-level
gates to make tarmac-level access more convenient.
Workplace Integrators, Inc., of Toledo was the low bidder for a contract to
provide furniture and other interior items to government agencies in Ohio.
Port staff are recommending the concourse's furnishing be bought through the
statewide purchasing plan.
Grand Aire has requested a 1.91-acre expansion of the apron upon which it
parks cargo planes. If the port board approves, federal funds will pay 90
per cent of the $252,939 cost, while Grand Aire will front the rest and be
credited for it against apron-access fees.
Attached Photo: Toby Ley of Spartan Construction cuts cinder blocks for the
concourse being built at the eastern end of the passenger terminal. The
concourse is intended primarily for commuter-plane passengers.
(Toledo Blade photo by Jeremy Wadsworth)
toledo.jpg
