North Adams Hangar Rehab Could Begin This Summer
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Work on the city-owned northeast hangar at Harriman & West Airport could begin in the late summer or early fall.
Stantec engineer Peter Enzien told the Airport Commission on Tuesday that if all goes as planned, the project can go out to bid in late March and a contract could be awarded in late April.
"Then it is just about waiting for the grant offer, and we estimate that would come in in late July, early August," he said. "Then we could start construction in the late summer early fall."
In January, the commissioners voted to go forward with the project and use the $230,000 in non-primary entitlement funding the city has at its disposal. In total, the city has about $260,000 they can put towards the dilapidated hangar.
There may be more grant opportunities to address project overages.
Enzien said a draft scope of work has been submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration and the state Department of Transportation for comment.
He said mechanical and electrical engineers have visited the property and that the electrical service needs to be addressed.
"All of the electrical panels in the entire building were completely destroyed … we want to see what was there previously and establish that service," he said.
He said lighting needs to be established as well as electrical outlets.
He said they are also considering repairing the tube heating system, if possible.
Bids would be opened on April 21; a recommendation would be made on April 27.
Mayor Jennifer Macksey, who was in attendance, asked if it was possible to move the bid release up a week.
"I just feel like that bid turnaround from opening to starting is a little tight," she said. "I understand the requirement for publication timelines. It just seems if we could get it out a week earlier it gives us a little window in case we have to address addendums."
Enzien said the timeline allows for addendums, but it may be possible to move the process up a week.
"Nothing is set in stone," he said.
Chairman Dan Caplinger did note a letter came in from Waterman Excavation indicating an interest in purchasing the property from the city.
"It was the sort of response I would have expected to get when the commission issued that RFP," he said. "Is the commission interested in that at this point? Or are we too late in the process? I am not sure it makes sense for us to do that."
Enzien said the commission could change gears and sell the property if it wanted, however, the commissioners felt there would be legal issues simply offloading the property to the only bidder.
Commissioner Mark Morandi thought that legally the city would have to go through the public bidding process again.
The commission moved on and acted on a request from airport user and T&M Auto owner Mike Milazzo who wanted to use his personal hangar for nonaviation use.
"There are days I would prefer to be at the airport working with the doors open," he said. "Specifically during the summer … just room for one or two computers. One or two humans, and one or two desks."
He also asked to have exclusive rights to some of the tie downs outside of the hangar that he would pay for.
The commission did not have a problem with the use, as other businesses use hangar space in similar ways. The commission noted that the hangar in question had no office space, and they wanted to know the exact square footage Milazzo anticipated using for nonaviation use. There was a fear the nonaviation use could grow.
Milazzo said he has no intention of leasing out his hangar but could provide the measurements the commission asked for.
The proposal also opened up a larger discussion about tie-downs and how the airport assigns tie-downs to specific pilots.
Because Milazzo was unlikely to open up his hangar doors in the dead of winter, the commission asked for more time to confer with the FAA and research its own tiedown policy.
Enzien said there will be a public information virtual meeting on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. for homeowners affected by some airport brush and tree removal. He said 19 residents will be impacted and that they were notified.
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