NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Airport Commission heard a familiar report Tuesday: there were no responses to the recent airport restaurant request for proposals.

 

"We didn't get anybody," said Chairman James Haskins, speaking about the RFP that was opened in May. "We have to decide what we are going to do with it."

 

The city has released multiple RFPs for the space in the Administrative Building over the last five or so years. This version of the RFP was designed to be flexible for an incoming restaurant, with few restrictions. Additionally, the space now included kitchen equipment donated to the city by Williams College. The lack of equipment was previously believed to be a major stumbling block for potential businesses.

 

The commission had few solutions Tuesday night. While there had been some talk at previous meetings about hosting pop-up restaurants, the idea was not mentioned. Haskins asked if it was worth sending out another RFP.

 

Commissioner Dean Bullett apprehensively asked if it was time to pivot to a different kind of business.

 

"I still want this to be a business open to the public," he said. "... but we would lease it to someone else, and then have someone who wants a restaurant come along."

 

Haskins felt the space was unique and did not understand why "something was not clicking." Bullett guessed it was because the space is still essentially an empty shell without a hood system, which represents another great expense.

 

City Grant Coordinator Thomas Peterson said the mayor was aware of this and wanted to investigate the property to see what the city is able to do in-house. A hood system may be a big ask, but he indicated that a new floor and a drop ceiling could be completed internally by city staff.

 

Stantec engineer Peter Enzien had more bad news for the commission: the city received only one bid for the proposed six-unit T-hangar project, and it came in over budget. The sole bid, from Diversified Construction, was $1,457,000. Combined with engineering, administrative, and miscellaneous costs, the total came to nearly $1.622 million. The original project estimate and budget was $1.2 million.

 

Enzien said one option was to send the $409,000 gap to the city to consider, but he admitted this was an unlikely solution. Instead, he went back to state Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to discuss other funding options. He did have some good news.

 

"The bottom line is, to put it simply, they do want to see the project completed. The FAA really was not able to come up with additional money ... they were maxing all of that, but MassDOT came to the rescue again; they are willing to fund the $409,000."

 

He said MassDOT offered to fund the project through an 80-20 split spread over FY27 and FY28. Enzien noted the city could issue a limited notice to proceed, which would allow the contractor to place their orders. The city could then execute the full notice in FY28 once it receives the second portion of the funding.

 

"This way we are guaranteed the work is going to carry into the start of fiscal year '28," he said.

 

With this new deal, the city would be on the hook for $115,000 of the project — or 7.5 percent.

 

"So it is still not a bad deal," Enzien said. "Seven and a half cents on the dollar for the entire project."

 

Peterson said the city can fund a portion of the $115,000, but the airport would have to look into its own funds to help balance the remaining amount. The other option would be to abandon the project, but that would mean leaving $159,000 in engineering fees on the table. Of that total, $90,000 has already been expended.

 

The commission felt it would be wasteful to write off the current engineering fees as a loss, especially since the sunk costs are likely more than what they would have to contribute to get the project over the finish line. They expected at least an initial $100,000 from a proposed cell tower development at the airport, but commissioners wanted more details on how the finances would work and where they could safely pull the money from, given that their books are currently balanced.

 

Both the restaurant RFP and T-hangar funding decisions were tabled until the commission has more information.

 

Speaking generally, airport user Dan Caplinger asked if there was a way to better protect the city when embarking on projects with large upfront engineering costs.

 

"I just urge you to look at that and not put yourself in a position where every time the bid comes in you already have no financial choice but to accept it," he said. "There may not be an answer, but give yourself the latitude."

 

Enzien said Stantec tries to provide the most accurate estimates possible but admitted even that faces challenges in an unpredictable economy. He added that there are always unforeseen costs in construction. He noted the real challenge lies in the very structure of the funding formula, where the FAA and MassDOT will not commit funds if a project is not totally designed.

 

This funding gap also pushed off a proposed roofing project on the city-owned Shamrock Hangar, as funds were obviously not available for an addendum. The commission is considering offloading the property or leasing a portion of it out. However, the building needs work.

 

Like the restaurant space, the commission agreed to table their decision to see how much cleanup and repair can be handled by the city.