AIRPORT: PROBLEM WITH TERMINAL WORK CONTRACT RECTIFIED

Three months behind schedule, the city at last is poised to embark upon an improvement project that officials hope will spawn broader use of the Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport.

City officials last year approved a plan to renovate the airport terminal building, and the construction contract was bid early this year.

But the Federal Aviation Administration refused to accept a contract, rejecting the low bidder and threatening the same action against the number two bidder unless that contractor was able to comply with a federal program that sets a quota for the percentage of minority subcontractors participating in the project.

Now, Public Works Director Doug Leslie said the impasse apparently is over.

He said the contractor, R.A. Schemel and Associates, last week was able to demonstrate its compliance with the conditions of the Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) program, and received FAA approval.

"At this time it looks, hopefully, like the project will be started sometime around the second week of June," Leslie said. "There is some asbestos abatement to take care of first.

"(But) we've gotten repeated verbal approvals and apparently the written approval is in the mail."

Although the construction project is three months behind schedule, Leslie said he doesn't anticipate further delays. Schemel will have 270 days to complete the work, and weather isn't expected to be a factor.

"Parts of the work are exterior the roof and exterior wall surfaces but the weather shouldn't be a factor," Leslie said. "There are really no indications of any further delays.

"The contractor's eager to start, and the work should be completed as quickly as possible. We don't foresee any delays."

A "pre-construction" meeting was held Friday, and included officials representing the contractor, the city, the FAA and the project's architect, Leslie said.

He said federal and local funding is in place, and, as soon as the additional asbestos work is completed, the project will start.

That should come as welcome news to terminal building tenants who, since February, have operated out of two mobile construction trailers in the terminal's parking lot.

"We believe it's finally moving, and we're just really appreciative of the patience of the tenants there," Leslie said. "We want this to move as quickly as possible for their sake."

City Manager J. Ronald Fischer said Schemel also is the contractor for some of the asbestos work, which will enhance the project's coordination.

"That's going to really be a kind of plus," he said. "Some of the asbestos removal has to be done with the demolition work, so it will be a little simpler having the same contractor to do all that."

When finished, the renovated terminal building might serve a new commercial airline for the airport.

Last September Trans World Express notified the U.S. Department of Transportation that unless its operations were subsidized they would pull out of the Cape Girardeau airport. TWE currently is the airport's sole commercial carrier.

Cape Girardeau qualifies for the DOT's Essential Air Service program, which means an airline must service the airport. By filing notification that it would end service, TWE can qualify for a federal subsidy to provide that service.

The filing also opened the door for the FAA and the city to seek other airlines that might be interested in serving the city.

Lone Star, an airline based in Fort Worth, Texas, and TWE were the only companies to bid on air service here, Leslie said.

Leslie said the city staff next week will present to the city council a proposal on the city's options for air service. He said Lone Star's bid includes air service to and from St. Louis and Memphis, Tenn.

City officials and members of the city's Airport Advisory Board have said securing additional air carrier service is the airport's top priority.

Many of them have pointed to poor service by TWE as one reason boardings at the airport have declined steadily in the past few years. Last year boardings dipped below the 10,000 needed to secure $300,000 in annual FAA entitlements.

Leslie said he hoped the new terminal would add to an airport environment that fosters increased use.

"The facility should be a really nice, very usable facility that will last us for years to come," he said. "It's basically a reconstruction of the building, and I feel the final project will be very useful and very attractive.

"It will provide a real good front door for the community and the air travelers."

The FAA will pay about $400,000 for the $1 million renovation project. The city will fund the balance.