Joplin council approves design contract for airport project
Aug. 17—City officials are to commission a plan from an engineering firm to remodel part of the Joplin Regional Airport terminal to increase space for waiting passengers and to do security checks.
Bart Starkey, the city's new airport director, obtained council authorization Monday night to contract the engineering firm of Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc. for the project. That firm will develop a master plan for the project. The cost of the engineering work is $512,000, which will mostly be paid by a federal grant.
The plan will involve making determinations on what changes are needed to expand holding rooms for passengers and security spaces to process passengers.
An assessment for remodeling parts of the terminal is needed because the larger aircraft being used at the airport has created crowding in the passenger areas, the council was told.
A federal grant will pay $486,400 of the cost. The city's share of $25,600 is to be paid from the city's capital improvements sales tax.
The engineering firm was chosen through the process of issuing a request for qualifications.
In other business at the meeting, the council approved the purchase of three new transit buses for Joplin's MAPS and Sunshine Lamp Trolley public transportation services.
City officials sought bids in May for two MAPS vehicles with disability lifts and one green vehicle with a disability lift for the trolley service. Three bids were submitted. The lowest priced bid was submitted by Midwest Transit Inc. in the amount of $124,616 per MAPS vehicle and $128,782 for the trolley vehicle. Total contract price is $378,014.
The Federal Transit Administration will reimburse the city 85% of the cost, or $321,312, to purchase the vehicles. The remainder of the cost, $56,702, will be paid with revenue from the city's transportation sales tax.
The council also:
—Authorized a change order on a contract with Rosetta Construction Co. on an East Seventh Street sewer extension project. The change will cost $116,796. Interim public works director Dan Johnson said the change order is necessary to reroute a sewer main pipe in the area of 1027 S. Byers, which collapsed. The main is located between two old water mains, and repair of the existing sewer main location could have created problems with the water lines. The change order will allow the deteriorated sewer line to be replaced and a new line rerouted across property owned by Boyd Metals in the area of the collapse.
—Approved the sale of land parcels at 1101 E. 20th St. to Ledford Construction Co. for $15,000; 1201 E. 20th St. for $12,000; and 1405 to 1419 E. 20th St. for $52,000. The properties were put out for bid in July and there were three bids received, with Ledford's being the highest.
