Agenda Item Wording:
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Accept Federal Grant Funds for New Airfield Sweeper - Authorize the conditional acceptance of a Federal Aviation Administration grant in the amount of $385,999 for the acquisition of a new airfield sweeper, and appropriate additional funds of $162,032 to increase the capital budget to $430,688.
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Deadline for Action: None
Submitting Department: Administration - Airport
Contact Name and Phone Number:
Jody Miller, Airport Manager, 713-4282, Jody.Miller@visalia.city <mailto:Jody.Miller@visalia.city>, John Lollis, Assistant City Manager, 713-4323, John.Lollis@visalia.city
Department Recommendation:
Staff recommends that the City Council authorize staff to accept a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) grant in the amount $385,999, and appropriate additional funds of $162,032, to increase the project’s capital budget to $430,688 to fund the acquisition of a new airfield sweeper on the conditional basis of the grant being as outlined in this report once the official offer is received by the FAA. Staff is preemptively bringing this to Council as the FAA now requires all grant offers be officially accepted within two (2) weeks of its offer.
Background Discussion:
An up-to-date and fully-functional airfield sweeper is critical to maintaining safe and orderly flight operations, as it is the main tool used to remove debris that can be dangerous to flight operations. Visalia Municipal Airport’s current sweeper is more than twenty (20) years old, and between increasing maintenance costs and outdated technology, it is no longer feasible to rely on it to function as necessary and required.
Airport Division staff in conjunction with Brandley Engineering and the City’s Purchasing Department have recently completed a Request for Bids (RFB) process to begin the procurement of its replacement. This replacement was in the Council’s approved Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Capital Budget which $268,656 was rolled over to this current year, thus needing the appropriation of $162,032 of additional funds to increase the capital budget.
Airport staff has not received the official FAA Grant offer yet; so any authorization given to accept the grant is contingent upon the grant being for the amount and terms given in this report, which if there are any discrepancies, airport staff will return to Council to consider the changes. The reason for getting pre-approval is that the FAA now requires a less than two-week turnaround from when a grant is offered and when it is accepted. With this expedited timeline, Airport Division staff would not have time to wait for the official grant offer, submit to Council for approval and transmit the acceptance letter within the limited time allotted.
Airport Division staff will return to Council after formally accepting the grant to award the project to the selected bidder from the completed RFB process and officially award the project to the City-contracted engineering consultants Brandley Engineering.
In the included attachments, the first attachment has a cost breakdown for the project including all associated engineering and other ancillary costs, and the second attachment has a further detailed breakdown of the engineering costs. Additionally, as per FAA regulations, all project costs have been subject to an Independent Fee Estimate to verify their validity.
Fiscal Impact:
Visalia Municipal Airport would receive $385,999 in FAA grant funds to put towards the upcoming airfield sweeper acquisition. Total project cost will be $430,688, the remaining $44,689 in project cost will be split between $20,057 in State of California participation, and $24,632 from local Airport Funds.
The State of California funds will be given through a separate grant application process that is already guaranteed but will only become official once the FAA grant is officially accepted.
Prior Council Action:
N/A
Alternatives: City Council not authorize the acceptance of the federal grant and airport staff would explore other avenues to fund the proposed airfield sweeper acquisition.
Recommended Motion (and Alternative Motions if expected):
recommendation
I move to authorize the City Manager to conditionally accept a federal grant in the amount of $385,999 for the acquisition of a new airfield sweeper, and appropriate additional funds of $160,688 to increase the Capital budget to $430,688
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Environmental Assessment Status: NA.
CEQA Review: N/A
Attachments:
1. Acquisition Costs Based on Bids
2. Engineering Scope of Work
3. Updated FAA Grant Application
4. Original FAA Grant Application
5. Bid Form - GCS Environmental Equipment Services, Inc.