City awards airport fuel farm contract

Grayson Cox of KSA Engineering goes over the bids submitted for the airport fuel farm construction project at the Devine City Council meeting on August 27.

The Devine City Council awarded the construction contract for a 100 low-lead fuel farm at the Municipal Airport to Castroville’s Wayne Rogers Construction during the Special meeting held last Tuesday, August 27.
Wayne Rogers Construction’s $350,606.55 bid, which includes a $333,911 base bid and a five percent contingency, was the lowest of the two bids submitted, beating Baasco Services, Inc.’s $418,700 bid.
State law requires the selection of the lowest bid.
KSA Engineering’s Grayson Cox worked with Wayne Rogers Construction on the recent installation of a Jet A fuel farm at the Castroville Municipal Airport.
“We’re real happy with the performance in Castroville,” Cox said.
Mayor Cory Thompson asked Cox how confident he was that the City would receive a grant to help cover costs, and Cox said the project qualifies for TxDot Aviation’s Routine Airport Maintenance Program (RAMP) grant.
“The RAMP grant is an annual thing that Texas Aviation does with all of the airports in the state of Texas,” Cox said. “So this absolutely qualifies for grant funding, so I don’t expect there to be any problems whatsoever.”
The RAMP grant provides a $50,000 match per airport each fiscal year.
“The RAMP grant is a reimbursable program,” Cox explained. “So basically the City pays out whatever qualifies under RAMP, and then you send the invoices to TxDot.”
Cox said the City maxed out the RAMP grant during the 2018-2019 fiscal year on design fees for the fuel farm project.
“So the next fiscal year, which is starting in a few weeks, will be the construction side of it,” Cox said.
A motion by District 3 Councilman David Espinosa and District 2 Councilman Steve Lopez to accept the bid by Wayne Rogers Construction passed 2-1 over the objection of District 4 Councilwoman Jennifer Schott.
District 1 Councilman David Valdez was absent.
By Marly Davis
Staff Writer