Taxiway maintenance bid approved

A low bid of $94,546.50 from Fahrner Asphalt Sealers, LLC to complete maintenance work to the parallel taxiway at Blosser Municipal Airport was approved by the Concordia city commission during its regular meeting on Wednesday.
The taxiway is being created from Runway 17/25 as part of the construction of the new Runway 18/36 at the airport. The pavement was milled and overlayed in the fall of 2016.
The maintenance work to be completed by Fahrner Asphalt Sealers, Plover, Wis., will include sealing the taxiway pavement surface and the joints.
The project may be performed simultaneously with the Runway 18/36 project, depending on the contractor’s schedule and coordination. Alternatively, the maintenance work will be performed after the runway project is completed. It must start after July 1 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2021.
A work authorization with Alfred Benesch and Company, which initiated design work for the taxiway sealing project, was approved by the city commission last December.
Alfred Benesch and Company coordinated the bid letting.
Two bids were submitted for the project.
The bid from Fahrner Asphalt Sealers was the low bid by more than $20,000.
The engineer’s opinion of probable cost for the project was $131,078.
Brad Waller, Alfred Benesch and Company, met with the commission via Zoom on Wednesday.
“I have gotten letters of recommendation from them (Fahrner Asphalt Sealers), I have talked to other engineers that have worked with them and I have no concerns that they can do the work. This is pretty much all that they do is this type of seal coat and crack seal work,” Waller said.
The maintenance project was identified on the Federal Aviation Administration Airports Capital Improvement Plan (ACIP) for fiscal year 2021 and on the city’s capital improvement plan.
The ACIP program will fund 90 percent of the project with a local match of 10 percent being funded through the city’s capital improvement program.
In other action taken during the meeting, the commission approved the purchase of 100 training spots with Lifeguard-Pro for $5,999 to be paid for from the general fund.
Information presented to the board from City Clerk Stacey Smith stated that finding lifeguard training has been somewhat of a chore.
For the past three or four years the city has hired someone to come from Kensington to train the lifeguards that work at the swimming pool. The cost is $225 per student, which has been paid for by the city.
Concordia Fire Chief Eric Voss volunteered to become a trainer and he is familiar with Lifeguard-Pro because it is a sister company to Scuba Diving International where he teaches dive classes.
By purchasing 100 spots for the training, the city will save money.
The cost per student will be $59.99.
Lifeguard-Pro requires annual certification, and returning lifeguards will go through the training along with the new lifeguards.
It is estimated that the city will use the 100 spots within three years.
The first meeting with the pool employees is April 26.
The commission also approved entering into a contract with Image Trend for fire/EMS and building permit software at a cost of $9,720 to be paid from the fire equipment fund.
Firehouse software is currently used by the city.
Voss reported to the commission that the Fire Department has been having major issues with reporting to the state and with technical support with Firehouse and would like to move to the new state system and come on board with Elite Rescue. That would allow the use of an iPad in the field and help make completing reports and inspections easier.
City manager Amy Lange and Public Works director Ron Copple reported to the commission on the citywide clean-up talking place this week.
A reminder was issued that the city will not be picking up construction debris and household trash.
Residents are responsible for removing items remaining at the curb. Items not removed in a timely manner will be treated as a nuisance.