Port seeks engineer for Colfax air center

The Port of Whitman County has put out a request for statements of qualifications related to consulting and engineering service for the Port of Whitman Business Air Center on Airport Road in Colfax.

Debbie Snell, Port properties and development manager, said the Port currently has a contract with Riedesel out of Lewiston for these services.

“Every five years we need to re-advertise for engineering services at the airport,” she explained. “It’s an FAA requirement.”

The statements will relate to consulting, engineering, design and construction observation services. Snell said some of the specific duties for the engineering firm awarded the contract will be to conduct environmental analyses, construction supervision, assisting the Port with meeting federal and state regulations, grant applications for Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding and project design.

The statements will be reviewed for the POWBAC advisory committee, headed by Port Commissioner John Love.

“Once we get all of the credentials in, I will disseminate the credentials to the entire committee,” said Snell. “They will be ranked, and probably the top four will be interviewed. It’s quite the process.”

According to a legal publication announcing the request for statements of qualification, the selection will be based on the evaluation of the experience and qualifications of the firms that submit statements and personal interviews and/or telephone interviews with the committee.

Snell said there are no major projects happening at the airport at this time. The large runway reconstruction project was completed in 2015.

“The runway was the last hurrah, the big one,” she said.

There are things that need to be addressed, however.

“We do have some drainage issues, and those need to be taken care of,” said Snell.

Other projects during the five-year span will be access and maintaining the runway asphalt.

“We’ll have to do slurry seal and a repaint job on the runway asphalt. And all the FAA-funded asphalts will be re-sealed at the same time, even though they were done at different times. We scheduled them to be done at the same time.”

More minor projects include the installation of a ground-based folding beacon, signs, perimeter fencing and a potential weather station, although it is not a priority, Snell said.

A ground-based folding beacon would be to replace the beacon that is atop a building. That beacon, she said, is difficult to maintain because changing the light bulb requires climbing up the building.

“There may be some security or fencing issues we need to complete,” she said.

The improvements are part of a capital improvement project plan that the engineering firm will oversee, and that is submitted annually to the FAA and the state Department of Transportation.

The engineering firm selection criteria, as detailed by the FAA Advisory Circular, includes recent airport experience and knowledge of projects similar to those described; interest shown; ability to meet schedules; ability to keep work within a budget; qualifications of project manager and technical staff assigned to the project and references.

A more detailed description of the work is available through Snell at the port office.

The statements are due by 4 p.m. next Friday, Sept. 15.