Airport Lands $45-Million TSA Grant, Jumps Into Bed With Google
In a series of pricey votes Monday night, the city council approved more than $46 million worth of contracts that clear a flight path for major overhauls at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport and puts the Queen City in business with tech titan Google.
The council approved a nearly $700,000 change-order to a construction contract with Edison Foard, Inc., for a new fire station at the airport, to include upgrades for everything – including, apparently, the kitchen sink. The change-order allows for “more durable kitchen finishes with longer warranties.”
The change-order represents more than 15 percent of the total contract price of $3.6 million for the project, which the council originally approved last July.
That drew a critical eye from Councilmember Michael Barnes, who wondered why the items covered in the change-order weren’t included in the original contract.
“It seems that of these six or seven items, a lot of this stuff could have been or should’ve been anticipated at the time,” Barnes said. “My broader concern is that people get work from us and then subsequently find some reason to up the contract by way of change order and we end up paying more money.”
Airport Director Jerry Orr said the city wouldn’t be paying for the project, which is being funded by the Air National Guard through a grant from the Department of Defense. The contract required council approval, Orr said, because the facility is being built on city-owned land. In addition to turbo-charged kitchen appliances, Orr said the change-order provides for an enhanced communications system and structure and pavement improvements for increased safety and durability, along with adding a generator for emergency power.
Orr also put the council on notice to expect yet another change-order to be added to the fire station’s contract – for a solar farm that will provide energy for the building.
“Are we going to have a chicken house out there, too?” quipped Councilmember Andy Dulin.
The new fire station is needed, Orr said, because the airport’s fire and rescue vehicles must be able to respond to the midpoint of the furthermost runway within three minutes. Without the new station, firefighters wouldn’t be able to meet that response time for the airport’s new runway.
Councilmembers approved the $698,271 change-order, with Barnes voting in dissent.
Along with a new fire station, the airport is also in line to receive a new, whiz-bang, automated in-line baggage-screening system at a cost of more than $45 million. Given the sizeable price tag, Barnes wanted to know if any other cities have had success with similar systems.
“With projects like this there seems to be a tendency to install equipment that fails or is not effective and we wind up wasting money,” Barnes said.
It would be difficult, however, to compare the new system Charlotte’s airport will be receiving to other ones because, well, it hasn’t been designed yet. But that didn’t stop the council from approving the acceptance of a $45-million grant from the Department of Homeland Security’s Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), which will pay for 90 percent of the new system’s construction costs.
Orr said that Charlotte-Douglas Airport’s current screening system, which is manual and located in the airport’s baggage area, has become outdated. Most large airports, he said, now use automated, in-line screening systems. When Charlotte’s new one is finally designed and implemented, Orr said, it will allow the TSA to perform required security tasks more quickly and with less staff.
Sticking with airport issues, the council on Monday night also approved an advertising agreement with Google, Inc, developed by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority and tied to the free WiFi service the airport provides for customers. The airport will continue to offer free WiFi services, but customers will have the option to access the Internet through either Google or another service provider.
Google will design a new portal page for WiFi access that will highlight airport services, news, and third-party advertising. The current portal page, Orr said, does not include advertising. With the new portal page, third-party advertising could be sold by either the airport and/or Google. In turn, Google will pay 15-cents per connected WiFi user, with a minimum annual guarantee of $125,000 in the agreement’s first year and up to $175,000 by the third year.
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=2125
