By JOHN EBY

Dowagiac Daily News

Dowagiac City Council Monday night awarded an $85,889.68 contract to Kalin Construction and a $14,000 contract to URS Corp. for the Municipal Airport drainage project.

Several months ago the council authorized engineering for resolving drainage concerns that have existed at the airport for a number of years.

“The project calls for installing underdrains under main runway 9/27 to reduce hydrostatic pressure in order to extend the usable life of the runway,” City Manager Kevin Anderson reported.

Primary funding for this project are state and federal funds.

Total cost of this project will be $121,900, for which the city is responsible for 2.5 percent, or $3,047.50.

Six bids were received for this project.

Apparent low bidders are Kalin, of Sodus, for the construction portion, and URS, of Grand Rapids, for supervision and engineering.

Airport Director Gary Carlile said the contract has been reviewed and approved by the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics.

“This project is part of the airport five-year plan for improvements and is designed to reduce hydrostatic pressure under the main runway in order to extend the usable life of the runway,” according to Carlile.

“URS Corp. of Grand Rapids developed the plans and specifications for the project under a prior contract approved this past spring at a total cost of $22,000.”

The entire project will be paid for through a $157,900 grant from the Michigan Bureau of Aeronautics through the Federal Aviation Administrations Airport Improvement Program.

Carlile said any funds remaining in excess of this project cost will remain available to Dowagiac for other projects outlined in the airport five-year plan.

The project is expected to start yet in September, though no specific date had been established as of Friday.