Going with the low bidders wasn’t an option for the City of Plainwell this past week on an airport paving project.
After six firms returned bids for a repaving project at the Plainwell Municipal Airport, two had said the job would cost $25,950.
Wyoming Asphalt and Lakeland Asphalt were the two identical bidders for the work to replace all the approaches to the runway and the taxiways as the airport.
“That’s never happened,” city manager Erik Wilson said. “We checked around and no one else remembered having it happen. Our attorney’s never had it happen.”
The city council did have to make a decision, however.
“We tried to look for guidance online,” Wilson said. “Federal contracts will draw lots, but this isn’t a federal contract.
“The city chose to go with Wyoming because they have a Plainwell zip code. Not in the city, but they’re more local and Lakeland is in Battle Creek.
“Both are great, but we needed to find a reason to chose.”
The taxiways and approaches at the airport were starting to show cracks, Wilson said. The paving will be funded by the airports revenues from fuel sales, hanger fees and rental income from a billboard on airport property along US-131.
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