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Charlotte Amalie
Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Contract Awards Advance VIPA Airport Projects

After receiving more than $10 million in discretionary funds from the Federal Aviation Administration in early October, V.I. Port Authority board members on Friday approved several contracts that would push ahead airport improvement projects they said would use up a good chunk of the money.

Approximately $7.3 million in FAA grant money was allocated during Friday’s board meeting on St. Thomas, including $6.4 million for a Taxiway B repair project at the Cyril E. King Airport on St. Thomas. VIPA Executive Director Carlton Dowe has spoken about the state of the taxiway for months, and has said that concerns about debris on the runway have become an issue for pilots.

The $6.4 million contract was given to Island Roads and Virgin Islands Paving Inc., which will work together to complete the project. Board members had concerns Friday about moving ahead with a joint bid between two large paving companies, but VIPA officials said only one other business, a company out of Puerto Rico, had submitted a quote.

A contract of $328,300 was also awarded to URS Caribe, LLP to manage the Taxiway B project.

In recent meetings, Dowe has also spoken at length about the importance of having the agency maintain its relationship with the FAA, since the authority is already moving forward with some of the projects covered by the discretionary funds. Along with the Taxiway B improvements, the $10.5 million grant will fund a runway rehabilitation, the sealing/remarking of the midsection of the taxiway at St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport and the re-circuiting and installation of new runway edge lighting and an upgrade to the terminal security access control system at Cyril E. King.

The VIPA board awarded a contract of approximately $939,556 to AT Construction for light repairs at Cyril E. King, along with another $59,661 to URS Caribe, LLP to manage the project.

The board also approved $274,024 to American Infrastructure Development for construction administration services for Rohlsen taxiway rehabilitation project, and $253,522 to URS Caribe, LLP to manage the new security access control system at Cyril E. King. 

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