BEATRICE – Beatrice elected leaders have approved a resolution on a contractor agreement for a new T-Hangar, approach and upgraded taxi-lanes at Beatrice Municipal Airport.


The agreement with Vogts Parga Construction LLC was approved by the Beatrice City Council, Monday night. The engineering estimate for the work is roughly $3 million, and City Administrator Tobias Tempelmeyer said four bids were submitted.


"The low bid was Lottman...however, because it is a federal grant, there are some federal requirements that need to be met and one of them is a disadvantaged business enterprise. You have to have a certain percentage of D-B-E contractors that you use, or you say you will try to utiliize as part of your project. Lottman did not provide that paperwork back, as part of their bid....and so that's why they're being deemed as non-responsive. The next low bid was Vogts Parga at $2.4 million."


Vogts Parga is the same company selected to rebuild the airport taxiway and fueling project, scheduled to begin soon. The hangar project is being funded largely through a congressional appropriation, with the city’s share of the cost around $100,000.


"When you add on engineering fees of roughly a half-million dollars, you get to about $2.75 million for the project."


Elected officials also approved agreements for aeronautical services and crop-spraying services at the airport with Heinen Brothers Agra Serivce, Inc., involving a lease of facilities at the airport.