The city of Oneonta is moving forward with its fuel tank project at the Albert S. Nader Regional Airport, which will replace existing tanks with aboveground tanks.
According to information provided to the committee, the project’s goal is to replace the underground fuel tanks at the airport with aboveground tanks and associated equipment on a concrete pad with electrical and communications connections.
The total project budget was about $889,350, and 90% was to be funded from a state Department of Transportation grant, with 10% funded by the city.
“Aboveground tanks are much preferred to underground tanks due to factors including environmental risk reduction, regulatory compliance, maintenance and inspection efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and operational flexibility,” the information stated.
It stated that previously, the city paid McFarland-Johnson $112,169 for the engineering design and $20,000 for re-design and re-bidding, and bought the tanks for $588,126 from Francis Smith & Sons, Inc.
During the Finance and Human Resources Committee meeting Thursday, Jan. 15, City Administrator Greg Mattice said that the city had received a grant for the fuel farm replacement project more than five years ago.
At this juncture, the city needs to hire a contractor for the concrete pad construction and to install the tanks and equipment, Mattice said. The proposal is to award the contract to Cent-Tech, Inc., of Colliersville, for $162,690, to buy the tank monitoring system for $9,631 and to buy the kiosk building for $14,191, according to the information provided to the committee.
The kiosk, Mattice said, which is an “enclosed, aluminum, premanufactured structure,” would house the controls and the tank monitoring system. He said the tank monitoring system would monitor leaks.
Mattice said the city would like to increase the overall project budget, by at least $17,457. According to information provided to the committee, funding would be taken from the Airport Capital Improvement Projects reserve, which has an available balance of $25,600.
“Another piece of this, that is definitely not covered by this grant at this point, is the removal of the existing tanks,” Mattice said. “That’s going to have to be a separate project.”
Don Mathisen, D-Eighth Ward, confirmed that the tanks were underground and said the removal would likely be expensive. Mattice said the grant was awarded more than five years ago now, so prices have gone up. Mathisen asked if there was a deadline for the tanks’ removal, and Mattice said once the old tanks are decommissioned, there would be about an 18-month period allotted for the removal. He said the state Department of Environmental Conservation would like them removed.
“I’m a big fan of tanks above ground because they are easy to spot problems,” said Scott Harrington, R-Sixth Ward.
Mathisen said the approval of the budget increase should be discussed by the Common Council at its next meeting, as it is a lot of money. The city is looking for council approval of the increased budget, to award the bid to Cent-Tech and to enter into a contract with Francis Smith & Sons for more equipment.