The Carlton County Board of Commissioners awarded a $2.2 million contract to build the new fixed-base operator hangar at the Cloquet Carlton County Airport during its meeting Monday, June 28.
The bid was awarded to Maertens-Brenny Construction Co. in Minneapolis after it submitted the lowest bid for the project, according to county engineer JinYeene Neumann.
The project was initially estimated to cost approximately $1.3 million, with $1.1 million funded by a U.S. Economic Development Administration grant. When bid estimates came back at more than $2.2 million because of the high cost of building materials, Neumann said airport manager Quentin Anderson and highway accountant Carla McCullough looked into other funding sources.
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“Quentin and Carla did some fast talking with MnDOT Aeronautics and they anteed up another $1 million worth,” Neumann said. “So 50% of (the project) would be covered by the EDA grant, 46.1% would be covered by MnDOT Aeronautics and the county would be responsible for $67,000.”
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Commissioner Gary Peterson asked if any local companies submitted bids.
“We reached out to Boldt and McGough; we reached out to a whole bunch of other construction companies, but none of them could bid on it,” Neumann said.
Several companies were busy and others couldn’t bid on a project that is unlikely to begin construction until next year, she said.
Construction on the hangar is expected to begin in Spring 2022.
