Committee approves airport lease terminations, foreign currency concession and amends baggage‑system contract

Airport staff presented four items to the Budget and Finance Committee on Oct. 4. Kathy Wagner (San Francisco International Airport) said Express Spa and B Relax requested early lease terminations; staff recommended accepting those terminations for termination fees ($145,000 for Express Spa; approximately $125,000 balance for B Relax). The airport indicated concession staff believe the spaces can be re‑released quickly through competitive solicitation.

The committee also considered a lease to award foreign currency exchange services to Lendlin Limited (doing business as ICE Currency Services USA) with a four‑year term, two one‑year options and a minimum annual guarantee of $1,000,000; the BLA recommended approval. Item 10 proposed Modification No. 2 to the Boomer Lifecycle Management LLC contract for operation and maintenance of the Harvey Milk Terminal 1 baggage handling system, increasing the not‑to‑exceed amount from $21,000,000 to $38,000,000 and extending the term through June 30, 2025. The BLA recommended reducing the NTE by $3,000,000 due to prior underspending; Chair Chan moved to amend item 10 to reduce the NTE to $35,000,000; the amendment passed on roll call (3–0). The committee then forwarded items 7–10 as amended to the full Board with a positive recommendation (3–0).

Budget analysts raised procurement and sole‑source issues around proprietary software embedded in the baggage handling system, noting the city may be effectively locked into the vendor for the system’s useful life and recommending longer‑term procurement policy review.