Council approves airport, infrastructure contracts and four alcohol licenses

At its May 28 meeting Savannah City Council approved a package of procurement and purchasing actions and granted four alcohol licenses after a public hearing.

Council approved a set of airport and infrastructure contracts and change orders read into the record by the clerk: a contract for Runway One localizer with Aviation Construction and Electric in the amount of $1,960,000; a change order of $358,958 for a terminal expansion project; structural waterproofing and restoration for parking structure maintenance for $620,000; a payment to a conference vendor for the 2026 SECA annual conference (amount recorded in the minutes); participation in a $300,000 Visit Savannah Co‑op digital advertising campaign; and multiple air cargo apron reconstruction and taxi lane widening contracts and QA testing authorizations (amounts read on the record). One item (item 25) carried a recusal.

In a separate purchasing block, council authorized a facility master plan contract (not to exceed $250,000), sludge pond dredging and Wilshire pond work (not to exceed $800,000), a SCADA annual maintenance agreement with Emerson Process Management (amount read), tennis court reconstruction at Forsyth Park (contract not to exceed $363,810) and a $400,000 contract for interior upgrades and roof replacement at the Woodville Community Center. Alderwoman Alicia Miller Blakeley emphasized the Woodville funding as a significant upgrade for that neighborhood.

During a public hearing, council considered four alcohol license applications (a class B distillery license for Zimi/Ziami Distillery at 224 Bourne Boulevard; class E package beer/wine licenses for Unique Food and Pharmacy at 634 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and for AVF Farms at 802 Montgomery Street; and a class C liquor, beer and wine by the drink license with Sunday sales for Lester's restaurant at 18 East Oglethorpe Avenue). No objections were offered during the hearing and the council closed the hearing and approved each license by voice vote.

Next steps: Contracts will be executed per standard procurement procedures; the city manager and purchasing staff will proceed to finalize the awarded work orders and notice to successful vendors.