Finance committee advances three Bangor airport procurement items to next week's agenda

Councilor Dean, chair of the finance committee, on July 6 moved three airport procurement items forward for formal action at the next meeting after staff outlined bids and funding plans.

Finance Director Stephanie Kimble told the committee the building 700 HVAC replacement (the unit is in a building leased by Nile Water Heating Systems) was advertised through the city’s "Notify Me" system to 62 subscribers and produced one bid from AAA Energy Service Company for $26,057. Kimble said the FY26 budget included $160,000 for the work and staff proposed reallocating capital-project savings from canceled or altered projects to cover the difference.

"This was put out through the Notify Me system on the website, which notifies 62 people, and we received one bid," Kimble said, explaining procurement outreach and the single-bid result. Scott Newart, manager of infrastructure and facilities at BGR, cautioned that market prices have risen since the budget was set: "I would say right now the 206 would probably be market average," he said, as transcribed.

On a second airport item, staff described a three-year contract for fire suppression, alarm systems and monitoring that would cover roughly 20 airfield buildings. The transcript records three bids and identifies the lowest bid as coming from Seaman's Industry with an amount transcribed as "156,51"; the dollar figure is not fully specified in the record. Kimble said monitoring will apply to the city-operated airfield buildings and leased properties (terminals that are staffed 24/7 are excluded from remote monitoring). She said some monitoring costs will be passed through to leaseholders under existing lease terms.

The committee also heard a proposal for preventive and emergency maintenance of passenger boarding bridges and baggage-handling systems. Staff said the request for proposals produced one bid from Vanderland Industries Inc., which has an office in Portland, Maine and a prior history of work with the city; funding for the contract is in the FY27 operating budget.

Committee members asked clarifying questions about which properties would be covered, cost-sharing with tenants on leased buildings, and the single-bid outcomes. In each case the committee made a motion and second to place the items on next week’s agenda for final consideration.

The committee did not record final votes or approvals for the items during the July 6 meeting; each item was forwarded to the next meeting for formal action.