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Airport project to start soon
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Groundbreaking for the new terminal at the Monroe Municial Airport is expected to start in about three weeks. The 1,660-sq. ft. terminal will replace the current 875-sq.ft. terminal, the brown building at the top of the above photo, which was built in 1972. (Times file photo: Anthony Wahl)
MONROE - It's late in the season, but construction of a new $1 million airport terminal at the Monroe Municipal Airport will get started yet this month. The move into the new facility is expected in January or February.

General contractor Gary Gilbank from Gilbank Construction, of Clinton, said he expects digging the foundation for the new terminal to start in about three weeks. The 1,660-sq. ft. terminal has a 950-sq. ft. basement.

The new terminal will replace the current 875-sq.ft. terminal, which was built in 1972 on a concrete slab. A 64-sq. ft. electric vault will also be removed. Mechanical and electrical equipment will be housed in the new basement.

The old terminal will remain in operation until all equipment - lines to the weather station, a GPS monument and Internet connectivity - is switched over to the new facility.

"Our main concern is that everything stays working until the end," said Maryjean Hoppe, project manager from Becher Hoppe of Wausau, the state-selected consulting engineering firm for the project.

Hoppe, Gilbank and Mike Gabor, an airport engineering specialist with the Wisconsin Bureau of Aeronautics, held a preconstruction meeting Monday, Aug. 19, at the airport.

Owners of sub-contracted companies, Gentz Electric, Monroe Heating and Sheet Metal, E&N Hughes Construction and Monroe Plumbing, all of Monroe, attended the meeting. Architect Rob Wheat of Senektekts, designer of the terminal, also attended. Voegeli Landscaping, whose work will begin near the end of the project, is also subcontracted.

Becher Hoppe is responsible for ensuring the progress and the quality of the contractor's work, and functions as a liaison between the contractor and the airport owner.

During the meeting, Hoppe discussed airport operations; security and safety practices; federal requirements, including federal wage rates and equal employment opportunities; work schedules; and construction phasing.

Gilbank said, while move-in is expected in the winter, pouring sidewalk concrete and seeding will have to wait until spring.

The contract is to be substantially fulfilled in 180 days, but Gabor noted the time was intended for a normal construction season.

"Winter conditions can put you in a bind," he said. "We can be flexible."

Rob Driver, manager of the airport, expects to be documenting the daily progress of the build, taking pictures for the city and possibly for Becher Hoppe.



Federal, state and local resources

Federal funding will cover about 93 percent of the total cost for the Monroe terminal project, or about $949,000.

This is an averaged rate based on the Monroe airport's accumulated $750,000 from five previous years of unused FAA entitlements funds. The federal share of eligible general aviation entitlement projects is 95 percent for funds granted before 2012 and 90 percent for funds granted 2012 or later.

The state and the airport owner usually divide equally the remainder of eligible project costs. The state and the city airport contribute $33,725 each to the Monroe terminal project.

Gabor announced in July that $198,000 in additional federal funding will come from Boyceville, which agreed to lend its expiring federal funds for the project. Unused annual funds expire after five years.

The state contracted with Gilbank Construction Inc. to build the terminal for $864,500. Design, inspections, administration costs and contingency set-aside total an additional $152,000.

The terminal is being built under the Airport Improvement Program. The program combines federal, state and local resources to help fund improvements to more than 100 public-use airports throughout the state, primarily owned by counties, cities, towns and villages.

Funds for the federal AIP are drawn from the Airport and Airway Trust fund, which is supported by taxes on aviation fuel. The Airport and Airway Trust Fund also receives revenue through taxes on domestic airline ticket sales, ticket sales for passengers traveling overseas, and air freight shipments.

The state aeronautics bureau, which manages the FFA entitlements to Wisconsin airports, determines which airport projects will be undertaken each year. Eligible improvements include runway construction and reconstruction, land acquisition, navigational aids and lighting.