VVWD Ratifies Spending On Airport Runway Project

By VERNON ROBISON

The Progress

The Virgin Valley Water District is taking advantage of a larger city project to piggy-back an important pipeline replacement project of its own into the mix. In order to do so, though, district staff has had to put the project on a fast track, obtaining board approvals of the project expenditures in a streamlined way.

At a meeting held Tuesday, July 20, the VVWD board ratified a total of $313,800 in expenses for engineering and parts on a pipeline replacement project at the Mesquite Airport that had not originally been budgeted for this year.

VVWD General Manager Kevin Brown explained in a report to the board that a Mesquite City project to replace and upgrade the runaway at the Mesquite Airport had come up sooner than originally expected.

Brown said that he had expected the project to take place next summer, in the district’s 2023 fiscal year. Expenses for a long needed VVWD project to replace a water main running under the runaway had been budgeted for next year as well.

But earlier this month, Brown learned that the runway project was moving forward with a September 7 start date, a year ahead of the VVWD expectation. That caused district staff to scramble to get everything in line to piggy-back onto this project, Brown said.

The district needed to quickly line up a firm to do engineering on the pipeline replacement. But even more time sensitive was acquiring the necessary parts for the roughly 2800 feet of pipe and all the necessary parts to build the line. The project also requires protective sleeving for the pipeline’s 400 foot span crossing beneath the runway.

Brown explained that these supplies are not easy to get quickly in the current economic environment.
“As you all know, in recent times, parts and materials have been difficult to come by on a quick basis,” Brown said to the board. “We reached out to suppliers immediately and the fastest we could get the pipe here was 8-10 weeks out. So we put that order in immediately.”

Brown said that the district had already received the pipe sleeving to go under the runway which is being stored in the VVWD yard. The pipe and other fixtures were expected by the end of August, in time for the project.

Brown added that the district had already enlisted the engineering services of Civil Science to put together the specs and design on the project. The project was expected to go out to bid for a contractor by July 28, he said. That would leave time to award a bid.

But since there had been no time to wait for the next board meeting to get approval on these things, Brown employed a seldom-used procedure allowed in VVWD policy. This permits the General Manager, in time sensitive situations, to obtain initial approval for large expenditures from the board president and vice president only.

This was done earlier this month, and the expenditures were made. At last week’s meeting these expenses were being brought to the board for ratification.

Brown explained that this project has been needed for quite some time. The exact location of the water line through that area is somewhat uncertain, though it is known that the line comes up from the Vista Del Monte area just east of the airport, from a connection point near Chaparral Drive and Gazlay Court, Brown said.

“Nobody really knows exactly how that line goes across the runway right now, and where it goes from there,” Brown said. “We have heard reports that the line may or may not go underneath the (golf course) green there. We have also been told that it goes underneath a house right here, which as you all know is not a good thing.”

Brown said that the new line would replace all of that and the old line would be abandoned.

The new line would be installed from the airport running north along the airport taxiway. It would cut east, passing beneath the runway roughly in line with Gazlay Ct.

Brown said that the district had scheduled a meeting with one of the property owners on Gazlay Ct. to see about procuring right-of-way across their yard to tie in at the end of that cul-de-sac. This would be the optimal route for the line. But other options would be considered if the right-of-way was not granted, Brown said.

Pursuing this project at this time is crucial since the water line could be installed beneath the airport runway while the asphalt surface was being replaced by the city, said Mesquite City Engineer Travis Anderson who was in the meeting. The City is utilizing FAA grant funding to complete this project.

“I definitely see the need for this and it is great to take advantage of this particular time because it would save many problems down the road,” Anderson said.

But Anderson did have concerns about all of the logistical timing of the project falling into place. Since the airport has to be closed to all but Mercy Air helicopter traffic, any delays on the project would cost the City considerable amounts of revenue, he said.

“I’m worried about having two contractors on the job site at one time,” Anderson said. “Because in our contract we have $3,000 in liquidated damages which means every day that the contractor runs over the 90 day construction period, they have to pay us $3,000.”

Anderson said he was concerned about having two contractors on site who, if the project ran late, would point fingers at one another and blame the other for the delays.

Anderson emphasized that the most sensitive aspect of the project would be to install the pipe casing beneath the runway during the short window of opportunity after the runway had been roto-milled and before the new asphalt is installed.

“I’ve got this on such a tight timeframe,” Anderson said. “So if we can at least get that casing in there at the right timing, then they can push that pipe through later on and make all the connections. That would probably be the ideal situation.”

Anderson suggested that he be given the chance to review the engineering plans for the VVWD project, once they are completed, to ensure that they coincide well with the City’s project and its timing.

VVWD Board member Rich Bowler asked why the district couldn’t just budget for the work to be done and have it added to the City’s project via bid or change order. The district had made similar arrangements with the city in the past, Bowler said.

“It is a bit more difficult because this project is being done with FFA funding,” Anderson responded. “So if I put a change order to the contract, they will have to augment that grant up from there which is going to add time to the project.”

Bowler made a motion to ratify expenses of $53,800 for engineering services on the project, and $260,000 for the purchase of pipe materials. The motion was approved with a unanimous vote.