Manhattan City Commission Meeting: Taxiway Reconstruction and Ramp Improvement Grants Approved on September 1, 2026
Manhattan City Commission Meeting - September 1, 2026
The commission considered two major infrastructure projects: the Taxiway Alpha Reconstruction at Manhattan Regional Airport and the K-18/K-177 ramps pavement reconstruction project. Both items were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
Taxiway Alpha Reconstruction Project Brandon, airport staff, presented the project timeline and funding. The project was expedited: 30% design completed in February 2026, 90% in March, 100% in April. Bid advertisement on April 21, bid opening May 19, with four bids received. Clarkson Construction was the lowest bidder. The grant application was submitted before June 1, 2026. The total project cost is $14,882,460 from the FAA, plus task order six with Olson Inc. for $1,474,700, and a construction contract with Clarkson for $12,927,628.50. The local share will be funded through Passenger Facility Charges (PFCs) collected at $4.50 per enplaned passenger, generating approximately $350,000 annually. The debt is expected to be paid off in 2.5 years. The commission approved a resolution (090126A) authorizing project financing and repealing resolution 111825B. Motion passed 5-0.
K-18/K-177 Ramps Pavement Reconstruction Project Brian Johnson, Director of Public Works/City Engineer, presented the grant from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) under the Connecting Link Improvement Program. The grant provides 80% federal/state funding, with a city share of approximately $300,000. The ramps, built in the early 1980s, carry 5,000 vehicles per day, 10% heavy truck traffic. Improvements include adding curb and gutter, storm sewer, potential dual left/right turn lanes, signal modifications, and landscaping. Construction is planned for late 2027/early 2028, with phased closures from February to August 2028. The commission approved accepting the grant and authorizing the mayor to sign the project programming request. Motion passed 5-0.
Key Outcomes
- Approved acceptance of FAA grant and contracts for Taxiway Alpha Reconstruction (5-0).
- Approved acceptance of KDOT C-CLIP grant for K-18/K-177 ramps project (5-0).
- Both projects will move forward with design and construction as outlined.
No public comments were made on either agenda item. The meeting adjourned after the votes.
Meeting Transcript
Diving into the schedule, just a real quick overview. November 18th. Again, we had to expedite design, came to the commission. Commission gave us approval to move forward with design. 30% of design was completed in February, 90% in March. You can see how quickly we jumped through that. 100% was in April. We did a bid advertisement April 21st. We held a bid opening on May 19th. We had four bids for this project. Clarkson construction was the lowest bid, so it was a very competitive bid project. And we submitted the grant application within a few days before June 1st. And so now tonight, what I'm seeking is once we receive those grants from the FAA to allow the mayor to sign them, accept them, and then sign the task order six and the uh construction contract with Clarkson. If approved, construction will start in March of 27 and be finished in November of 2027. And again, no flight impacts. That's the big piece. Questions? Brandon, can you explain again how the uh ticket are fees go to pay for this 783,000? Sure. So we have a program that's called passenger facility charge, PFC. That was enacted by Congress uh about 21 years ago. Uh they set the rate at $4.50. So commercial service airports like us can seek an application with the FAA to collect PFCs. PSCs at $4.50 is for every passenger that boards a flight out of Manhattan, also known as an appointment. Last year we brought in roughly $356,000, $350,000 in PSC collections. And so my intent for eligible FAA projects like this, the local share can be rolled into a PSC to help pay for that. It also covers the debt, or I mean also covers the interest on the bond on any of these eligible projects. This project is completely eligible for that. I have full intentions of once this project is completed and we know the debt or the financing amount is to submit an application to the FAA to collect PSCs to reimburse us for this project. That application also takes the commission's approval. The last one we did was in January of 2025. Commission has to approve it, and then I submit it, and the FA awards it. So roughly when it's all said and done, um, at our current existing rate, we would be able to pay that debt off in two and a half years. So you're confident that they're gonna cover they'll allow the PF passenger facility charges to cover the entire amount. Absolutely. Yep. Because this whole entire project is eligible. There is no uneligible portion tied to this tax way project. I just had a general kind of a general question from the public. Um just could you describe how the how the airport's funded in general? Like is it the city funds, city general fund apply to the airport? Yeah, absolutely. So the general fund um covers about roughly two million dollars to operate the city or to operate the airport. Um, our revenues that we bring in that go into the general fund are about 900,000 a year. Um, on the bond and interest side, we have roughly close to 600,000 coming in from parking that's paying towards that. Um PFCs, obviously, another one. So, yeah. Does that answer your question? So, yeah, so it was about two million coming from the city, but we're getting about 900,000 back, so it's about one. Into the general fund.
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