The Chadron City Council has awarded Fuller Construction of Chadron a $1.435-million dollar contract to build a new wildlife fence at the Chadron airport.
The FAA is picking up 95% of the cost with the city’s share only about $89,000.
Fuller’s bid was more than $360,000 less than the only other bidder, Paul Reed Construction of Gering, and just over a half-percent higher than the engineer’s estimate.
The new fence will be 8-feet tall topped by another 2-feet of barbed wire. It’s needed to keep wildlife, primarily deer, off the runway where they pose a major safety hazard to planes on landing or takeoff.
Fuller wasn’t as fortunate with its bid for a second contract awarded by the council on Monday night as Buettner Construction of Hay Springs was the low bidder for the Niobrara Avenue Water Main Construction Loop.
Buettner came in at just over $147,000 or about 2% over the engineer’s estimate while Fuller was 27% over at $185,000.
The project in Kenwood includes tying dead-end mains together to improve pressure and reduce a variety of issues. It also replaces about 2 blocks of existing 4” mains with 8” pipe.