The Crookston Airport Commission held interviews with two perspective engineer firms Thursday morning for the master planning process. The commission is recommending SEH (St. Paul) to the City Council. The other interview was a partnership between Widseth-Smith-Nolting (WSN) and TKDA (St. Paul).
Both firms have prior experience working with the City of Crookston. WSN partners with the city on many of their projects and City Administrator Shannon Stassen said SEH was involved in the building the levee system. Commission Chairman Fred Parnow said both presentations were thorough, and the commission feels they have made the best recommendation for the community. “We had the opportunity to listen and participate with two engineering firms that put in their bid for the Crookston Airport,” said Parnow. “Both companies were very professional and thorough in their presentations. We had a lot of discussion about the future of the airport and what can be offered out there. After the two presentations were made, we made a decision that we think is best for the community.”
City of Crookston Finance Director Angel Weasner said the process will move quickly with the council reviewing the recommendation Monday, and the pre-application for master plan grant funding needing to be submitted in May. “It is relatively simple,” said Weasner. “The recommendation will go on the regular council agenda Monday, April 22 for discussion and determination based on the recommendation of the commission. It will move very quickly. I’ll notify the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of who our selection is and we’ll begin work on the grant we have to apply for. The pre-application needs to be completed by May and the full application by July.”
Although the grant money won’t be received until later in 2019, Weasner said it is likely master plan meetings with the engineer can start this summer. “We will come up with an agreement with the consulting firm SEH and once that is in place we will start working,” said Weasner. “It’s possible in August we may do some meeting because we want to have a lot of public input and everybody’s voice to be heard.”
