Sawyer Director of Operations Steve Schenden speaks at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners. On Tuesday, the board approved a bid for a snow broom to be used at Sawyer International Airport. (Journal photo by Cecilia Brown)

MARQUETTE — At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Marquette County Board of Commissioners, the board approved several agenda items related to county equipment and leases.

The board approved the award of a bid to M-B Companies, Inc. for a runway snow broom that will be used at Sawyer International Airport, as the airport was approved for funding to purchase the broom through the Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, Airport Improvement Grant Program.

The bid, which specified a front-mounted self-propelled snow broom that is 22 feet wide, also included two alternate bid requests, one of which was for a foreign object/debris pick-up box.

“With this having a 22 foot broom (the foreign object/debris pick-up box) would really allow us to clean up runways and taxiways a lot quicker,so we are recommending that and the FAA will cover that expense,” Sawyer Director of Operations Steve Schenden said, noting the foreign object/debris pick-up box will be mounted on the front of the broom and act like a “dustpan” for debris on the runway.

The other alternate bid request for was a five-year-warranty. However, due to the cost of the five year extended warranty, it is not recommended by staff as “the new equipment is covered under a complete 1-year warranty at no additional cost and past experience with warranties has not proven prudent for the additional expense,” a memo from Airport Manager Duane DuRay states.

“The FAA wouldn’t fund the 5-year warranty, and looking at the price, staff didn’t feel that was necessary,” Schenden said.

The bid documents and advertisement for bids were prepared by engineering firm Mead & Hunt prior to the receipt of the grant funding and the five bids received by Sawyer International Airport in June were reviewed by the firm, Schenden said.

While Kodiak America LLC and J.A. Larue, Inc. were the two lowest bidders, they “failed to meet bid specifications in the areas regarding the transfer case type, axle design, engine emissions requirements and snow broom minimum torque,” DuRay’s memo states.

Due to this, Mead & Hunt recommended awarding the bid to M-B Companies, Inc., as they were the next responsive bidder, Schenden said, noting staff recommendation is to approve the purchase of the snow broom from M-B Company, Inc. for $599,170, which includes the base bid amount of $573,820 for the snow broom and $25,350 for the foreign object/debris pick-up box.

Other board actions at Tuesday night’s meeting included:

≤ The approval of an extension of a golf course lease currently held by Gwinn Golf, Inc., for four one-year terms, as Gwinn Golf’s current lease on the Red Fox Run Golf Course in Gwinn will expire Dec. 31.

≤ The approval of a lease renewal from Able Medical Devices, which sought to enter a new two-year lease for just over 10,000 square feet in building 627 at Sawyer International Airport.

≤ The appointments of Mark D. Paupore and Amy Clickner to the Economic Development Corporation of Marquette County.

Cecilia Brown can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 248.