News : Council members question airport engineering firm\'s \'overhead\' billing

The Vinton City Council approved an agreement with Clapsaddle-Garber Associates for designing the rehabilitation and widening of Runway 9-27 at the Vinton Municipal Airport, but not without questioning the expense.

Council member Bud Maynard, himself a project manager who has billed for labor on large jobs, said it seemed very expensive for Clapsaddle-Garber to charge $9,950.90 for labor costs for surveys, drawings, geotechnical investigations, and related meetings and research, but another 17,115 for "overhead" expenses related to that labor charge.

"That's a 172 percent mark-up for overhead," Maynard explained to the council, adding that the labor plus overhead charges mean the project is costing $90 per hour. He said that while some companies charge a small overhead expense to cover office and other related costs, it's never that much.

Maynard praised Aiport Commission members for their work, but said that since none of them are engineers, they may not notice such billing issues. Also, since the FAA pays 95 percent of such projects, local officials are less likely to closely look at such bills.

When someone observed that with federally-funded projects, "everyone else" pays the cost, Council member Lisa Vermedahl replied, "We are everybody else."

The council discussed the issue for several minutes, but has a Federal Aviation Administration of Nov. 15, for approving the contract. It's next meeting is not until Tuesday, Nov. 22.

Council members discussed how that with other projects, there is a bidding process that helps keep the cost of engineering services lower for cities.

"Where are the other bidders?" asked council member Ron Elwick.

City Coordinator Andy Lent said that Clapsaddle-Garber has been the engineering company for airport projects for several years. The FAA, he said, asks municipalities to make 5-year agreements with engineering firms. Also, he said, there are fewer companies that offer airport engineering services, making prices less competitive. Lent said Clapsaddle-Garber has done a very good job on its projects; the firm also handles all of the necessary and extensive FAA paperwork.

The council voted unanimously to approve the engineering fees of $36,732.33 (plus mileage, survey and GPS equipment fees and per diem expenses), but asked Lent to invite a Clapsaddle-Garber representative to the next council meeting to discuss the bill.

"We may look further down the road for other engineers," said Mayor John Watson.