$2.17M sole-source contract for airport’s roof repairs approved

The Commonwealth Ports Authority board of directors has approved a sole-source contract in the total amount of $2.17 million to two contractors to perform several roof repairs at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport that were damaged by Super Typhoon Yutu in 2018.

All CPA board members, except for Thomas Villagomez who abstained, approved the sole source contract between CPA management and roofing contractor, Reaction Company, in the amount of $1,764,770, at a meeting last Thursday.

The procurement includes CPA’s hiring of Pacific Engineering Group & Services to perform the construction management services in the amount of $406,437.

CPA executive director Christopher S. Tenorio said the airport’s roof would have several leaks this coming rainy season if the repairs are not done expeditiously.

Tenorio said this project, which will take 225 calendar days to complete, also includes the hiring of PEGS to perform the construction management services.

He said that PEGS’ original service fee was for $441,963, but it was negotiated to only $406,437. He said the repairs and consulting services will be funded by insurance proceeds that CPA received from their typhoon damage claims.

Tenorio said Reaction Company has extensive knowledge of the airport and its roofing system, as it is the original contractor that replaced the high roofs at the airport in 2007, completing the repair work to the United cargo building and POI Aviation’s warehouse.

He said Reaction Company submitted proposal that is substantially lesser than the insurance company’s estimate.

PEGS, on the other hand, is the original construction management for the airport’s roof drainage and air-conditioner improvements project that was completed in 2016.

Tenorio said PEGS has extensive knowledge of the airport’s roofing system and is familiar with the previous improvements to the rooftop pre-Super Typhoon Yutu.

Board chair Kimberlyn King-Hinds said in a later interview that the CNMI will soon be entering the rainy season and that CPA has been having these ongoing discussions about the need to fix the roofs at the airport, thus the need to expedite that process.

She said it’s also concerning for the traveling public who are walking through the airport and seeing all these buckets during the rainy season.

“And so we need to address it now. Immediately,” she said, adding that Reaction Company “already has the plans, they know the design, and they can do it faster.”

King-Hinds said the goal of sole-sourcing is to expedite it so that they don’t have go into another rainy season and they’re still talking about the same problem “over and over, and year after year.”

She said the $2.1 million is far less than what was originally estimated by the insurance adjuster in the amount of $4 million.

To ensure that this project gets done before the rainy season, King-Hinds said that they just thought of going with somebody who’s already familiar with the project and who knows exactly what they’re doing, and already has the actual designs for the structure.