Panel recommends firms for BIA project Mich., local companies to design garage

BANGOR – After a third round of discussion, members of the city’s finance committee voted Wednesday in favor of a local design firm for the construction of a proposed parking garage at Bangor International Airport.

Committee members voted 4-1 in favor of Rich and Associates of Southfield, Mich., and AMES A/E, the Bangor architectural and engineering firm with which it plans to partner. The City Council next will hold a final vote on the matter.

The vote contradicted a subcommittee made up of city and airport officials which recommended Walker Parking Consultants of Boston, saying the firm offers specialized experience in building parking garages and unparalleled design work.

Walker planned to work with Harriman Associates of Auburn and Hoyle, Tanner and Associates of Manchester, N.H., on the plan, at a cost of about $500,000.

The committee, however, favored Rich and Associates both for its lower proposal, totaling approximately $450,000, and its choice to partner with a local firm.

“We trip all over ourselves in this city to attract and keep local businesses,” Chairman John Cashwell said Monday. “They live and pay taxes in this city.”

Councilor Geoffrey Gratwick, the only member to vote against Rich and Associates, said the Walker firm’s focus on parking garages makes it uniquely qualified for the job, despite its out-of-state location.

“If you want to have a heart transplant, you’re probably going to go to Texas, where they’ve done the most of them,” he said.

The proposed parking garage, projected to cost more than $7 million, would be paid for through parking fees, according to BIA Director Rebecca Hupp, who says the garage is needed to solve the airport’s ongoing parking crunch.

Plans currently call for a multilevel structure that would have space for up to 500 vehicles, including rental cars.

In other airport-related business Monday, the finance committee:

. Approved the purchase of a $50,000 system that will more accurately blend BIA’s deicing fluid, Tony Caruso, airport assistant director, said Wednesday. Besides more accurately measuring the ratio of water to the deicing fluid glycol, the system’s setup also is safer for airport staff to use, he said.

. Approved the purchase of a $26,000 lift that BIA now rents at a cost of nearly $2,000 a month. The 1996 lift will be used for various jobs, ranging from changing light bulbs to repairing hangar windows, Caruso said.