Airport to get runway renovations

NORWALK — Huron County's Airport Board is moving ahead with a runway improvement project. The project is estimated to cost about $150,000, according to airport board president and airport manager Scott Sparks, who briefed Huron County Commissioners on the project Tuesday morning. The project is being paid 90% by a Federal Aviation Administration grant, 5% by the state, and 5% by the airport board. The renovation project will involve sealing cracks and redoing striping. Sparks said the airport board is getting approval from commissioners so they can go out for bids on the work before their May 5 deadline. Sparks said he's grateful for the cooperation of the commissioners given the short notice of the airport board's request. He also said future projects the airport board will tackle include taxiway drainage improvements and the removal of trees along the landing path. In other business Tuesday morning, commissioners: Accepted a bid for $822,525 from Melway Paving to chip and seal various roads in Huron County; the low bid came from Allied Construction at $781,125, but Huron County Engineer Lee Tansey said that company did not follow all of the requirements of the bid when they submitted their proposal. Approved a resolution to participate in the ODOT road salt contracts program for next winter. The state of Ohio arranges a bidding process and local governmental organizations place their orders for salt in June. Huron County had a mild winter in which the county only used about 500 tons of road salt this past winter. Last winter, the county used about 2,200 tons of salt. "The cost varies," Tansey told the Reflector previously. "It's about $50 a ton. It'll probably fairly cheap next year because it's a supply and demand thing like everything else. When you have light winters, the cost goes down." Some winters, the county uses as much as 5,000 tons of salt.