Orange County delays vote on John Wayne airport improvements

The Orange County Board of Supervisors has delayed deciding on a $102-million contract for improvements at two John Wayne Airport terminals.

Chairman Todd Spitzer suggested that because county leaders still are vetting candidates for the position of airport director, the board should delay voting on the contract. The director oversees operations and activities at the airport.

The proposed improvements probably will appear on the supervisors’ Oct. 20 agenda but could be delayed again, Spitzer said.

The airport director, “who is going to be the point person, should weigh in heavily on the contract,” Spitzer said.

County staff will request that Swinerton Builders, which completed the airport’s $48.5-million parking structure in 2010, extend its bids on the improvement project for Terminals A and B.

The bids are set to expire Oct. 27, but Spitzer said he does not believe that Swinerton, the lowest bidder, will want to miss out on the multimillion-dollar contract.

“I couldn’t imagine any business would not say ‘absolutely,’” he said of the request to extend the bids 60 days. “If the lowest bidder balks at all, we’ll start negotiating with the second-lowest bidder.”

Staff recommended that the board select Swinerton Builders to complete structural and non-structural seismic retrofits and upgrade lighting, electrical, heating and cooling systems and restrooms. Fresh carpeting, marble floors and increased signage also are included in the contract, according to the staff report.

The effort also is expected to make the terminals more accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act, as well as boost safety and efficiency at the airport, which in August served 936,949 passengers, an increase of more than 12% from the same month in 2014.

If approved, the project could take up to three years to complete.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Fry writes for Times Community News