The website is up and running, but like the rest of Cleveland Regional Jetport, it too is still under construction with promises of more information coming soon.

Operations and marketing director Mark Fidler said Thursday during a tour of the airport that runway construction was slightly ahead of schedule though recent rainfall is threatening to push terminal construction behind schedule.

Hinkle Contracting Co. of Paris, Ky., should begin micro-grading to remove imperfections in the surface of the 5-inch aggregate base and begin pouring concrete for the 5,500-foot by 100-foot runway later this week. The 11-inch thick pavement will be poured in 8-foot wide strips. The end date of the 200-day contract is Oct. 18. The Cleveland Municipal Airport Authority is still hopeful of a November opening as it settles into ironing out details.

Airport authority members signed contracts Friday morning during a regularly scheduled meeting for sewer construction and lighting installation.

Hampton Backhoe Service, Athens, won the sewer contract in the amount of $307,631. Change orders reducing the size of the waste pump, and the amount of erosion control fencing and sod reduced the price to $192,000. Hampton Backhoe was one of three bids received.

Guardian Electric was the lowest among five bidders on the airport lighting system. Guardian won the contract with a bid of $516,692, which was well below the engineer’s estimate of $607,066.

Airport authority members also authorized Chairwoman Lynn DeVault to sign a security grant contract with the Tennessee Department of Transportation Finance division for capital purchase of security enhancements in the terminal area. The grant totals $155,000. The local 10 percent share is $15,500 and the state’s 90 percent is $139,500.

The airport authority authorized DeVault to sign a Phase III paving contract amendment in the additional amount of $2.44 million because bids came in higher than expected. The total amount of the third phase is $8 million. The local share for Phase III is $800,000.

Airport authority members authorized DeVault to sign a work authorization with PDC Consultants to design the fuel farm that will generally include two 12,000-gallon tanks, one each for AVGAS and Jet-A fuel.

Work on the wetland mitigation project on the former Rolling Hills Golf Course should resume Aug. 20. The Phase II construction contract was amended in May authorizing Wright Brothers Construction to include the wetland mitigation contract for grading, erosion control and grassing on the proposed project. Initially, most of the work was to be done by the Cleveland Public Works Department.

During a discussion of the business plan, authority members clarified the minimum size of new hangars built at Cleveland Regional Jetport would be 40 feet by 50 feet. However, that would not necessarily apply to hangar owners at Hardwick Field grandfathered in at the new aviation facility on Dry Valley Road. So far, Fidler reported receiving requests for 11 ground leases, seven T-hangars and three community hangars from existing tenants at Hardwick Field.

Also during the business plan discussion, DeVault expressed concern that the ductless variable refrigerant flow heating and air conditioning system in the new terminal building. The systems are common in Europe and Japan, but are still rare in the United States. The variable refrigerant flow system is about $2,000 cheaper a year to operate than conventional systems.

“My concern is if the technology doesn’t work, then we’ll have a building with no ductwork,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll have a very green, very efficient award-winning design. I just hope the darn thing works.”

To view periodic updates on Cleveland Regional Jetport, please visit www.clevelandregionaljetport.com on the Internet.