Wasilla-based Orion Construction will be paid nearly $700,000 to replace the heating and ventilation system in the Kenai Municipal Airport’s Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting Facility after unanimous approval Wednesday of an ordinance both awarding the contract and accepting grant funds from the Federal Aviation Administration.

During the council’s regular meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 21, City Manager Terry Eubank said that $557,445 was already appropriated for the capital project. The ordinance says that the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system at the facility, which was constructed in 2002, is at the end of its life.

The system is obsolete, the ordinance says. Further, a boiler heat exchanger has cracked and is only temporarily sealed. The city is required by the FAA to maintain the facility, which houses snow removal equipment that must be “in a state of operational readiness on and for the airport.”

Fortunately, Eubank said, the grant from the FAA means that “a significant portion” of the funding can later be transferred back to the airport’s operating fund.

The project was estimated to cost around $809,000. The FAA is providing $525,925 in Airport Improvement Program funds that must be matched with around $283,000 in city funds.

Orion Construction was the only bidder on the project, and was awarded the contract by the ordinance. They will replace the HVAC equipment at the airport, including two boilers and associated controls, a memo attached to the ordinance says. The project will “improve and stabilize the efficiency of the facility, reduce utility costs, and safeguard the HVAC system for years to come,” the ordinance says.

A full recording of the meeting can be found at “City of Kenai — Public Meetings” on YouTube.

Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.