Template revised April 12, 2018.
COMMISSION
AGENDA MEMORANDUM
Item No.
8f
ACTION ITEM
Date of Meeting
January 25, 2022
DATE: January 11, 2022
TO: Stephen P. Metruck, Executive Director
FROM: Stuart Mathews, Director, Aviation Maintenance
Brendalynn Taulelei, Senior Manager, Aviation Maintenance
SUBJECT: Ratification of Emergency Snow Removal Expenditures and Extension of
Contracts
Amount of this request:
$1,650,000
Total estimated project cost:
n/a
ACTION REQUESTED
Aviation Maintenance is requesting four actions.
1. Ratification of snow removal service expenditures for Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport from December 23-31, 2021 via emergency snow removal contracts with Aero
Snow Removal LLC (Aero) and Scarsella Brothers Inc. (Scarsella).
2. Ratification amending the existing Ceccanti Inc., (Ceccanti) contract for additional snow
removal service to address the December 2021 snow event.
3. Amend contract with Ceccanti to add an estimated $400,000 to cover future snow events
through March 2022.
4. Amend contracts with Aero and Scarsella to add estimated $250,000 to each contract and
extend the contracts from January 30, 2022, to March 31, 2022.
SUMMARY
The Airport has two existing snow removal contracts. On November 9, 2021, Commission
approved an increased contract value for these existing contracts by $1,200,000, to a new contract
value of $4,000,000.
In preparation for the December 2021 snow event Port staff became aware that one of our snow
removal contractors was in a labor dispute with one of their unions, which had the potential to
impact Airport operations.
Due to concerns of having proper resources for snow removal to ensure Airport operations, Port
staff issued two emergency snow contracts via policy waiver. Staff are now returning to ratify the
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Meeting Date: January 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
expenditures incurred. Two emergency snow contracts were issued due to resource limitations on
the part of contractors. A single contractor could not provide the services, equipment, and operators
required to meet the needs of the Airport for snow removal.
We are requesting ratification of the two new contracts and amending one of our previously
authorized contractor’s (Ceccanti) costs for the equipment and operator resources they provided
above their contract requirements. The extension of the emergency snow removal contracts is
being requested to ensure the Airport has the necessary snow removal capacity should another
winter event take place. These emergency contracts would only be needed if the labor dispute is
not resolved with our previously authorized contractor.
We are still waiting to receive invoices from our snow removal contractors, below are the estimated
costs for the December snow events for all three contractors.
December 2021 Estimated Costs
Dec 2021 estimated cost
$625,000
$300,000
$300,000
$1,225,000
Ratification Requested
Ratify Dec 2021
$150,000
$300,000
$300,000
$750,000
Contract Amendments for remaining snow season
Amendment Amount
$400,000
$250,000
$250,000
$900,000
ANNUAL BUDGET STATUS AND SOURCE OF FUNDS
While the airport is always prepared to deal with a snow event, the airport has not budgeted for
snow event costs for many years due to the variability. Over the past five years, the annual cost
of snow events (contracted services, de-icing chemicals, staff overtime, etc.) has averaged $1.7
COMMISSION AGENDA – Action Item No. 8f Page 3 of 3
Meeting Date: January 25, 2022
Template revised September 22, 2016; format updates October 19, 2016.
million, with a high of $3.6 million in 2019 and a low of $113 thousand in 2018. For the most
recent snow event in December 2021, we spent an estimated amount of $1.2 million on contracted
snow removal services. So far, the airport has been able to absorb snow event costs within the
approved budget. Excluding these costs from the budget has been part of a strategy to tighten the
budget by eliminating contingency funds. Most snow event costs are included in the airline rate
bases, and any excess costs are recovered through the annual settlement. Given the desire to
manage airline costs through the recovery period, staff did not add snow event costs to the 2022
budget. Still, given the recent history of more regular snow events, staff will revisit the budget
strategy for the 2023 budget, and may recommend inclusion of some amount. The funding source
will be the Airport Development Fund.
ATTACHMENTS
(1) Policy Waiver