CPA acting Executive Director Lee Cabrera yesterday said the $500,000 contract will go to Thalas company, an engineering and architectural design firm.
CPA expects the scope of work to be completed in November.
Cabrera said the decision to award the contract was made following the governor’s take over of CPA.
Tinian officials have been pushing for the ILS project since 2006 but it has been delayed by funding and “political” issues.
CPA wanted to award the contract in January, but the then-board did not discuss the project.
“CPA had provided (to the board) an evaluation of the [interested companies] and a recommendation on who qualifies to provide the services…but this hasn’t been addressed by the board in the previous meetings since January,” Cabrera said.
With the awarding of the contract, Cabrera said “we’re now optimistic that the project will finally push through.”
Funding for the ILS will come from reprogrammed federal monies for Tinian’s capital improvement projects.
The Federal Aviation Agency will oversee the ILS project.
“As soon as the plan [created by Thalas] is checked and finalized, we will issue an invitation for bids,” Cabrera said.
However, the Tinian mitigation plan for the brown tree snake has yet to be completed by the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife.
The U.S. Department of the Interior said an ILS at Tinian airport cannot be installed without a brown tree snake mitigation plan as required by the National Environment Policy Act.
