NORTH ADAMS, Mass. —  The Airport Commission will be looking for an operator for the planned restaurant at the new administrative building.

 

Administrative Officer Michael Canales asked the commissioners last week to begin considering what restrictions and requirements they would like to place in the request for proposals.

 

"Eighty percent of the city's RFPs are standard ... but the restrictions and the requirements — that is something the commissioners themselves have to consider," Canales said at Tuesday's meeting. "We don't have to have it done today but it's something I would like to have on a future agenda."

 

The vacant medical building donated to the city by Berkshire Health Systems was moved farther back onto the airport campus and is currently being renovated to serve as Harriman & West Airport's administrative building. 

 

Along with housing airport offices, the space will also accommodate a restaurant. 

 

Canales gave the commission an RFP that the Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport used to solicit interest in a new restaurant operator. Sok's Runway opened last year at the airport.

 

He added the city has already been approached about the release of the RFP. 

 

"We have already been asked when it is coming out by multiple people," he said. "Once we finalize the requirements, we can finalize the RFP and release it."

 

As for the actual construction project, Peter Enzien of Stantec Consulting Services, the airport's engineer, told the commission that the project went from being ahead of schedule to behind because of unanticipated work. 

 

"You can see it is progressing nicely but they are probably a couple of weeks behind schedule," Enzien said. "We were ahead of schedule, on schedule, and now a couple weeks behind."

 

The original plan was to use the insulation already in place in the building, he said, but when the walls were opened, the insulation was found was not installed to code.

 

"It all had to come out so that kind of held things up," he said.

 

Enzien said the insulation is now mostly installed and the building is mostly drywalled. He said the exterior siding work will start soon.