The Durant City Council met Wednesday morning to discuss parallel taxiway construction, despite cold weather and icy conditions.

Before the meeting began, City Manager James Dunegan commended city staff members, particularly Street Superintendent James Young, Jerry Yandell with Public Works and Assistant City Manager Ralph Houser.

“He’s a great asset to the city,” Dunegan said about Young, who was prepared in advance for the bad weather.

Dunegan, Mayor Jerry Tomlinson and the council also recognized the street department and the Durant/Bryan County Emergency Management crew, including Director James Dalton.

Dunegan also commended Don Darnell, superintendent of water and sewer line maintenance, who responded quickly to an emergency water break a couple of weeks ago.

“I can’t say enough good things [about] the outstanding things they (city employees) do. I feel like they should be recognized,” Dunegan said.

“I’d just like to say, ‘Amen,’ to that,” Council Member Leon Sherrer said.

Moving into business, the council authorized the bid process for parallel taxiway construction at Durant Eaker Field.

Jerry Yandell with Public Works said the city has been moving toward having a parallel taxiway — a surface area of an airport used for transporting airplanes to and from a runway or terminal — at Eaker Field for seven or eight years.

This process began with a 2006 Federal Aviation Administration grant to reconstruct the apron, or the concrete area in front of the terminal building, he said.

“We’ve been pursuing this for quite some time,” Yandell said, adding that the department has been waiting on the funding and has the proper engineering available. “We’ve been prepared for this.”

Under a new standard, the FAA requires airfields to have parallel taxiways, Yandell said. Durant’s new taxiway will be placed at a minimum of 400 feet from the centerline of the runway, and will eventually be the size of a full taxiway, a little more than 5,000 feet long.

Yandell said the taxiway project, which will cost an estimated $5.3 million, will be done in two phases. Phase 1 will cover about half of the distance, around 2,500 feet, and is set to be completed in 2010.

The taxiway is being funded by a little more than $2 million grant from the FAA and the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. The city was notified about the grant Monday, Yandell said. The city will supply 2.5-percent matching funds, or $58,508, for the project.

Phase 2, which will include the remaining footage of the taxiway, will cost an estimated $2.7 million to construct, Yandell said.

In connection with the parallel taxiway construction, the council authorized the mayor or city manager to sign any and all OAC and FAA grant documents.

The council also approved a contract amendment with LBR, Inc., airport engineer for Durant, noting such changes as splitting the project into two phases and allocating for additional engineering, construction testing and inspections.

“We didn’t anticipate having to make it two phases,” Yandell said regarding the need for an updated contract.

He said the amendment “allows LBR to do engineering to fit the project.”

Bids for the taxiway project will open Feb. 18, Yandell said.