Shoddy maintenance over the years resulted in failure of the airfield lighting at our airport at least five years ago. Repairing that system was rated on the 2024 and 2025 Airport Customers Surveys as their second-highest priority.
Chapter 1 of the repair saga began on March 20, 2022, with the issuance of a request for bids to repair the airfield lighting. On June 22, 2022, the only responsive bid, by Elecnor Belco Electric, was rejected. A re-bid was authorized following completion of a staff review of the project's scope.
Chapter 2 began on April 11, 2023, with the award of a contract to Elecnor Belco Electric in the amount of $427,888 (plus an additional 5% contingency) for one year beginning April 11, 2023 and ending April 10, 2024. Work on the project was anticipated to begin in May 2023 and to be completed by July 2023.
During the 11 months from May 2023 to April 2024, the "work start date" continuously slipped (as reported to the Airport Commission) from May 2023 to January 2024 (9 months) and the "completion date" drifted from July 2023 to April 2024 (7 months)! On April 9, 2024, the Belco contract was extended until December 30, 2024.
According to figures provided by the Finance Department, Belco invoiced the City for at least $420,160 from January to May of 2024 for their work.
I understand that the Belco repairs worked for a very short time and then failed again. The taxiway lights have been inoperative since.
Chapter 3 began on July 21, 2025, with the issuance of a request for proposals for "Electrical Improvement Projects at Torrance Municipal Airport". The project scope includes:
Although this project is eligible to be funded under the FAA Airport Improvement Program, the city has opted not to apply for a grant and, instead, fund it entirely from city sources.