ROCK SPRINGS — The Rock Springs-Sweetwater County Airport Board is hoping to secure a new contractor in the coming weeks to complete the Commercial Terminal Modernization Project amid ongoing litigation with the former contractor.

The Airport Board, operators of the Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport, filed two lawsuits earlier this year against Sletten Construction of Wyoming Inc., claiming their inability to complete both the Commercial Terminal Modernization and Snow Removal Equipment projects in a timely manner and on the agreed upon budgets is costing them even more money. These contractual disputes have led to ongoing litigation, Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport Director Devon Brubaker said.

However, Brubaker told SweetwaterNOW that the Airport Board has been approved by the airport’s project funding partners to select a new contractor.

“The Airport Board is committed to ensuring that it remains a good steward of the public dollars entrusted with them for these projects. To that end, the Airport Board is in the process of hiring a new contractor to complete the Commercial Terminal Modernization Project. This transition process is unique and largely unprecedented,” Brubaker said.

Due to the unprecedented nature of selecting a new contractor for a project that is already in progress, the Airport Board is following a detailed process, Brubaker said. Once the new contractor is selected, a new project completion date will be determined shortly thereafter.

During a conference hearing in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery last week, the court ruled to combine all disputes related to the terminal into a single jury trial to take place in July 2024. A jury trial was originally scheduled to take place October 2 of this year.

“As part of this transition process, the Airport Board is in receipt of the Court’s ruling regarding the vacating of the bifurcated phase 1 trial; combining all disputes related to the terminal into a single jury trial in July 2024,” Brubaker said. “While this transition is underway, the Airport Board continues to work with its legal counsel on protecting the interests of the airport and the community through the ongoing litigation. We look forward to a timely resolution on these matters and to the successful completion of these projects.”