The City of Redmond is moving ahead with a new retail and vending company at the Redmond Municipal Airport, even with a judge set to rule on whether the City violated government contracting law during its selection process.
Aviano LLC, the airport’s current concessionaire, filed a complaint July 30 in Deschutes County Circuit Court alleging the City illegally favored a larger national company, Tailwind Hospitality, during a competitive process for contracts for food and beverage service and shopping. The complaint accused then-airport director Zach Bass, who resigned Sept. 4, of having a “close personal relationship” with Tailwind representatives and meeting with them behind closed doors. The City was also accused of curating its requests for services to make it easier for Tailwind to score highly.
Both the resignation and Aviano’s complaint were first reported by the Source.
At a special meeting on Sept. 29, the City Council approved a contract with Tailwind for retail and vending, even though the company’s request was evaluated under the same process now being legally challenged.
The controversy comes amid a $180 million construction project to expand the Redmond Airport, adding 80,000 square feet including 6,000 square feet of new concessions and 3,000 square feet of new or renovated retail space. The project is expected to wrap up by November 2027.
Aviano, which has run the concessions and retail at the airport since 2009, filed the court complaint after the City awarded the concessions portion of the contract to Tailwind in June.
In its complaint, Aviano is asking the court to find the City in violation of public contracting law, sending the matter back to the City and awarding attorney’s feed to Aviano.
Oregon law says that if contract decisions are appealed in court, the government shouldn’t move ahead unless there is a “compelling governmental interest in proceeding or that the goods and services are urgently needed.”
In a pair of legal responses sent to Aviano on Sept. 17, the City argued moving forward with the contracts would be necessary to keep the airport expansion project on schedule.
“We want to keep on schedule,” Redmond Mayor Ed Fitch told the Source. “We think that the ultimate decision was correct. I do think that the Council was correct in moving forward with it.”
He added: “It was a clear difference between the two bidders.”
Lawyers with Aviano didn’t respond to a request for comment.
At the Sept. 29 meeting, Redmond city councilors didn’t mention the contracting dispute, but several commented that they wanted to maintain a “Redmond feel” with the new shops.
Tailwind proposed a “Base Camp Marketplace” including a local and national retail merchandise list and partnerships with Destination Redmond and Sisters Coffee. As for its food and beverage proposal, Tailwind plans to bring Bend Brewing, Sisters Coffee and Sparrow Bakery brands to the airport.
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