AGENDA #13

MEMORANDUM

TO:

Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager

FROM:

Bruce Heflin, Assistant Town Manager

 

Bill Webster, Interim Director of Parks & Recreation

SUBJECT:

Revised Phasing Plan for the Southern Community Park Project

DATE:

January 8, 2007

PURPOSE

 

Adoption of the attached resolution would establish a new phasing plan based on a construction and contingency budget of $3,568,000. The resolution would also authorize the Town Manager to re-bid the Southern Community Park project based on the Council’s priorities. 

 

BACKGROUND

 

In 1986, and 1989, Chapel Hill voters approved parks bonds, portions of which were used to purchase the Southern Community Park property.  In 1997, and 2001, Orange County voters approved parks bonds that included funds designated for the Southern Community Park. 

 

In July 2000, the Town Council appointed the Southern Community Park Conceptual Plan Committee.  On March 25, 2002, the Town Council adopted the Report of the Southern Community Park Conceptual Plan Committee and directed the Town Manager to prepare an implementation plan. The Orange County Board of Commissioners adopted the park Concept Plan on March 5, 2003.

 

On May 9, 2005, the Council approved the Special Use Permit application for the Southern Community Park, which included an expanded parking lot and traffic calming on Dogwood Acres Drive. The Council also stipulated that the traffic calming plan for Dogwood Acres Drive be approved by the Council.

 

On January 9, 2006, the Council considered a traffic calming plan for the Town-maintained section of Dogwood Acres Drive at the proposed Southern Community Park. The Council received a petition asking that a number of issues related to parking and safety on Dogwood Acres Drive be considered. The Council postponed action and asked advisory boards to consider the traffic calming plan.

 

In April 2006, the Town received revised cost estimates for the park that indicated a rise in prices by about 30 percent since the previous cost estimate was completed in December 2004.

 

On April 13, 2006, the Project Planning Committee discussed the concerns of residents and the revised cost estimates. The Committee agreed to recommend that the Council revise the project’s parking and phasing plans.

 

On April 24, 2006, the Council adopted a new phasing plan and tentative budget for the Southern Community Park based on updated cost estimates.

 

Six bids were received and opened on August 31, 2006. All bids were substantially higher than the project’s budget. On December 4, 2006 the Council rejected all bids for construction of the project.

DISCUSSION

Current Phasing Plan: When bids were opened in August 2006 the low bid for the current phase one exceeded the available budget for the project by around $1,400,000. The current phase one plan includes the following features:

 

 

Recommended Phasing Plan: We have hired an independent cost estimating and value engineering firm to evaluate the building program in relation to the budget. We are currently reviewing the engineering firm’s full list of recommendations. However, based on our review of its major recommendations we believe that the following revised phasing plan would allow us to build a project that could be built within the project’s established construction and contingency budget of $3,568,000.

 

 

We would also bid as add alternates the following features:

 

 

The major changes in this recommended plan include the following:

 

  1. Postpone all Parking Lots: Both the Dogwood Acres Drive parking lot (40 spaces) and northern parking lot (110 spaces) would be postponed to a future phase. The park would rely on the Southern Park and Ride lot for all parking needs.
  2. Postpone all work south of Dogwood Acres Drive: Except for the burial of the Progress Energy power line, which is a condition of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant, no work would take place south of Dogwood Acres Drive. The dog park and play meadow would be temporarily located in the north portion of the park within the area proposed for the northern parking lot.
  3. Build Only 1 Athletic Field in Phase One: This plan would result in grading out the site for all three fields, but only one field would be finished and ready for use.
  4. Postpone 1 basketball court and 1 inline hockey court: We would grade for these facilities, but not include them in the base bid. Both would be added as add alternates in the bid documents.

 

Parks and Recreation Trust Fund Grant: The project budget includes a $500,000 grant. We believe that this grant could be endangered if we fail to build the greatest mix of recreation amenities possible. State staff that administer the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant have advised us that it would be better to build one each of the various recreational elements even if identified Town needs would indicate a preference to build more of one type of facility. The need to preserve the grant resulted in our recommendation to build only one basketball court and one athletic field in order to allow funds to be used for other features.

 

OPTIONS FOR PHASE ONE BASE BID OF THE SOUTHERN COMMUNITY
PARK WITH A CONSTRUCTION BUDGET OF $3,568,000

 

POTENTIAL PROGRAM ELEMENTS

CURRENT PHASING PLAN

PROPOSED PHASING PLAN

40 parking spaces on Dogwood Acres Dr.

●

 

110 parking spaces in Northeast portion of

Park (no connection to 15-501)

●

 

Art

●

●

Restroom

●

●

3 athletic fields w irrigation and fence

●

 

1 athletic field w irrigation and fence

 

●

Trails including greenway to Dogwood Acres Dr.

●

●

Large picnic shelter

●

●

Meadow Play Area

 

●

Dog Park

●

●

Basketball Court (1)

●

●

Basketball Court (second court)

●

 

In-Line Hockey Court

●

 

Play Area and equipment

●

●

Disk Golf Course

●

●

PROGRAM ELEMENTS NOT

INCLUDED IN ANY

IDENTIFIED OPTIONS

 

 

Maintenance Building

 

 

Lights for Athletic Fields

 

 

Small picnic shelter

 

 

 

 

 

Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommendation: The Commission met on November 15, 2006 and reviewed the entire park program without the benefit of the most up-to-date cost estimates. Please see the attached recommendations. Instead of recommending a specific phase one program the Commission prioritized the individual program elements. The proposed phasing plan differs from the Parks and Recreation Commission’s recommended priorities in the following key areas, primarily because of the need to address the requirements of the Parks and Recreation Trust Fund grant:

 

Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommended Tier 1 Amenities

 

Restroom

Included

Soccer fields (2)

One field included

Grade area for 3rd field

Included

Play Area

Included

Large Picnic Shelter

Included

Portion of the Northern Parking Lot

Not included

 

Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommended Tier 2 Amenities

 

Greenway Trail Extension

Included

Basketball Courts

One court included

In line Hockey Courts

Grading included, court as an add-alternate

Portion of the Northern Parking Lot

Not included

 

Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommended Tier 3 Amenities

 

Third Soccer Field

Not included

Dog Park

Included

Meadow

Included

Small Picnic Shelter

Not included

Dogwood Acres Drive Parking Lot

Not included

 

Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommended Tier 4 Amenities

 

Maintenance Building

Not included

 

Budget for the Southern Community Park: The project budget contains revenues from both Town and Orange County sources as follows:

 

PROPOSED REVENUES

 

1997 Orange County Parks Bond

1,000,000

2001 Orange County Parks Bond

2,000,000

Proposed Borrowing

600,000

Payment in Lieu Recreation Area

81,000

1995 PARTF Grant

500,000

Sale of Land to Schools

148,000

Reimbursement for Design of Recycling Center

3,000

 

 

Total Proposed Revenues

4,332,000

 

PROPOSED EXPENDITURES

 

Construction and Contingency

3,568,000

Additional Expenditures 1

145,000

Prior Expenditures 2

619,000

 

 

Total Proposed Expenditures

4,332,000

 

1 Includes testing, reserve for playground equipment, OWASA tap fees, and burial of a utility line.

2 Prior expenditures include construction of the Scroggs Athletic/Soccer Field, Southern Community Park concept plan, park design, surveying, and art.

 

Next Steps:  Once the Council adopts a revised phasing plan we would complete our evaluation of the independent consulting engineer and prepare new bid documents based on the Council’s priorities. We would then bid the project as soon as possible, possibly as early as late January or early February. Our goal would be to have a bid opening in late February.

RECOMMENDATION

 Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommendation: The Commission met on November 15, 2006 and voted unanimously (8-0) to recommend that program elements be built in a priority order, in the event that funds are insufficient to build the entire park. Please see the attached recommendation.

 

Staff Recommendation: We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution establishing a revised phasing plan for the Southern Community Park and authorizing the Manager to re-bid the project.

ATTACHMENTS

1.      Map of Southern Community Park (p. 8).

2.      Parks and Recreation Commission’s Recommendations (p. 9).