AGENDA #4j

MEMORANDUM

TO:                  Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager

FROM:            Ray L. “Butch” Kisiah, Director of Parks and Recreation
Bill Webster, Assistant Director of Parks and Recreation

SUBJECT:       Proposal to Install Wells at the Southern Community Park

DATE:             April 14, 2008

PURPOSE

This memorandum provides information related to a proposal to drill wells at the Southern Community Park in order to irrigate 6.1 acres of sod that will be planted in the new park. We recommend that the Council enact the attached budget ordinance which would increase the Southern Community Park budget by $130,000 in order to allow the installation of the wells and related equipment. Funds would come from $85,600 in interest earned from the multi-year capital account, $10,000 in unused funds from the Upper Booker Creek Trail project, and $34,400 in revenues received from the Siena Hotel not assigned to any particular capital project.

Adoption of the attached resolution would increase the Manager’s authority to approve an additional $130,000 in change orders from the current total of $355,000 to $485,000.

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 three athletic fields.

On May 7, 2007 the Council accepted bids for the Southern Community Park project.

In 2007 and 2008 OWASA instituted water restrictions which affected our ability to irrigate any sod placed on the park’s athletic fields.

DISCUSSION

The current drought has complicated construction of the Town’s Southern Community Park. The lack of OWASA water for irrigation purposes has forced us to postpone completion of the three athletic fields. We are now at a critical point in the park construction schedule and can no longer delay installation of the sod due to the increased costs that would be required to keep the contractor on the site past his anticipated completion date, the schedule of the sub-contractor that would install the sod, and the increased problem of erosion of the sand base.

The general contractor anticipates completing the park this summer. A delay in sod installation would mean postponing final work on the park until at least the fall of 2008. This would result in increased costs to the contractor that he would expect the Town to pay. The turf sub-contractor must install the turf now or wait until September or October due to his scheduled prior obligations. The sod was originally scheduled for installation in December 2007.

We currently have 6.1 acres of a sand mix on three fields that has been fine graded in preparation of receiving a Bermuda hybrid sod product (the sand mix layer is the layer that lies beneath and supports the sod on each field). The sand mix on the site has started to erode into the park’s stormwater collection system. This problem is being corrected on a weekly basis, but is beginning to accelerate with the recent rains. In order to complete the park we must have a minimum of 85% vegetative coverage over the sand mix to satisfy State and County soil erosion regulators. In its current state, nothing of consequence can grow on the sand mix because it is almost totally devoid of organic materials.

Until we have the required 85% vegetative coverage we cannot convert the large central stormwater basin into the wetland/art basin shown on the plans. Until the basin is converted we cannot complete all the walks and improvements north of Dogwood Acres Drive. We believe we must complete these tasks before the contractor is scheduled to leave the site this summer. We anticipate that the cost of extending the construction contract into the fall would involve significant expense.

Athletic field construction completed to date includes grading, installation of a drainage system, installation of an irrigation system, and placement of the sand mix designed to support a Bermuda grass sod.  The scope of completed field construction to date is valued at just over $600,000.     

Proposed Installation of Wells: Based on the experience of the well driller, we have determined that installation of two wells would be needed to irrigate the 3 soccer fields at Southern Community Park. This is due to the relatively low flows usually found in wells in southern Chapel Hill. According to our well driller, wells near the Southern Community Park usually range from 8 to 15 gallons per minute. These flows would require two wells, 2 underground tanks that would total about 40,000 gallons of storage capacity, a pump system, reconfiguration of connections to the existing irrigation system, and power connections. This would allow us to access about 165,000 gallons per week for irrigation from the time of installation to the end of August. This amounts to 55,000 gallons per field per week, or about one inch of water per field, assuming no rain. In the event of rain the amount of irrigation could be reduced by a similar amount. For example, if we receive ½” of rain in any given week the amount of irrigation could be reduced by ½” during that same week.

Installation of the entire system is estimated to cost as much as $130,000, depending upon the depth at which sufficient water flow is achieved.

The benefits of installing wells:

• The entire park could be completed on schedule.
• We could allow play on the fields as early as the spring of 2009.
• We could expect to save up to $21,000 per year in lieu of purchasing water, based on current OWASA fees for irrigation, if we use the wells exclusively to irrigate the fields.
• Depending on the circumstances at any given time, the Town would have the option of using OWASA water or well water for irrigation purposes. The equipment would give us the option of using either source.
• The wells could also be used to provide water for the landscape plantings throughout the park. This would eliminate the lengthy drive times, and related increases in energy consumption, currently anticipated because of the need to transport water between OWASA’s gray water facility and the park.

The costs of installing wells and sod include:

• The estimated $130,000 for well and equipment installation is not currently in the project budget. We believe the best source of needed funds would be from interest earnings, unallocated lease payments, and from unused funds in a capital account.
• We would have to maintain the well and pump system.

Alternative Solution - Do Not Irrigate the Sod: With this option we would assume that the sod will not survive the drought. This would provide the cover needed to prevent erosion of the sand mix and should provide erosion protection for some time. We could complete the rest of park and return in the future to replace the sod once the drought has ended. This option does not involve any additional short-term costs. However, additional long-term costs are estimated to be about $200,000 if all of the sod dies ($100,000 for replacement sod and $100,000 for removal of sod and re-grading).

The benefits of installing sod without wells include:

• The park (except for the athletic fields) could be completed on schedule.
• There would be no significant short-term costs associated with this option.
• It is plausible that if installed in April, the sod might survive several weeks, allowing for a possible opportunity to purchase OWASA water if the drought were to end. 

The costs of installing sod without wells include:

• If this option is used we would eventually have to remove the dead sod, re-grade the fields, and plant new sod. Since we do not know how long the current drought will last we cannot accurately predict the total cost for replacing the sod. However, at today’s costs, we estimate around $200,000 would be needed to renovate the three fields in the spring of 2009 under the assumption that 100% of the sod will die. Funds would have to be transferred from interest earnings in various capital accounts and/or from specific capital projects.
• Replacement of the sod would be a major project and would disrupt some park functions at the time of re-installation. We could expect some damage to interior walkways and landscaping.
• Depending on how long the current drought lasts we would expect significant delays in opening the three athletic fields for play. We would normally plan on prohibiting play for one to two seasons after installation in order to allow the root mass to establish in the new turf.
• The fields would remain vulnerable to future droughts.

Possible Use of Artificial Turf: Synthetic turf products would eliminate the need to water and maintain sod. However, the up-front cost of synthetic turf would be in excess of $600,000 per field. We expect that there would be additional costs to demolish the work already done and to re-mobilize the contractor. We expect that overall costs would be around $1,900,000 to convert the sod fields to an artificial product.

Possible Effect on the Aquifer: An issue has been raised concerning the possible effect on the area’s water table. We cannot predict the effects that the wells may have on the local water table. Our only guide at this point would be to look at similar uses in the area. Well irrigation is a common means of irrigating large turf areas. Golf courses and universities frequently use well water to irrigate large expanses of turf. For example North Carolina State University recently drilled 5 wells to irrigate their turf fields. We know of no examples of these wells causing problems with the water table. However, we are not experts on sub-surface hydrology and cannot predict what might occur once the wells are operational.

Budget Issues: The current budget of $5,857,000 includes previous expenditures for the Scroggs School athletic field and other related costs. The budget allows for a construction and contingency budget of $5,063,000.

The attached budget ordinance would increase the construction project budget by $130,000. These funds would come from the following sources:

• $85,600 in interest earned from the multi-year capital account
• $10,000 from the Upper Booker Creek Trail project
• $34,400 in revenues received from the Siena Hotel not assigned to any particular capital project.

RECOMMENDATION

That the Council enact the attached budget ordinance, which would increase the Southern Community Park budget by $130,000.

If the Council enacts the budget ordinance we also recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution, which would increase the Manager’s authority to approve change orders from the current total of $355,000 to $485,000.