City Council Meeting Date: May 4, 2021
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Tim Behrendt, Street and Park Manager
Dave Bennett, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Title
Consideration of Budget Amendment for Oddfellows Park Bathroom Upgrade.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council approves the attached Resolution Authorizing Budget Amendment for Oddfellows Park Bathroom Upgrade.
* Note: This requires a super majority vote of the Council for approval (5 of 7).
Summary Report:
The park shelters provide an opportunity for larger family events, graduation parties, birthday parties, etc. and are a great amenity for the Northfield community. In 2019 staff worked with an Architect to review existing park shelters/bathrooms and to come up with pricing for updates and repairs. Oddfellows Park had a couple of options created for the bathroom improvements summarized below.
• Deferred maintenance option. This included items like replacing the asphalt shingle roof, painting, new doors, and fixing the exterior walkway. This didn’t bring the bathrooms up to code and was still non-ADA compliant. ($80,000)
• Option 1 included completing all of the differed maintenance but also making the bathroom ADA compliant. ($126,000)
• Option 2 this is what was bid out, and this option evolved from PRAB discussion in 2021 and instead of having a men’s and women’s restroom separate, the plan changed to making 4-unisex bathroom. ($208,000)
However, with COVID and the increased prices for materials and labor have risen since budgets were adopted. The current amount allocated in the budget is $100,000. If the City went with the scaled back Option 1 above, the cost saving is only $12,000 so a final project cost of $196,000.
Requests for quotes were sent to nine different contractors, and four returned bids ranging from $164,500 to $218,770 (Base Bid). (Attachment 2)
The total cost of the project will be $207,781.20 including base bid, add alternates, 8% contingency and a 10% overhead. (Attachment 3)
There are two larger capital projects in the Park Fund for 2021, Oddfellow Bathroom and reconstruction of the Pickleball Court in Riverside Park. Staff hasn’t initiated the pickleball court project yet and is recommending to move the funds for that project ($100,000) to this project. The park fund doesn’t have enough funds to support both projects.
Staff Recommended Option:
Council authorizes budget amendment for the park fund to increase the project funding for Oddfellow Bathroom from $100,000 to $208,000 and remove the pickleball courts from the 2021 park fund.
Also, as part of the strategic plan Quality Facilities is a Strategic Initiative with a focus on Park and Recreation and the needs in the Community. As part of that, a long term Park and Recreation Capital Investment plan will be created. The two projects in 2021 illustrates the need for longer range park planning.
Alternative Options:
1. Council consider this as part of the 2022 budget request. The budgeted amount would be $218,400 taking into account a 5% increase in project cost.
2. Work within the budget and complete deferred maintenance but not making the bathroom ADA Compliant (not recommended by staff).
Financial Impacts:
The $208,000 from the Park Fund to cover the cost of the bathroom upgrade. This leaves the park fund with a remaining balance of $16,000.
The City Council has identified reviewing parks capital needs in the new City strategic plan in development that will include options for maintenance and asset preservation in addition to new facilities.
Tentative Timelines:
Construction summer 2021.