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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/2/2025 Item 5f, Floyd and Banker-Hix - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum City of San Luis Obispo Council Agenda Correspondence DATE: December 2, 2025 TO: Mayor and Council FROM: Aaron Floyd, Public Works and Utilities Director Prepared By: Wyatt Banker-Hix, Supervising Civil Engineer VIA: Whitney McDonald, City Manager SUBJECT: ITEM #5f – AUTHORIZATION TO AWARD THE RIGHETTI COMMUNITY PARK PROJECT, SPECIFICATION NO 2000054 Staff received the following questions regardin g the Additive Alternates and options to award. The questions are below with staff’s response shown in italics: 1) Can you explain a little more about what is meant in the discussion of Alternates on Page 129 of the packet, where it states: “This Alternate (Base Bid and Additive Alternate #3) is the least expensive and is located east of the Base Bid where delayed construction could make future work more difficult?” Additive Alternate #3 includes a bridge crossing the creek, a paved pump track, and an unpaved bicycle skills course. The pump track uses rubberized asphalt and is designed with horizontal and vertical curves to help riders practice skills needed for more challenging terrain. The skills course is an unpaved loop around the park that includes elements such as balance bridges and cobblestones. The bid for constructing Additive Alternate #3 was approximately $1.5 million, making it the least expensive of all the additive alternates (see Table 2 on Page 123 for Brough Construction’s bid prices for the Base Bid and each Additive Alternate.) The pump track area is located east of the base bid improvements (sports field and restroom) and is surrounded by private property to the north, residential homes to the south and east, and the future park improvements to the west. Because of this, delaying construction of Additive Alternate #3 until after completion of construction of the Base Bid would complicate future construction access. A contractor would need to transport materials and equipment (earthwork machinery, the prefabricated bridge and crane, and asphalt trucks) across the newly completed park, using the multi-use path along the south side for access (see Figure 1). Workspace preparation area would be limited, and the contractor would be responsible for repairing any damage caused to the completed park. This work would also likely require closure of the multi-use path for an approximately 6-month construction duration. Item 5f – Award Righetti Community Park - Correspondence Page 2 For these reasons, constructing Additive Alternate #3 at the same time as the base bid would avoid future cost escalation and minimize disruption to park users. Figure 1: Access to Additive Alternate #3 Exhibit 2) Can you provide more context about the RFP process and timing of the Higuera Complete Streets Project as it relates to timing of the Righetti Park Project? Staff are currently scheduled to request City Council authorization to advertise the Higuera Complete Streets Project on February 3, 2026. As required under the Active Transportation Program (ATP) grant, the construction contract must be awarded prior to July 1, 2026. Based on the most recent cost estimate, staff anticipate a funding shortfall of approximately $2–$2.4 million for the Higuera Complete Streets Project. If Council awards the Base Bid plus Additive Alternate #1 for the Righetti Community Park Project, the remaining FY 2025–26 CIP Reserve balance would be approximately $1.9 million. If Council chooses to award the Base Bid plus Additive Alternates #1 and #3, staff would need to rely more heavily on CIP Reserve funds appropriated on July 1, 2026, or would need to review potential allocations from Unreserved Working Capital to cover any additional shortfall. The CIP Reserve is budgeted to receive $4 million in FY 2026–27, consistent with the adopted 2025–27 Financial Plan. The amount available in Unreserved Working Capital is unaudited at this time; staff expect more information to be available in February 2026, at which time Council could assess funding needs for projects such as Higuera Complete Streets. Item 5f – Award Righetti Community Park - Correspondence Page 3 Following Council authorization on February 3, 2026, the Higuera Complete Streets Project will still need to be advertised, awarded, and a construction start date set. This process generally takes approximately three months, so construction is expected to begin as early as May 2026. Because construction for Higuera Complete Streets is expected to last approximately 5–6 months, activity will extend into FY 2026–27. This timing allows the City to effectively obligate FY 2026–27 CIP Reserve funds to cover any remaining shortfall, since those dollars would be used to pay monthly construction invoices once work progresses into the next fiscal year. In other words, obligating future-year resources would provide the necessary cash flow for ongoing construction. Additionally, project estimates may continue to evolve while design is being finalized; staff will return to Council with a refined funding recommendation as part of the February 3, 2026 request for Authorization to Advertise. 3) If Council chooses to award the Base Bid along with one or more additive alternates, what is the anticipated timeframe within the CIP for completing the remaining additive alternates that are not awarded at this time? All other additive alternates not awarded today would follow the timing identified in the 2025–27 Financial Plan. Under the current CIP, the anticipated timeframes for the remaining alternates are as follows: • Additive Alternate #1 – Pickleball Courts: programmed for 2029 • Additive Alternate #3 – Pump Track/Skills Course: programmed for 2031 • Additive Alternate #2 – Basketball Courts: programmed for 2033 • Additive Alternate #4 – Tennis Courts: programmed for 2034 If Council awards the Base Bid along with Additive Alternate #1 and/or Additive Alternate #3 at this time, staff would evaluate opportunities to advance the remaining alternates (Additive Alternate #2 and Additive Alternate #4) during the FY 2027–29 Financial Plan process, subject to available funding and citywide priorities. Once construction funding is allocated for any of these alternates, staff estimate approximately one year would be required to award a contract and complete construction.