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Home My WebLink AboutAGENDA REPORT 2008 0917 CC REG ITEM 09C rrEM 01 - CITY OF MOORPARK,CALIFORWa City Council Meeting of A-11—.?co8 ACTION: MOORPARK CITY COUNCIL •— ter AGENDA REPORT BY: TO: Honorable City Council FROM: Mary K. Lindley, Parks, Recreation, & Community Services Director DATE: September 2, 2008 (Meeting of September 17, 2008) SUBJECT: Consider Approval of the Plans and Specifications for the Veteran's Memorial BACKGROUND On September 19, 2007, the Council approved an agreement with Community Works Design Group (CWDG) to design the Veteran's Memorial to be constructed on the southeast corner of Spring Road and Flinn Avenue. On December 5, 2008, the City Council approved the Memorial's conceptual design as recommended by the City's Arts Commission with input from the American Legion Post 502 located in Moorpark. With the adoption of the FY 2008/09 budget, the City Council allocated $520,000 from the Art in Public Places Fund for the design and construction of the Veteran's Memorial. DISCUSSION The conceptual designed approved by City Council was estimated to cost approximately $520,000 and included the following design elements: • At the Spring Road and Flinn Avenue entrance is a Victory Column, approximately 13' feet tall, with an American eagle perched at the top. The Column is surrounded by decorative paving (unfriendly to skateboards) and six benches. The Victory Column would be lighted and the benches would contain the emblems of the five branches of the armed services and the Merchant Marines. The backdrop for this entrance is a 6' tall shrub hedge. • Leaving the entrance and walking through the hedge is a decomposed granite walkway leading to an area that can be interpreted as a "battle field", interspersed with flagstone and tall Juniper trees that serve as "soldiers". This walkway is ADA accessible. Off to either side of the walkway is shot cobble (4" to 8" diameter jagged rocks; remnants from blasting activity), boulders, and more Juniper trees, again giving the feel of a battle field. • Beyond the "battle field the site transitions to gentler landscaping consisting of trees and shrubs, and opening onto a meadow area referred to as the "Peace J' li 072 Honorable City Council September 17, 2008 Page 2 Meadow". The meadow or grass area is where participants and spectators will sit during ceremonies and celebrations. It is anticipated that the area will accommodate up to 100 chairs. • The existing large stone veteran's plaques currently in place on Moorpark Avenue will be installed south of the grass meadow and along the walkway, along with benches. Additional names can be included on the plaques as the situation arises. There is also an entrance to this area from the adjacent cul-de- sac. • At the far east end of the site and the last focal point of the memorial is a round plaza area, referred to as "Remembrance Plaza". The elevation of the plaza is approximately 18" above the meadow allowing activities taking place on the plaza to been seen by spectators. The plaza can be accessed from the walkway (ADA access) or from by steps from the meadow. The east side of the plaza is encircled by a 18" to 30" short stone veneer wall. Three flag poles will be mounted on the wall to fly the United States, State of California, and Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flags. The Untied States flag will be flown in the middle on the tallest pole. The flag poles will be lighted. Behind the short plaza wall is a taller perimeter stone wall ranging from 1 1/2' to 6'. The emblems of the five branches of the armed services and the Merchant Marines will be prominently mounted on the wall. Between the short plaza wall and the taller perimeter wall is a stone cascading water feature that cannot be seen without looking over the wall, but can be heard. The water in the water feature is continuously flowing and contains no standing water. The landscaping around the plaza area includes six trees that represent "soldiers", Little Gem Magnolia trees, shrubs, and groundcover. • The design includes up-lighting throughout the project to enhance the importance of the memorial site, security lighting along the walkway and site perimeter, and electrical outlets at the plaza to facilitate ceremonies and celebrations. The conceptual plan included two add alternates that the City Council could consider once it received cost proposals. Those alternates include: 1) landscaping the small parcel east of the site on the south side of Flinn Avenue ($28,000) and 2) six benches at the corner of Spring Road and ($10,000). There is sufficient on-street parking space adjacent to and near the Memorial site (Minor Street, Flinn Avenue, Zachary Street), the adjacent cul-de-sac, the Moorpark Police Services Center, and the future Rubin Castro Human Services Center to accommodate the twice-yearly veterans observance holidays ceremonies. Additionally, there are handicapped parking spaces available at the Moorpark Police Services Center and a handicapped accessible path of travel from the Police Service Center to the memorial site. The construction plans and specification have been completed, consistent with the approved conceptual plans, and are being presented for the City Council's approval. SACommunity Services\ADMINISTRATIVE\CC Reports\2008\9-17-08(Veteran's Memorial Plans and Specifications).doc J,i .�r�'3 Honorable City Council September 17, 2008 Page 3 However, the project's current cost estimate of $615,000, without the two Design Alternatives, exceeds the estimate presented to the Council in September 2007 ($520,000), in part due to the significant cost increase for materials. The estimated project budget is as follows: Description Estimate Design $ 55,000 Construction $463,000 Plan Check & Permits $ 8,000 Soils/Lab Testing $ 12,000 Construction Management $ 21,000 Contingency (10%) $ 56,000 SubTotal $615,000 Inclusion of two alternates + $ 38,000 Total $650,000 As a result of the higher than anticipated costs, staff has identified additional design deduction options on top of eliminating the aforementioned add alternates, for the Council's consideration, that will reduce the cost of the project. Design Option Cost Savings 1) Eliminate Victory Column $ 42,000 2) Eliminate Shot Cobble $ 23,000 3) Reduce Security Lighting from 7 lights to 3 $ 18,000 4) Eliminate Drinking Fountain $ 6,000 Savings Subtotal $ 89,000 Eliminating the Design Options listed above, would also reduce the contingency, bringing the project's estimated budget to $526,000. Rather than eliminating, the Council may also consider delaying certain improvements such as the Victory Column, drinking fountain, and landscaping the small parcel to the east of the memorial and seek funding contributions from the community as is often done for the construction of similar projects in other jurisdictions. Staff recommends that the Council approve the construction plans and specifications made available for each Councilmember's review prior to the September 17 meeting date. Additionally, the Council is asked to direct that the bid solicitation include separate bids items for the Design Options and Design Alternates identified above, allowing the Council to select the elements to be constructed based on the final cost proposals. In addition to a construction contract the City will need to secure the services of a project manager and a soils testing firm. Staff is recommending that the City amend its current agreement with Picon (Phil Vein) for project management services at a cost not to exceed $21,000. Mr. Vein has provided project management service on a number of SACommunity Services\ADMINISTRATIVE\CC Reports\2008\9-17-08(Veteran's Memorial Plans and r..., Specifications).doc 4 Honorable City Council September 17, 2008 Page 4 City capital improvement projects and is currently providing project management services for the Arroyo Vista Recreation Center expansion, which is now complete with the exception of minor punch list items. Staff will present the Council with a recommendation on a solids testing and lab firm at the same time a recommendation is made on award of the construction contract. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Veterans Day, November 11, in conjunction with the Moorpark post of the American Legion and their annual Veterans Day observance. FISCAL IMPACT This project is currently funded by the Art in Public Places Fund. The Fund's current balance is approximately $1.1 million, inclusive of the previously allocated $520,000. It is estimated that during FY 2008/09, approximately $75,000 in new Art in Public Places Fund revenue will be received. Should the City Council wish to include one or more of the Design Options and/or Design Alternatives, there are sufficient funds in the Art in Public Places Fund to do so. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Approve the plans and construction specifications for the Veteran's Memorial and authorize staff to amend the City's-project management contract with Picon. SACommunity Services\ADMINISTRATIVE\CC Reports\2008\9-17-08 (Veteran's Memorial Plans and 6 rJ Specifications).doc � ,; ..� a