Completion of the Lowndes County Sportsplex is about 21 days further out and $230,000 more expensive after soil testing revealed some dirt work needs to be redone.
Back in February the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors learned there were potential problems with the soil on a portion of the 80-plus acre site off Highway 82 west of Columbus. Joey Henderson of JBHM Architecture said the soil on the infield areas, which is clay, was potentially unstable and needed to be tested before turf was laid down.
This week, Henderson told the supervisors that two of the fields would need additional work.
“(The fields are in) the same area, the west side of the most northern quadrant,” Henderson said. “We looked at three options. Two of them were soil treatments, and the third one was just to remove the soil and replace it.”
Phase one of the $12 million-plus sportsplex consists of eight baseball/softball fields, concession and restroom buildings, a playground, an entry gate, picnic tables and other furnishings.
Removing the dirt and bringing in new fill was the least expensive option at $230,894, Henderson said.
“What kind of dirt are you going to replace it with?” asked District 1 Supervisor Harry Sanders during Monday’s board meeting.
“It’s a select fill,” Henderson said. “It’s the same thing we use for the sidewalks, the buildings. All of those have three feet or so of dirt under them.”
Select fill is a mix of clay and sand that is commonly used as a foundation for concrete.
Failure to remediate the soil would lead to loss of the warranty on the turf, Henderson said, because the ground could possibly shift.
“The vendor will install the turf now, but you will lose the (eight-year) warranty if the work isn’t done,” he said.
District 4 Supervisor Jeff Smith asked if the soil would be a problem in the future.
“Hypothetically, if for some reason we decided to add additional things on the property, do we need to anticipate addressing the soil?” Smith asked.
Henderson said it depended on the scale of the work.
“The reason we had to go back and do this was because so much dirt got moved around,” he said. “We didn’t know what was there once we got finished moving dirt. … If you did one more field, there wouldn’t be much dirt moved around. If you did another quad, it could possibly happen depending on how much dirt we move.”
District 3 Supervisor John Holliman moved, with a second from District 2 Supervisor Trip Hairston, to approve the dirt work. The motion passed, with Sanders, Hairston and Holliman voting yes, District 5 Supervisor Leroy Brooks voting no, and Smith abstaining.
Hairston told The Dispatch not fixing the issue could have led to multiple problems.
“There was a potential problem with the soil, and if it wrinkles it would create a potential safety issue as well as long-term maintenance issues,” Hairston said. “The best solution is to dig out some of the dirt in both of those fields (and replace it). It’s a little more expensive than we thought it should be, but it’s necessary for long-term use of those fields.”
Hairston said the bid price for the first phase of the sportsplex was about $12 million, but with “soft costs,” including design and engineering fees, the actual price is closer to $14 million.
The project is still pretty much on schedule to be complete by late September, even with the added construction time, Henderson said.
“They’re starting to put the playground drainage in and the south fields are ready to turf,” he said. “The fences are up on the south side. Most of the fence is up on the north side. They’re ahead of schedule a little bit, I would say.”
There aren’t any plans to play on the fields this season, Hairston said. Games will continue to be held at Lake Lowndes.
County Administrator Jay Fisher told The Dispatch on Thursday once the sportsplex is complete, it will be managed by the recreation director. There aren’t any plans for tournament play at the complex in the immediate future.
“We have not discussed tournament play at this point,” he said. “At some point there will be tournaments, but (the recreation director’s) primary job will be to support sports for kids from Lowndes County. There will be some level of recruitment for tournaments in the future, but we don’t know what that’s going to look like at this point.”
Tom Velek was hired in December as interim recreation director after former director Roger Short passed away suddenly in October.
Fisher said the county hoped to have a new full-time director in place by Oct. 1 but was not yet actively searching for that person.
“We have not advertised as of right now just because we have an interim director in place, but I plan to advertise later this summer,” Fisher said. “I have had people from outside the local area contact me about the position.”
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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