Despite the combined cost being some $473,600 over budget, Columbus City Council on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve bids for turf and fencing for youth baseball fields at Propst Park.
Back in September the city took bids for turf and fencing, but those bids came in considerably over the $1 million combined budget, City Engineer Kevin Stafford explained. The city voted to rebid the project and opened the second round of bids Nov. 29.
The second set of bids were even higher, Stafford said.
“We got some bids from people who did not bid the first time, but those bids were not low,” Stafford said.
However, the original bids were good for 90 days, and Weathers Construction agreed to honor its first-round bids of $862,000 for the turf replacement and $611,600 for the fencing, raising the total cost to $1,473,600.
This phase of the project will turn the old youth softball fields into baseball fields, the first step in a $4.4 million park revitalization plan.
The former baseball fields will be turned into softball fields, but Stafford said in the interim the baseball fields can do double duty for the softball program. The city is borrowing $3 million of that total.
That shortfall for the fencing will be made up several ways, Stafford said.
When the city issued the $3 million in bonds, there were $50,000 in unused finance charges that can be put back into this project. In addition, Recreation Director Greg Lewis will cut the entire $250,000 in proposed operations and maintenance funding included in the original park renovation plan.
The city will also apply for grant funding via the Major League Baseball Youth Development Foundation, Stafford said.
“We applied for that grant, and we were turned down because the bond money was not in place and we were asking for more money than they usually give out,” Stafford said. “They asked us to come back to the table when the (bond) money was in hand.”
This time the city will ask for the fencing piece only, Stafford said.
Vice Mayor and Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens asked about the fencing piece, and Stafford compared the quality of the fence to what was recently installed at Cornerstone Park in Starkville.
In October the city of Starkville cut the ribbon on the $23 million baseball/softball complex that includes 12 tournament-ready fields. It is located off of Highway 25 in west Starkville.
“What we bid is the fencing style you will see at (Cornerstone),” Stafford said. “We still have the ability to negotiate that down, and they can do value engineering to get the cost down without compromising the quality of the fencing.”
Ward 4 Councilman Pierre Beard moved, with a second by Ward 5 Councilman Stephen Jones, to accept the bids. The motion passed 5-1, with Ward 3 Councilman Rusty Greene voting no.
In addition to the new fields, there are also planned upgrades and repairs to buildings, pavilions and the splash pad at Propst, better lighting at the Field of Dreams and the addition of pickleball courts.
The overall plan also includes renovations and repairs at all of the neighborhood parks.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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