June 16, 2023
The City is moving forward with its Donner Park splash pad project, per a City Commission decision on June 12 to direct the City Manager to reallocate $200,000 from the Greenway mural project budget, and negotiate an agreement with ACON Construction to install the recreation amenity.
The City has completed a design for a splash pad for Donner Park. A splash pad is included as a park amenity for Donner Park in the Parks Master Plan.
The City issued an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for the construction of the splash pad in December 2022. The lone bidder for the project, who did not meet the minimum required qualifications for this work and was rejected, submitted a price of $691,500. Staff investigated why we received only one bid for this project and determined that a number of factors precluded potential bidders from submitting a bid. Factors included, strict minimum qualifications contained in the specifications, the 6-month construction timeline being too short and the time of the year the ITB was published. However, the primary factor for not submitting a bid was the time of year. Many of the contractors contacted by staff indicated that they had numerous projects under construction that needed to be completed by the end of the summer of 2023 and were unable to take on a new project.
Staff opted to wait several months to rebid the project and loosened the minimum qualifications and extended the timeframe for construction. Concurrently, staff requested a guaranteed maximum price from ACON Construction for the splash pad construction. ACON Construction has a design-build construction contract with the City of Jacksonville that we have the ability to piggyback off of. ACON Construction recently completed a splash pad at Lonnie Miller Park with great success.
The guaranteed maximum price provided by ACON Construction, along with additional items that are required are as follows:
ACON Guaranteed Maximum Price $474,000 (Splash pad, equipment & hardscape)
WaterPlay fountains & toys $78,000 (Direct purchase by City)
Equipment Shelter $20,000
Electrical Service $15,000
Sewer Connection $20,500
Total $607,500
This price is very similar to the price the City of Jacksonville paid for the construction of the Lonnie Miller Park splash pad which is similar in size to the one proposed for the City of Atlantic Beach. If awarded a contract, ACON Construction will manage all of the subcontractors and will guarantee delivery of the splash pad, equipment and hardscape for $474,000. The WaterPlay fountains and toys will be directly purchased by the City at a discount through a SourceWell cooperative purchasing contract. The prices for the remaining items are estimates that err on the high side provided by local contractors that would work directly for ACON Construction on this project. Change orders would not ordinarily be expected under this contract since the contractor is providing a guaranteed maximum price for delivery of the splash pad.
Not including staff time for cleaning and daily visits to check water quality, filters, etc., monthly maintenance costs during periods of operation are expected to normally be less than $1,000/month. Bear in mind that the splash pad will only be operational in the warmer months during open park hours. The splash pad will normally be turned off until the activator button is pushed by a user.
The City has not reissued the ITB yet, staff have been waiting for mid-summer. Staff believes that rebidding this project may not result in better pricing and would not guarantee a contractor as qualified or experienced as ACON Construction and their subcontractors.
Funding for the splash pad is as follows:
Funds previously allocated for a Greenway mural $200,000
FRDAP Grant $185,500
CDBG Grant $36,500
COAB Grant Match $185,500
TOTAL $607,500