At last week's City Commission Meeting, Commissioners Consider awarding bids for the pond demolition and soil transfer for the pond at Jerry Ivey Memorial Park to TRR Inc. dba T&R Construction in the amount of $124,869.80 including a 10% contingency ($11,351.80) and authorizing the City Manager to execute a contract with TRR Inc. upon fulfillment of all prerequisites under the bid documents.
BACKGROUND: The Salina Parks and Recreation Master Plan was adopted by Resolution #18-7581 on July 23, 2018. The Master Plan identified the pond at Jerry Ivey Memorial Park to find a resolution to the problems including algae, fecal matter from ducks and the failing pond edge.
On September 20, 2021, the Parks and Recreation Department and Water's Edge Aquatic Design (WEAD) provided a study session report from an evaluation of Jerry Ivey Pond. Their evaluation found structural wall issues, water clarity issues, a stream feature that needs repair, and overgrown and matured landscaping. The water clarity issues that were noted were the large geese population, algae growth, limited fresh water dilution and debris collecting on the north end.
Additionally, WEAD conducted a public open house to develop options for a community survey. The study session presentation including the survey options and the results of the survey are provided as an attachment.
In the summer of 2022, Staff solicited referrals from the Prairie Gateway Chapter of Landscape Architects (PGCLA) to engage with landscape and civil engineering firms to discuss our significant concerns of consistent blue/green algae, stagnant water, water depth and sediment buildup. The PGCLA referred us to McClure Engineering.
City staff engaged with McClure Engineering to conduct a lake survey, a lake water balance study and provide a written opinion of whether sufficient water balance exists under the current conditions. Additionally, if an imbalance exists, to quantify the imbalance and provide an opinion of the aquatic health. Lastly, if an imbalance exists, provide manual interventions, possible measures to address the imbalance and provide example costs.
On September 19, 2022, the Parks and Recreation Department and McClure Engineering provided a study session report of their findings to the governing body. The engineering report showed several deficits and deficiencies with the current pond summarized below. The survey report is attached.
1. A deficit of water runoff exists. The result is a more than 20" deficit from precipitation compared to evaporation within the watershed.
2. According to the Water Balance calculations, 300,000 gallons of supplemental water is required from the well or other sources to offset the evaporation deficit.
3. Over the last 25 years, the lake has filled in with approximately 2 feet of silt and decaying materials on the bottom of the lake. This is an accumulation of nutrients supporting the poor water quality.
4. Because of the shallow nature of the lake, the sun is able to reach the bottom of the lake to not only support plant growth but also nutrient decay and increased water temperatures. The recommended minimum depth of the pond should be 10 feet or greater to prevent sunlight from reaching the bottom of the lake.
5. The standard rule of thumb for lake surface area to watershed area (drainage area) is 1 acre of lake surface area to 10 acres of watershed area to maintain a self-sustaining water body.
6. Using the 10-1 ratio, the watershed for the pond would need to be about 3 times larger at 7.3 acres to maintain the current¾ acre lake size.
7. In contrast, maintaining the current watershed size supports a lake area of¼ of an acre (or 2/3 reduction). By reducing the lake size to 0.25 acres, the need for supplemental water would be alleviated.
8. The opinion from McClure Engineering of the probable costs to reliably maintain a healthy ecosystem of the pond was $897,000 with a possible addition of $189,000 if the pond excavation was declared a waste product needing special treatment.
Based on the conclusions from the report at the study session, the feedback provided to City staff indicated support for a project to fill-in the pond and pursue an alternative water feature for Jerry Ivey Memorial Park.
To identify a potential water feature for Jerry Ivey Memorial Pond, staff and the engineering firm conducted a visual preference survey at a study session on December 5, 2023. From the results of that visual preference survey, the engineering firm created a survey instrument that was released to the public on February 24, 2023 and closed March 6, 2023. There were 170 responses to the survey.
Staff re-engaged McClure Engineering to develop specifications and drawings for a pond demolition and to prepare the site for future improvements. The proposed scope of work for the project is to demolish the wooden dock, cut and cap the well line to retain for future use, partially demolish and remove the concrete bag walls, fill in the pond with soil to achieve the level of compaction in the specifications and provide a layer of top soil for seeding and matting.
On March 20, 2023, The City of Salina Public Works department presented bids to The City Commission regarding approval of a project to load, haul and place stockpiled soils to various locations. They had conducted a competitive bidding process for a project to move stockpiled soil.
Soil Transfer Contractor Quantity $/yd
T&R Construction 64,000 $6.06
Smoky Hill 64,000 $9.67
Johnson Sand {overburden) 64,000 $9.70
Malm 64,ooo $9.71
Johnson Sand 64,ooo $19.oo
T&R Dirt quoted the lowest amount for the Schwan's soil. Acquisition of the Schwan's soil has been delayed since it must be tested for contamination before the city will accept it. Sampling, testing and results are still over a month out on the Schwan's soil. T&R Dirt has soil available that has been tested and is suitable for fill material, and they agreed to a lower price than what they were going to charge to haul Schwan's soil to the old city dump (animal shelter/shooting range on State Street). The updated pricing would be $7.05 per cubic yard instead of $7.45 per cubic yard at a cost of $42,330. The quote provided in the packet has been provided in tons and was converted to cubic yards. Lastly, T&R Dirt has topsoil available suitable for seeding the project when backfilling is complete at a cost of $12,393.
The bid documents for the pond demolition portion of the project were published by the City on it's website on April 17, 2023. It was also provided to interested contractors electronically. The submission deadline for bids was May 11, 2023 at 2 pm and were publically opened and read aloud at that time.
The bid tabulation summary of the pond demolition is below:
Bidder - Pond Demolition Bid
TRR Inc. $58,795
Smoky Hill, LLC $141,015
The total proposed project would comprise the bids for soils and the competitive bidding process for the pond demolition.
TRR Inc. Bid Summary Bid
Fill Soil Transfer Bid $42,330
ToQ Soil Transfer Bid $12,393
Pond Demolition Bid $58,795
Subtotal $113,518
10% Contingency $11,351.80
Total Proposed Project $124,869.80
City staff has reviewed the bids for the soil and the pond demolition and recommends the bids from TRR Inc. dba T&R Construction.
FISCAL NOTE: The proposed project would be funded from the Parks Improvement Fund that is derived from the Sales Tax Fund in the amount of $124,869.80. The yearly contribution to the Parks Improvement Fund is $500,000.
2022 Park Improvement Ending Balance: $1,417,638
2023 Park Improvement Approved Funding: $500,000
Concrete Improvements - Phase 1 -$212,929.50
Concrete Improvements - Phase 2 -$124,870
Jerry Ivey Pond Soil Transfer & Demolition -$168,123.50
Remaining Park Improvement Balance: $1,411,715
The motion to award the bids for the Jerry Ivey Pond Demolition project and soil to TRR Inc. in the amount of $124,869.50 and authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with TRR Inc. upon fulfillment of all prerequisites under the bid documents was approved 5-0.