Cape council to vote on Shawnee Park turf project

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote today on a measure to hire Advanced Turf Solutions Inc. to improve three fields at the Shawnee Park Sports Complex this fall.

The company submitted the only proposal for the advertised project. Advanced Turf Solutions doing business as J & D Turf of Fishers, Indiana, submitted an initial bid of over $375,000, well under the original estimate, city officials said.

Parks and recreation director Julia Thompson said the project is expected to take about three weeks, weather permitting. The project involves drainage, irrigation, soil and turf improvements for fields 6, 7 and 8. Improvements include removing existing grass and replacing it with bluegrass.

Improvements to five other fields at the park are planned for a second phase, Thompson wrote in an agenda letter to the city council.

Combined, the two phases are expected to cost nearly $900,000, according to cost figures submitted by J & D Turf. Additional hauling costs could add as much as $24,000 to the project, although company officials contended it would be much less. According to the company's proposal, the added amount also would cover any project contingencies.

Thompson said the turf company has agreed to honor its "phase pricing" through fall 2017.

She said phase 2 will be considered by the council next spring with work expected to begin late next summer. J & D Turf has submitted a bid for that work too.

The fields are heavily used for softball and baseball games and tournaments.

"The improvements to the Shawnee Park sports fields will provide for enhanced placability, reduced maintenance costs and improved turf," Thompson wrote.

She said the project will allow games and tournaments to be scheduled more consistently and not be hampered as much by rain. Drainage improvements will allow water to flow off the fields, Thompson said.

"The Shawnee Park Sports Complex is 20 years old and has long been in need of these improvements in order to keep the complex viable as a tournament venue," she wrote in the agenda letter.

The company has agreed to provide a maintenance plan and make site visits quarterly to check the fields for a two-year period after the project is completed.

City officials said unspent parks and stormwater sales tax money will pay for the improvements.

Voters approved the parks and stormwater sales tax in April 2008. Cost savings on other projects, conservative fiscal estimates and higher-than-expected tax collections have provided the additional funding, officials said.

Council members have voiced support for the planned improvements to Shawnee Park.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.