2015.11.04 PREC Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MEMORANDUM Rice Creek Watershed District OPTION 8: USE AREA FOR ADDITIONAL ONSITE SPOIL STORAGE After reviewing options with City staff, an alternative option has been presented which would seem to make sense for both parties involved. Imagine a scenario where RCWD absolves itself of any responsibility to reconstruct the two baseball fields and, instead, uses the area to store approximately an additional 19,500 cubic yards of uncontaminated dredge material onsite (on top of the default 10,000 cubic yards discussed in Option A), further reducing the cost of offsite disposal. Only about 7,500 cubic yards would be hauled offsite, at a cost of up to $90,000 ($12.00/yd). Option B, as written above, would admittedly leave the City of New Brighton with a lack of baseball fields and a significant impact on its youth sports programming. The City can replace this programming long-term by completing construction of a modern baseball field at the New Brighton Exchange development, complete with lighting to allow for evening games. In order to expedite this project, the City must raise additional funds. In exchange for NOT requiring the reconstruction of two ballfields and allowing the additional onsite spoil placement (saving the District upwards of $435,000), the City has proposed the District pay a spoil disposal fee of $200,000 (cost of ballfields) plus $7.50/yd (beyond the default 10,000 yds) to the City which it will then put towards development of the aforementioned modern, lighted baseball field at the New Brighton Exchange development. In this example, the total spoil disposal fee would be $346,250. OPTION B TOTAL COST ESTIMATE = $436,250 RECOMMENDATION RCWD staff prefers Option B for the following reasons: • The District saves approximately $90,000 on its project costs. Also, there is a chance we could design the grading to accommodate more of the clean fill, further increasing the cost savings to a maximum of up to $122,000 (And the City would receive an even larger spoil disposal fee...). • The District will not incur costs for HEI to design plans and specifications for two baseball fields. • The District will not be burdened by the long-term risks associated with reconstructing two City - owned baseball fields. • The construction window will be shortened. • The District will not need to restore the ballfields a second time should we need to complete future maintenance (dredging) of the south end of Hansen Pond. • The City obtains a reasonable amount of funding to help implement its Master Plan for the Exchange development (building a lighted baseball field). RCWD staff reviewed these alternatives with the Board of Managers during a workshop on October 12, 2015. Their discussion primarily favored Option B and staff was directed to continue pursuit of this option with the City. I am scheduled to present this identical preliminary discussion to City Council on November 24. PREC's input on this issue is extremely important for that discussion. We have also scheduled a public open house for this project on November 12, 6:30 — 8:00pm at the New Brighton Community Center. Option B will be presented to the public during the open house. Final arrangements would be built into a cooperative agreement between the RCWD Board and City Council with formal action by the governing bodies sometime in January. Page 2