3.4. SR 07-13-1998~ity of
Item #3.4.
'ver
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Mayor and City Council
FROM:
DATE:
Pat Klaers, City .~f~strator
July 13, 1998
SUBJECT:
Park and Recreation Bond Referendum
Update and Consider Hiring an Aquatic
Center Consultant
The City Council received an update on the Park and Recreation Bond
Referendum proposal at its June 29, 1998, meeting. This discussion resulted
in the recent front page article in the Star News which indicated that the
"Council OKs $2.8 park vote, with pool". This headline is not correct,
although the article is fairly accurate. As I understood the discussion on
6/29, the Council acknowledged the goal of including a pool in the referendum
and the desire for the pool to be of a quality which matches the expectations
of the citizens. The estimate for the pool discussed on 6/29 was in the $1.8
million range and the direction from the Council was to pin-point the pool
cost estimates.
In order to pin-point the cost estimates for a pool, the Commission felt that it
was appropriate to hire an aquatic center consultant to do some pre-
referendum work for the city. This pre-referendum work includes site
analysis, design concept, and cost analysis for the facility. To this end, the
Commission Pool Committee interviewed three aquatic firms over the past
two weeks. The firm selected by the Committee and endorsed by the Park
and Recreation Commission on July 8, 1998, is the Burbach Aquatics firm
out of Platteville, WI. The cost estimates from the three firms were
somewhat difficult to compare as we are not requesting the true full pre-
referendum services such as fund raising or public opinion polls, etc., but are
concentrating on the three components noted above. All three of the qUotes
for pre-referendum work were comparable. It is believed that we can obtain
the necessary services for under $8,000 and that the actual amount will be
negotiable based on the services requested. One of the unknowns at this time
(assuming that the project moves forward through referendum stage) is the
type, quality, and number of renderings of the aquatic center that will be
desired and needed.
13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425
It is essential that the firm be hired in the near future so that their work can
be completed by mid August so that a final decision on the size and type of
referendum can be determined by the City Council.
Recommendation
Motion approving the Burbach Aquatics firm to do pre-referendum work for
the Elk River Aquatics Center proposal at a price to not exceed $8,000 with
funding to come from the Council contingency budget.