ARLINGTON – With the City Council’s anticipated awarding of a construction contract on Monday, the Haller Park Splash Pad project can move forward, and things will be ducky in Arlington once again.
City staff are recommending that the council award a $769,798 contract to low bidder Reece Construction of Marysville. The city drew interest from three contractors at a bid opening on July 14 for the splash pad and other park improvements. The council in May rejected a single bid that exceeded the engineer’s estimate by more than $500,000. Officials re-advertised the project with a “must be completed by” instead of setting a fixed period for completion.
Public Works Director Jim Kelly at a work session Monday was hesitant to say that this was a day that city leaders have spent hoping for, but that seems appropriate for a project that has seen its share of stops and starts.
Reece Construction is in a good position to mobilize quickly for the project, since they are working under a $2.9 million contract performing utility improvements, curb ramps installation and pavement preservation projects around Arlington.
Kelly said the contractor hopes to start construction by the end of September, with a targeted completion date of March 30, 2019.
Added Mayor Barb Tolbert, “And a grand opening will be July 4th” next year.
Every grand opening starts with a groundbreaking ceremony, and city leaders have scheduled one for the Splash Pad for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 4 in Haller Park, 1100 West Ave. Friends of the Splash Pad will honor the major donors, the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians, $500,000; Arlington Rotary Club, $150,000; Arlington Parks and Recreation; and grant funding from the state Recreation and Conservation Office.
Kelly mentioned the city has already purchased some splash pad equipment.
Splash pad construction will include installation of a 3,300-square-foot spray deck with additional seating areas, city Recreation manager Sarah Lopez said. The surface is river-themed with colored concrete representing a river, and themed equipment, including river otters, salmon, cattails and ducks.
The project includes interactive water features, sidewalk connections from the restrooms and playground areas to the splash pad, and a building to house the park’s circulation and filtration systems, Lopez said.
The Arlington community, city and others jumped into the project with both feet, raising enough funds to design, procure and build the spray park.
In other business the council will act on July 2:
* Planning staff are seeking proposed revisions to the city’s Development Design Standards and Olympic Avenue Guidelines. Based on ideas that emerged during the city council’s spring retreat, the changes would maintain existing development while requiring new development to adhere to standards and guidelines that preserve the history and visual character of Olympic Avenue and the Old Town residential district. The planning commission discussed the code amendments at several meetings, ending with a recent public hearing.
* The council will be asked to approved the scope of work for the city’s Human Services policy through Nov. 30, and a professional services agreement with Heather Logan Consulting to carry on the work. The policies that followed the study sought ways to bridge service gaps related to the growing opioid epidemic and homelessness, including a Flex Fund, Smokey Point Business Committee, and partnering with Snohomish County and Marysville on the embedded social work program and other coordinated policing efforts. The workload has also branched into the county’s Opioid Response Multi-Agency Coordination Group, which Logan will assist as a liaison for Arlington.
