Review Status and Direction of Elmcrest Park’s Community Building Planning

On March 26th, 2013, City Council approved the Architectural Design and Scope of Services for Elmcrest Park's community building, consisting of three phases; 1) explore concepts and a schematic design process to meet the needs of stakeholders and end users, 2) project development to final design and the identification of the building's cost (estimate), and 3) the preparation of construction documents.

As phase one concludes, and the design development aspects of the project are underway, this is the opportune timie to 'check in' to ensure City Council sentiment is in alignment with how the building project is evolving based upon stakeholder input.

On the May 9th, regular Park and Recreation Commission meeting, the Commission responded to the programming questions and the input on design received from Anoka Ramsey Athletic Association and others.  That discussion outline is attachment 1 (one) with consesus responses in red.  Based upon the above deliberation, the proposed building size has increased* approximately 1,300 square feet from the Miller Park building (Eden Prairie), that was used as a point of beginning to discuss concepts and options.  Additionally, the picnic pavilion is proposed to be larger as well (approximately 900 sq ft) based upon input from Northern Lights Soccer on the number of users relating to their program in Ramsey.



*The building size increase is due in part to the size of the meeting room area proposed, and how this space relates with the other rooms and functions of the structure.  Staff also notes that in addition to regular use of the proposed building's meeting space by ARAA, other organizations (like the two scout troops that have 'adopted' Elmcrest), will utilize the meeting room - and presently some groups are turned away (from existing facilities) because the city only has three conference rooms that can accommodate more than 20 people; that being the Park Center building at Central Park, and the two at the Municipal Center. Attachment 2 (two) is a snapshot of reservations for the month of September 2013 as additional background.

 

Studio 55 Architects' Bruce Bissonnette and Jack Amdal will be attending the work session and will review the recent activity, the next steps, and will have preliminary cost estimates based upon all the input to date.


As indicated above, the three phases that of the architectural services are; 1) explore concepts and a schematic design process to meet the needs of stakeholders and end users, 2) project development to final design and the identification of the building's cost (estimate), and 3) the preparation of construction documents - with this point in time being somewhere within Phase II.

The 4th phase of architectural services, Construction Administration, would be approved by City Council subsequent to this work session topic (details discussed below) when the design and construction documents are completed and the building cost estimate (or 'Guaranteed Maximum Price') is presented to Council. The earlier proposal by Studio 55 Architects identifies this figure at a not-to-exceed amount of $6,000.  If time allows at work session, Staff would like to discuss the construction process approach.  The following is the narrative from the March City Council case that discusses the later aspects of Phase II and the construction process option and perceived advantages:  


"Design, Plans and Specs, Construction Process Approach
A key component of the design for Elmcrest Park's community building is the Schematic Design process (Phase I), where Staff and ARAA, NLS and others carefully review the all the alternatives and concepts for the building, leading up to successful final design.  At the end of the Design Development process (Phase II) and the beginning of preparation of Construction Documents (Phase III), Staff would intend on inviting an established and reputable general contractor, specializing in park buildings to review and critique the plans and specifications at the 75% completion stage.  This is useful for a number of reasons, including to;

1.  Check for constructibility,
2.  Identify opportunities to modify construction methods and materials for economy,
3.  And as another 'set of eyes' to evaluate functionality and the practicability of what is being proposed for this public building. 

Following the above exercise and resultant modifications to the design and specifications, the general contractor would then be invited to develop a 'Guaranteed Maximum Price' for the project with he/she as the general contractor.  This is known as the Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) approach to constructing public buildings (versus the more traditional 'Design, Bid, Build' approach). 

At the time the Guaranteed Maximum Price is available, the community building project for Elmcrest Park would return to City Council with the plans and specs completed, with the option of moving forward under the CMAR process knowing precisely what the park building will cost, and with no change orders, (unless there would be catastrophic failure on both the part of the architect and staff in some unforeseen manner).  Or, in the alternative, Council may choose to proceed with traditional Advertising For Bid (though while having an estimate, not knowing what the building will cost).

While this case only approves the selection of the architect for Elmcrest's Park building and the associated processes, and not how the city will receive the final bid for the construction, it may be useful to point out one more value, (among several), in the proposed Construction Manager at Risk approach for this project.  If Council chooses this method for project delivery, the city would require that the Construction Manager host a pre-bid conference (together with Staff), wherein all qualified Ramsey businesses would be invited to attend and bid as subcontractors for the building's construction.  This benefits all concerned by: 

• Maximizing the potential for Ramsey businesses to receive the subcontracts, thereby cycling more money within the local economy.
• Providing Ramsey businesses the opportunity to donate tax-deductible services, thus making their bids even more competitive, and therefore more likely to be the low bidder (for that trade).
• Encouraging a lower overall construction cost for Elmcrest Park's community building, by a special, methodical process inviting those contractors to submit bids that can be the most competitive - businesses that are in the community and have lower mobilization and daily transportation costs.
• Encourage the establishment of more business to business relationships within Ramsey.
• Increase the likelihood of a truly 'community built' building within the community park."

The funding source for architectural services is up to $22,500 (with an additional $6,000 to be approved at a subsequent date for Construction Administration) - and was approved by City Council on March 26th, 2013.

Additionally, the Anoka Ramsey Athletic Association has committed $40,000 to the building project that would be donated toward the Park Trust Fund upon City Council's final approval of the community building's construction.

Consensus concurrence with architectural design as presented, and the construction method discussed above; or otherwise, based upon discussion.