Recommend Construction Management Services for The Waterfront Waterplay Project 

The purpose of this case is to recommend a construction management firm to City Council for The Waterfront project—and also provide the Committee with a progress report and forecast on other favorable aspects of the larger park endeavor. 

In September, the City issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) with a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the water play plaza and associated improvements at The Waterfront. Three pre-qualified firms were invited to submit proposals, and on October 13th, a panel consisting of city staff and Damon Farber Landscape Architects' representative conducted a thorough interview of two firms, and unanimously determined that H & U Construction is ideally suited for all the work to be performed in the coming months at the park.  H + U will work with the Project Team (City staff and Damon Farber Landscape Architects as the DESIGN TEAM) to provide pre-construction and construction services including cost and schedule estimating, bidding, and day-to-day construction management for the complex park project. (Damon Farber will still provide all the professional design services, to include preliminary design, concept design, schematic design, design development, construction documents and construction administration as they were engaged to do earlier this year.)

Attached is the city-issued RFP which provides considerable detail on the scope, timing, and responsibilities of and for the construction management firm. The second attachment is H + U's proposal, which includes a schedule (work plan on page 4), which responds to the RFP and challenges of this approximately $4M park project.

Observations
As indicated, this case includes the following interrelated elements:

~ Construction Management Services for The Waterfront Waterplay Project—a recommendation for Council consideration on October 28th, 2025 

~ Progress report on the overall project—much of this to be conveyed at the meeting, in part, due to the rate that different disciplines and conditions are converging

~ High-level budget snapshot—of an ever-evolving project as the cost coalesces around the various design considerations, time and weather constraints, trades, scope of work and best value engineering principles 

~ Recent developments and opportunities that favorably affect the park and benefit the public


Construction Management Services
The actionable aspect of this case is to recommend to City Council entering into a contractual agreement with H + U Construction for construction management services for The Waterfront waterplay park improvement project, in the form of a Construction Manager at Risk agreement. This standard form is included as the third attachment, AIA Document A133-2019. This agreement will be populated and included with the case for Council on October 28th, 2025 and will have a fee schedule consisting of two parts—Preconstruction & Bidding Phase Services, and Construction & Closeout Phase Services.

The Preconstruction & Bidding Phase Services will be a not-to-exceed amount of $50,000, and that scope of work is described in the city-issued RFP, and also reflected in H + U's proposal and Schedule.  These preconstruction services may be summarized as cost estimating, constructability reviews, schedule validation, and value engineering recommendations to ensure delivery of the overall project within the established budget (yet to be determined) and the July completion schedule.

The Construction & Closeout Phase Services will also be described in Document A133-2019 but as an estimate. At the time the preconstruction services are concluding, H + U will issue a Guaranteed Maximum Price—the agreement will then return to City Council for acceptance of GMP and corresponding amendment of the agreement. To reiterate, on October 28th, City Council will consider entering into an agreement with H + U Construction for the preconstruction services for a known amount, which will enable the Design Team (now to include the construction manager) to complete the Plans and Specifications for competitive bidding, at which time H + U will issue the GMP which would then be considered for acceptance, along with final approvals to complete the park project. The issuance of the GMP and final approvals for the park project would occur in January 2026.



Progress Report (summary)
Since being directed to commence work on the waterplay related improvements at The Waterfront in June, staff has had their foot-on-the-gas since, and considerable and timely progress continues to occur. This is best illustrated by the fourth attachment that depicts the scope and broad array of project elements. Additional information will be presented at the meeting, along with the probability that the Design Team will be recommending (as soon as for the October 28th Council meeting), that mass grading needs to occur later this Fall, in order to allow the construction to commence in February 2026.


Budget Snapshot (high-level and preliminary estimates)
The initiation of this improvement project in some ways was an extension of City Council's 2025 strategic planning—and recognizes that the park project has far-reaching community-wide benefits, which include serving as a destination in Ramsey's downtown, with the associated economic activity and private development investments it may generate—in addition to the project's considerable recreational amenities. At the outset, the full scope, detail and opportunity for the park project was not understood, but the cost was estimated to be greater than $3M and also not knowing what the solution for the restrooms may be, this was thought to be more than half a million dollars. The footprint for the project also has grown to include irrigation, landscape and turf for the large area for the future community center, to minimize windborne dust and debris. The estimates below include the planning work that was required to set this significant and important project into motion. 
 

Preliminary Cost Forecast (informational only)—does not include O & M

Activity/Work	Investment (estimate or approved amount)	Timeline
Design, engineering, plans and specifications — Damon Farber Architects	$269k	Approved June 2025
Restroom and support building — design, fabrication and delivery (not on-site construction)	$305k	Approved Sept. 2025
Sewer and water service lines	$148k	Approved Sept. 2025
Construction management services and General Conditions	$50k - $700k	Pending: October '25, January '26
Mass grading, import class 5 to site	$120k	Pending: November '25
Owner procured shelters (3) and outdoor furnishings (eliminates construction manager fees)	$1.1M	Pending: Dec. '25/Jan. '26
SAC/WAC, permitting, owner contingency, signage etc.	$600k	Pending: Feb. '26/July '26
Construction costs (all trades and scope)	$2.4M	Pending: Feb. '26/July '26
.............................................................................................................................................................	..................................................	..................................................................
Running budget estimate (preliminary and informational only) — all costs totaled over time	$4.6M to $5.6M	2025 through 2026

Recent Favorable Developments
For the past couple of years, the Park & Recreation and staff have been working on concepts to expand recreational opportunities in the community and in particular, at The Waterfront—this includes working with staff's counterparts at the Minnesota DNR to develop a sustaining fishery. Related to this, this Summer the city received a $46k grant from the DNR for natural resource enhancements for plantings next Spring around the shore of the 7.4 acre deep-water pond.  And on Friday October 10th, 2,178 Yellow Perch were released into the pond to provide the forage basis for game fish that will be introduced in 2026.

Additionally, staff has a handshake agreement with DNR to receive a sizable fishing pier for The Waterfront also for this coming year. City Council will have the opportunity to authorize entering into a Cooperative Agreement to receive the fishing pier (valued at more than $50k) at the October 28th regular meeting—this would include developing an ADA compliant path down the bank of the pond to access the pier, and to create several stone shore fishing nodes around the pond. More information will be available for the meeting.

 

The Construction Management Services that this case discusses, would be funded by the Park Trust Fund.

 

Staff recommends entering into a contractual agreement with H + U Construction for construction management services for The Waterfront waterplay park improvement project, in the form of a Construction Manager at Risk agreement.

Motion to recommend to City Council, approval of a contract with H + U Construction for construction management services for The Waterfront waterplay park improvement project.