SUBJECT/RECOMMENDATION:
Title
Authorize Guaranteed Maximum price proposal to Bandes Construction Company, Inc. of Dunedin, FL for field improvements to Carpenter Complex’s Carlton Field in the amount of $1,694,465.40 pursuant to Request for Qualifications (RFQ) 51-24, Construction Manager at Risk Services Continuing Contracts and authorize the appropriate officials to execute same. (consent)
Body
SUMMARY:
The Carpenter Complex, including four major league baseball fields, was constructed in 1967 on a landfill owned by the City. For the first 20 to 25 years of being constructed, settling garbage created uneven and unsafe playing conditions, and they were repaired every off season. Since then, settling of the fields has decreased while programming of the fields has increased, making major repairs and renovations difficult to schedule.
After nearly sixty years of use, the fields need major renovations/replacement starting with Carlton Field. Currently this field has issues with water ponding and poor drainage on the field as well as extreme uneven dips and elevations on the grass outfield playing surfaces. According to Section 9.1 of the current “Baseball Training Facility Lease Agreement” between the City and the Phillies the City “shall perform all necessary maintenance, repair and restoration thereof, ordinary and extraordinary” to the playing fields “in first class condition and up to first class MLB spring training facilities standards”. This field must be renovated to meet minimum MLB facility standards to ensure the safety of players and is not a part of the pending agreements being negotiated. Staff is working with the Phillies to address future renovations needs for the remainder of fields at the Complex.
The scope of work for renovation includes providing a fully completed MLB practice baseball field in accordance with written MLB standards and specifications, providing supervision, shop drawings submissions, project scheduling monitoring and skilled labor. Additionally, Bandes Construction will provide:
• Locates to identify existing underground utilities, provide all land surveying, and provide all 3rd-party independent laboratory soil testing.
• Complete all clearing and grubbing of existing field materials, including turfgrass, native subsurface soils, clay, warning track materials (as needed), infield skinned area, home plate, and pitching mound.
• Install a fully automatic irrigation system, including mainlines, providing mainline pressure testing lateral piping, heads, field adjusted head nozzles to provide head-to-head coverage, manual gate valves, remote control valves, quick couplers, ball valves, and all other items per plans and specifications.
• Install new turfgrass (either Tiftuff or Tifway 419 Bermuda based on availability), which includes a 60-day grow-in program, applications of herbicides, fertilizer, pesticide, and final topographic survey.
• Provide all baseball field equipment and materials per plans and specifications including pitching rubber, bases, base anchors, and base plugs, home plate, warning track, foul poles, infield skinned area, etc.
• Provide electrical feed for a new irrigation controller.
• Provide improvements to the left field spectator area including removal of existing topsoil and subsoils from within the spectator area to meet required subgrade elevations and hauling spoils to an offsite location.
On September 20, 2024, Council approved the use of eighteen firms to serve as Construction Managers at Risk (CMAR) for Continuing Contracts under RFQ 51-24 and Bandes Construction Company, Inc. was selected as one of the approved firms.
Bandes Construction Company, Inc. was selected from the approved CMAR Continuing Contracts List based on past reliability, professionalism, prevalent on-site supervisory personnel, and their ability to put together a team of various disciplines to complete this project, as well as their past performances with other sports facility projects. Their ability to deliver quality services, expedite designated timelines during the short off season, and communicate clearly with the client makes them the CMAR to be considered for this project.
Bandes will provide all warranties per plans and specifications and all Parks & Recreation Closeout Documents / As-Builts.
This repair work is estimated to take 101 calendar days, to be completed with work commencing no later than October 5, 2026, and concluding no later than January 15, 2027
APPROPRIATION CODE AND AMOUNT:
Funding for this construction contract is available in capital project M2204, Carpenter and BayCare R&R, funded by revenues from the General Fund.
USE OF RESERVE FUNDS:
N/A
STRATEGIC PRIORITY:
Approval of the purchase order supports several Strategic Plan Objectives, including:
• 1.2: Maintain public infrastructure, mobility systems, natural lands, environmental resources, and historic features through systematic management efforts.
• 1.3: Adopt responsive levels of service for public facilities and amenities, and identify resources required to sustain that level of service.
• 2.3: Promote Clearwater as a premier destination for entertainment, cultural experiences, tourism, and national sporting events.
