Vissing project to be completed in phases

Clark County

Discussion

February 16, 2012

Estimated $4M project expected to be bid out soon

By DAVID A. MANN David.Mann@newsandtribune.com The News and Tribune Thu Feb 16, 2012, 02:55 AM EST

JEFFERSONVILLE — As budget and manpower constraints have come to light in the last few weeks, Jeffersonville’s Vissing Park project is being split into two phases and bid out for contractors to complete.

Up to this point, work at the park has primarily been performed by city of Jeffersonville employees, and there initially had been hope that the park could be completed this year. However, city leaders are now at a point where bidding various aspects of the project out and completing them during the next two years is more effective, they said.

The plan at the park, which is off 10th Street, calls for two softball fields, basketball courts, restrooms, shelters, a concession area, walking trails, a fenced dog park and an open lawn. City crews broke ground on the project in August and have been working there since.

Near the end of 2011, Construction Solutions, a private company, was hired to manage the project. Then last week, it was announced that the cost estimates for the project were coming in more than $2 million more than initially anticipated. Earlier on, the cost was expected to be $1.2 to $2 million, but now estimates are set at closer to $4 million.

Jamie Lake, principal at Kovert Hawkins Architects, said city crews should find a good place to stop, designs should be revised and the work should be put out for bids. He said it would take three to four weeks for bids to be prepared, then contractors would be given another three to four weeks to bid on the project. Ideally, he said, the city would have picked a contractor and they would be working by June 1.

During a meeting earlier this week, the Jeffersonville Parks Authority approved a motion moving forward with that methodology. The Parks Authority is a board made up of members of the Jeffersonville City Council.

“We want to do everything right now, [but] the funding is not in place,” said Parks and Recreation Director Paul Northam.

Once job specifications are fully developed and bids come in, the authority will have a better idea on how much each aspect of the project will cost, he said. At that point, decisions will be made on what will be included in phase one and what will be included in phase two.

Mayor Mike Moore said the city has about $1.5 million available for the project this year. An additional $750,000 likely will be sought from the Jeffersonville Redevelopment Commission. The redevelopment commission utilizes funding from tax increment finance, or TIF, districts.

“People want to see as finished of a project as we can give them,” he said.

The Vissing Park project has been controversial since it started. Forest clearing in October 2010 — undertaken to make way for the improvements — prompted legal threats and protests from neighbors. Once completed, Vissing is to be the home of the city’s adult softball leagues.