REQUEST FOR DECISION
DATE: April 16, 2021 Report No. P&R-21-001
TO: Laurie Hurst, Chief Administrative Officer
FROM: Rick Daykin, Acting Director of Parks and Recreation Services
SUBJECT:
Title
Hither Green Park Playground Contract Award and Park DevelopmentEnd
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
That Council award Suttle Recreation Inc. a contract valued at $158,922 (excluding GST) for the supply and installation of a playground for Hither Green Park
Body
RELEVANT POLICY:
Financial Plan Bylaw 2020-2024 No 2986
Purchasing and disposal Bylaw, 2014, No 2845
STRATEGIC RELEVANCE:
Healthy, Livable and Diverse Community
Enhance opportunities for Parks and Recreation
BACKGROUND:
Hither Green Park has an underdeveloped playground which is utilized sparingly due to its current lack of play equipment. Council approved $225,000 in capital funding to improve Hither Green Park with a new playground and to make it more attractive and fun for children in the area. A request for proposal to provide up to two nature inspired playground designs from playground suppliers closed on February 1, 2021 with 10 submissions from 7 different companies. A nature inspired playground incorporates elements such as logs and boulders into the design. A staff panel evaluated and scored the submissions based on the program criteria as set out in the request for proposal and the top 5 designs were presented to the community on our website for voting and comments.
This park serves as a utility corridor to service the English Inn property and 1032 Bewdley. With the development of additional housing units on the English Inn property, Aragon intends to upgrade the underground water, storm sewer and gas services in the next 3 months. After Aragon installs the underground services, re-grades the land and reinstates the drainage and irrigation systems within the park, park development can begin.
ISSUES:
1. Rationale for Selected Option
At the April 15, 2021 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting, the Committee recommended that Council award the playground project to Suttle Recreation Inc. in keeping with the community consultation results and staff recommendation.
2. Organizational Implications
There are no organizational implications with this contract award.
3. Financial Implications
Council allocated $225,000 in capital funding to develop Hither Green Park with a children’s playground. It is recommended that Suttle Recreation Inc. supply and install a nature inspired playground for $158,922 (excluding GST) as shown in the design in Attachment A.
The other playground supply and installation bids are listed below:
Habitat Landscape Structures design 2 - $166,618
Rectec Industries - $156,697.71
Green roots - $166,543
Habitat Landscape Structures design 1 - $166,511
Park N Play Design Company Ltd design 1 - $144,463.16
Park N Play Design Company Ltd design 2 - $148,204.36
Victoria Garden City design 1 - $156,100
Victoria Garden City design 2 - $155,900
Latina Landscapes & Maintenance - $164,600
After the playground is installed, an accessible pathway will be built to connect Bewdley Avenue and the English Inn property to the park. A small English garden will be planted complete with an arbor and a Hither Green Park sign to welcome people into the park. A durable picket fence with a gate will flank the property line and a bike rack will provide cyclists with a place to lock their bikes while enjoying the park. Benches will be installed with good visibility towards the children play areas. The North end of the park will be developed as a picnic area with shade trees and grass. Fence screenings with artwork will be installed on the existing chain link fences to provide the adjoining neighbors with visual privacy. It is estimated that this phase of the project will be $66,000. In time, people will express interest in contributing to the park through various landscape and furnishings donations.
4. Sustainability & Environmental Implications
This neighborhood park playground will serve the area well and reduce the number of car trips that families in the area may make to other playgrounds in the community. Installation of a bike rack will encourage cycling to the park and the pathway will provide connectivity to the street and English Inn to encourage more people to walk.
5. Communication & Engagement
Two rounds of community consultation were held to determine what type of playground the community was interested in and to determine the preferred playground design. In the first round of community consultation it was determined that a nature inspired playground was strongly favored. In the second round of consultation, the majority of the respondents preferred the design as prepared by Suttle Recreation Inc. The following list outlines the number of votes received for each of the five playground design options that were presented on our website.
Suttle Recreation Inc. - 38 votes
Habitat Structures Ltd. - 22 votes
Rec Tec Industries - 7 votes
Green Roots - 7 votes
Habitat Structures Ltd. Design 1 - 1 vote
No preference in design - 2 votes
ALTERNATIVES:
1. That Council award Suttle Recreation Inc. the contract valued at $158,922 (excluding GST) for the supply and installation of a playground for Hither Green Park.
2. That Council direct staff to not award this playground contract and to provide staff with an alternate direction for the development of Hither Green Park.