Work has begun on Phase 1 of the Coleman Park Project. Photo by Neil Farrell
Work has already begun in the rebuilding of Morro Bay’s Coleman Park, with a construction fence up and excavators and backhoes already moving dirt around.
Morro Bay City Council in February awarded the construction contract for Phase 1 of the rebuilding of Coleman Park.
The Council approved hiring J Bruce Kies, who was the low bidder at $724,00. There’s a contingency of $72,000 bringing the total contract budget up to over $796,000.
The project includes purchase and installation of a prefabricated restroom for some $333,000, add in extras like $192,000 for design and $40,000 for construction management and others. And the overall project budget tops $1.4 million.
But that total falls short of the available funding by some $194,000.
The City’s funding is coming from several sources. There’s a $600,000 grant from a State Parks program; $40,000 donated by Castle Winds a company that tried to get an offshore wind energy lease but failed; $69,500 in Quimby Act monies; $177,000 of Prop. 68 funds; and $292,000 in development impact fees. The total available funding was at over $1.21 million.
To make up the difference the City shuffled around some other monies from three other projects — two that were completed under budget and one that is being put off.
The City took $42,300 from the Sequoia Street Emergency Storm Drain Project; and $84,700 from the Citywide Capital and Facilities Planning. It also deferred its Active Transportation Plan project for another $67,000.
“The Active Transportation Plan/Corridor Studies project was originally included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-24 budget to create the City’s first active transportation plan for the purpose of pursuing active transportation grant funding.
“However, due to the high number of active and wait-listed capital projects as well as reduced staff capacity to implement these projects, as well as the low priority status of this project, no work has been done on this on the Active Transportation Plan.”
There’s a potential issue with that big State Parks grant.
“The $600,000 of grant funding awarded by California State Parks.” reads the item report, “was for a broader Coleman Park Improvements project and included additional scope to what is now planned for the Phase 1 project.
“At the recommendation of State Parks, the City has formally submitted a de-scoping request for several items originally proposed in the grant. As of the writing of this staff report, State Parks has not made a final decision on the City’s de-scoping request. In the event State Parks reject the City’s de-scoping request, staff would come back to identify potential solutions to fill any funding gaps as an alternative to project cancellation.”
The Phase 1 Coleman Park Project has been in the works for a long time. The public restrooms were condemned after an inspection found problems with the single-story concrete block structure. They sat closed for some time before the City decided to tear it down.
Coleman Park is among the most scenic in the City rivaling Tidelands Park in its setting next to the bay, with a sweeping view of the harbor mouth to the west and looking down the harbor channel and the Embarcadero to the south.
It sits in the shadow of the smokestacks of the closed power plant and has some amenities — a swing set, picnic tables, a trio of bayside dirt parking lots and a full size basketball court.
In 2021, the City held several public meetings with the Parks & Recreation Commission and other advisory boards, polling what amenities the public would like there. What emerged was a concept plan that included numerous new features, like cultural areas for Native Americans and Filipinos to commemorate their history with the bay, an exercise area, new playground, outdoor stage, ADA parking and interior trails among others.
But budget realities have pared down the project considerably and Phase 1 will focus on the new restroom facility; ADA-compliant parking; accessible playground replacement; and ADA pathways connecting these features.
J Bruce Kies Const. started last week, and the project is expected to take some 55 working days to complete.
Last Thursday, the work had already included moving picnic tables around and grading of the sandy surface. A trio of men were doing underground work on what will be the restroom pad while a backhoe and a track excavator stood sentinel over the effort.
When the pad for the new restroom is finished, the company CXT will deliver the pre-fab restroom and install it.
If all goes as planned visitors to the park will have a new restroom and other amenities before the summer tourist season starts.
