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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWD-13-96 THE REPORT Meeting: GENERAL PURPOSE AND ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE File # .~- Res. # ~ l~. Date: FEBRUARY 19, 1$96 By-Law # Report#: wn-ia-o~ File#: va 99 nt Subject: LORD ELGIN PUBii,IC SCHOOL PLAYGROUND/PRE-BUDGET APPROVAL Recommendations: It is respectfullyT recommended that the General Purpose and Administration Committee recommend to Council the following: 1. THAT Report WDr13-96 be received; 2. THAT the LordLElgin Public School playground project in the amount of Twenlty Thousand Dollars ($20,000) contained in the Public Works Department, Park Development Maintenance Section, of the 1996 prpposed Capital Budget be approved FORTHWITH; 3. THAT the requi;ed funding be taken from the Community Services Lot Levy Accoulnt #5001-00035-X; 4. THAT the Director of Public Works be directed to meet. with. representatives of the Board of Education and a committee of interested rgsidents to obtain general consensus on ,a selection of xjeplacement playground pieces; 5. TBAT, upon consensus, a tender be let and the equipment be installed at the earliest opportunity; and 6. THAT the Nori;humberland-Clarington Board of Education and Terryl Tzikas;, the first name on the petition, be advised of Council's decusion. ~~~~ .~s~o°~®.~oP:~A 1 0 5 7 REPORT NO.: WD-13-96 PAGE 2 REPORT 1.0 A' No. 1: Copy of correspondence, dated January 12, 1996, from the Parents of Lord Elgin Public School, encl©sing a Petition 2.0 BACRGROiJND 2.1 At a meeting held on January 29, 1996, the Council of the Municipality o~ Clarington passed the following Resolution #C-87-96: "THAT the correspondence dated January 12, 1996 from'Parents of Lord Elgin Public School requesting financial support to rebuild the playground equipment that was damaged during renovations and raising concerns regarding the drainage system of the playground's foundation basin, be received; and THAT, as the issue of the drainage system has been addressed and will be resolved in the spring of 1996 under the existing contract between the developer and the contractor and the replacement of the playground equipment is being proposed in the 1996 Public Works Capital Budget, the correspondence be referred to the Director of Public Works for direct response."' And Council at the same meeting, further passed the following Resolution #C-88-96: 1058 REPORT NO.: WD-13-96 PAGE 3 "THAT the foregoing Resolution #C-87-96 be amended bX adding the following thereto: 'and that the correspondence be referred to the Chief Administrative Officer to resolve this issue with the developer. "' 2.2 Some parents of the children attending Lord Elgin Public School in Bowmanville have petitioned Council (Attachment No. 1) to replace the removed playground equipment at Lord Elgin Public ,School and resolve the seasonally flooded playground location "as soon as possible". 3.0 REVIEW AND COMMENT 3.1 The local developer, Scugog Estates (also known as Lord Elgin Estates), through a separate agreement, was responsible to upgrade the school land and park to the satisfaction of the Community Services Department. The developer hired a Landscape Architect, Henry Rortekaas, to determine our needs, prepare a tender, and supervise the contract. The Municipality is not directly involved or responsible for the Landscape Architect or the Contractor. Subsequently, a tender was awarded to Ron Robinson Limited to, among other things, remove the existing thirty (30) year old playground equipment and, if in acceptable condition, relocate it elsewhere on school lands. Upon removal of the equipment, it was determined that the equipment was beyond satisfactory repair and would not meet the Canadian Standards Association requirements. Consequently, the equipment was discarded. 3.2 The Landscape Architect and Municipal staff identified a block of funds within the agreed limit of construction funding as a 1059 REPORT NO.: WD-13-96 PAGE 4 contingency. $hould all or any part of that contingency not be required, the residual amount would be paid in cash to Clarington upoq release of Scugog Estates'. separate Letter of Credit to guarantee the work. When it was determined that the equipment could not be salvaged, it was hoped that up to Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000) would be received from the contingency to purchase some of the necessary playground equipment. The remainder of the required replacement equipment would be budgeted in 1996. Our normal procedure for items removed as unsafe is to include them in the next year's budget. 3.3 The contract, which was started in August of 1995, should have been completed by mid-November. During the contract, claims from the contractor for extras were received which were deemed by the Landscape Architect to be inaccurate or not justified. Negotiations met a temporary impasse. Because of the contentious nature of the issue, the developer chose to delay a progress payment. While the work was substantially complete, the Contractor ]reacted by delaying completion of the project. Subsequently, a third party arbitrated the matter and found for the developer. An adjusted progress payment was paid. 3.4 In following Council's resolutions of January 29, 1996, as noted above, a meeting was called with the Landscape Architect and the Contractor, to determine what remained outstanding to complete the contract, and what residual contingency funds may be transferred to the Municipality. Less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000) worth of work is outstanding on the original contract and approximately One Thousand Two Hundred Dollars ($1,200) in extras are outstanding to install the drainage pipe for the playground. The Contractor, through his own delays, did not complete this work prior to the winter freeze- 1060 REPORT NO.: WD-13-96 PAGE 5 up. As a result, the contract work will not be completed until late April or early May. The Developer has chosen to hold back sufficient funds to guarantee the Contractor's prompt action to complete the outstanding work at the earliest opportunity. The developer will not pay any residual contingency find to the Municipality until the Municipality has released ~he remainder of his Letter of Credit. The Municipality w~.ll not release the Developer's remaining Letter of Credit until all work is done, and all conditions of the agreement are #ulfilled. The contract's completion must wait for suitable ground conditions. Until all claims and payments to both the Landscape Architect and the Contractor are made, we are unable to identify the contingency funds remaining. We believe, however, that Five to Six Thousand Dollars ($5,000 to $6,000) will be paid to the Municipality and will be credited to the Community Services Lot Levy Account. 3.5 During rainy weather or thaws, Public Works staff has and will continue to mo~sitor the flooded playground area and will pump out the area µntil the contractor installs the playground drainage systel~n. 4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1 Council may feel the matter to be sufficiently urgent and direct the project contained in the 1996 Capital Budget submission be approved FORTBWITH. Upon approval, staff will meet with representatives of the Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education and a Committee of Parents to review the needs and select replacement equipment. A tender document can be prepared and awarded prior to the busy period for our Purchasing Division. With pre-budget approval, the equipment may be installed by early to mid-May. Without pre-budget 1061 REPORT NO.: WD-13-'96 PAGE 6 approval the playground equipment may not be installed until mid-summer. Respectfully submitted, Reviewed by, I Step eh n A. Vokes, P',.Eng. W. H. Stockwell Director of Public Works Chief Administrative Officer February 14, 1996 The Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education P.O. Box 470 Cobourg, Ontario R9A 4L2 Terryl Tzikas 45 Fourth Street Bowmanville, Ontarip L1C 2G5 ~~~~ COUNCIL DIRECTION p_~~ January 12, 1995 Mayor D. Hamre and Council Members 40 Temperance Street BOWMANVILLC, Ontario LIC 3A6 Dear Mayor and Councillors, Our children have been attending Lord Elgin Public School for several months of the 1995/96 school year without any playground equipment. Major renovations were completed at the school during the summer of 1995, which have received a favourable response by most of the community. We however, have some concerns which we would like the Council to address immediately. As mentioned above, the children have been without play equipment for their recess and lunch time activities as of September 1995. A juvenile playground set was established in late October/November 1995, however, this equipment does not meet the needs of the general population of the school. When the renovations occurred the playground equipment was damaged and could not be reused, and was removed from the school yard. The equipment included swing sets, climbers, slides, and a pair of soccer goal posts. Please note that we are only asking for the same amount of equipment to be returned in an updated fashion to our park and school yard. Our second concern and probably the most serious to date would be the foundation basin to which the desired equipment is to be erected. This foundation requires a drainage system as it floods regularly and parents have been required to bail the basin after a rain fall. If this most serious situation is left unattended it may lead to a small child drowning. We request that. you respond to our concerns as soon as possible as we enter into tl~e second term of the school year. We would like our school to be a fun place for our children and right now they remain without a positive outlet For their--boundless energies. Thanking you in advance. Parents of Lord Clgin Public School , ATTACHMENT N0. 1 WD-13-96 cc: C. Kennedy Clarington/Northumberland Public Schgol.Bdard 1063 PETITION TO MAYOR HAMRE AND COUNCIL INEMBERS OF BOWMANVILLE We, the parents of Lord Elgin Public School children urgently request that consideration be given to our petition for age appropriate playground equipment, ie, for children 6-14 years old. This equipment would include swings (with and without babyseats), slides, climbers, and soccer goal posts. Our petition also requests that serious consideration.be.given to installing adequate drainage for the foundation basin which the equipment is to be erected on. Our attached letter fully explains our concerns. NAME ADDRESS PHONE NUMBER ~_ . o ~ '; tI r ~ ... Li. .(1 _ X17 7ni~ // ~ , ~ w 7 ~ ;, ~l r,.---a ~ A %t;l. ~ Ilia\ct,. .i' ' % i ~. ' ~`~~ lOb4 _`.~~r~~C,7"t~Y-~~l ~i F=Haar"~ ,~ti'~: ~i'-i l-I ~y~ .~ ~~~ i '~ ~• i l W'l;~r: '1 ' ~` ~Itil~l l„._. \; ~.~. t) i~ t; ~, ~~ 1 _ a i ! ~ i NAME ADDRESS PHONE NUMBER s ~ ,~ _ ~,,,. ,