Wildwood’s City Council gave final approval Sept. 22 for a contract with Oates Associates of up to $108,500 for construction observation and management services for the city’s phase 1 Community Park work.
Phase 1 work at the park will include a pavilion, universally-accessible playground, dog park, parking lot, restrooms and multi-use trail.
Costs for phase 1 will be more expensive than future phases because of the need to install road, utility, sewer and other infrastructure before any other work is completed, officials have said.
The council also gave final approval to a construction contract with Gershenson Construction of up to $2.643 million for phase 1 work to be done by May 22, 2015.
Joe Vujnich, the city’s director of planning and parks, told councilmembers that the work has a number of special items and environmental protection components, such as tree preservation, incorporated into the property development, which will call for sustainable site regulation during construction.
“We feel it will be important to have a professional available to review contractor billing and other issues and be an oversight presence during construction,” he said. “While there was some concern about the cost, it became clear that Oates, with their background in design and bidding, was the most suitable to do this management and observation, and we feel the cost will be returned to us (through their services).”
“We need to have this (oversight) with every major city construction project,” Councilmember Sue Cullinane (Ward 3) said.
Community Park is located near the intersection of highways 109 and 100.
