After almost a year-long master plan process and a bill that will likely exceed $250,000, the Half Moon Bay City Council gave Public Works Director Paul Nagengast the green light to rehire the firm Moore, Iacofano and Goltsman to design the proposed Half Moon Bay Community Park.
"Generally everything has been favorable," said Nagengast. "It went well during the (master plan) process that we did and it seemed everything was satisfactory with the documents that were delivered."
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"We agreed they could continue on that," said Mayor Marina Fraser. "There's still a lot more analysis that has to be completed on (the park.)"
Last year the council capped the MIG contract at $250,000. So far, the bill has totaled about $245,000, but Nagengast said that amount would likely increase to about $260,000 because of additional work related to the California Environmental Quality Act, and the permitting process.
Nagengast said that unanticipated costs for these types of projects are normal, adding that final cost to the city should not exceed $280,000.
"Especially when you go to areas that are unknown, there's things that can happen that we didn't anticipate," said Nagengast. "Having to deal with that, that's what we did."
Now, MIG will submit a proposal for further work to the council. Nagengast said that work could take several months.
The Feb. 21 report to council concluded a 10-month effort to come up with a Half Moon Bay Community Park master plan.
The city hired MIG in January 2005 to complete a park master plan after appointing a 31-member committee the previous December to assist in the effort.
The park-planning firm facilitated the committee meetings, which were held monthly from February through October 2005. In addition, MIG oversaw two joint meetings with the Parks and Recreation Commission in July and September, before giving a final presentation to the City Council in November.
Now, Nagengast said that design and construction documents for the park would parallel the environmental permitting process under the CEQA, as comments from permitting agencies will be incorporated as part of the design.
The city will also look to obtain proposals for the preparation of the required Environmental Impact Report.
The city and MIG representatives have already received comments from the California Department of Fish and Game and the California Coastal Commission after a joint meeting and site tour in July.
Although the city has still not received formal comments from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Nagengast said that nothing "indicates anything we haven't foreseen or included as part of the plan." The environmental agencies are crucial as officials have found evidence of threatened California red-legged frogs on the 21-acre site adjacent to Highway 92.
Meanwhile, with the $3.1 million loan which paid for the parkland coming due in December 2007, Nagengast said that the city has to consider how it's going to pay for the project. Funding will be a crucial factor in determining what features will be incorporated in the design. City officials said they plan to discuss funding for the park in upcoming months.
Despite these concerns, Nagengast said that the first phase of the park project was "right on track."
"I think the progress has been fine," said Nagengast. "Now some of the tough decisions will have to be made. We won't know until we present something to the City Council."
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