After years of talk and brainstorming, the actual building of
the Southeast Park is right around the corner.
David Rubcic, a civil engineer for the city, presented the Parks
and Recreation Commission with an update on the status of the
project at their meeting Thursday, Jan. 15.
After years of talk and brainstorming, the actual building of the Southeast Park is right around the corner.
David Rubcic, a civil engineer for the city, presented the Parks and Recreation Commission with an update on the status of the project at their meeting Thursday, Jan. 15.
Rubcic reiterated to the Commission that the City Council approved the conceptual plan for the park at its Jan. 5 meeting, and he discussed many of the design details included in the plan.
A staff meeting is scheduled to allow representatives from the police department, fire department and parks and maintenance staff to provide input on what they would like to see as far as details, Rubcic said.
“The police department is concerned about lighting, so they can be able to patrol the area,” Rubcic said. “The fire department is concerned about their ability to respond to medical aid requests within the park… Whoever else attends the meeting will give us feedback.”
Two community meetings have been held to allow residents to give city officials and Monterey-based landscape architect firm Bellinger Foster Steinmetz their feedback on what they want the park to look like and certain amenities that will be included in it.
A third community meeting will be held sometime in early February to give residents another chance to voice their opinions, Rubcic said.
When an exact date is set, a notice will be issued to interested residents informing them so they can attend, he said.
“Right now everything’s on schedule,” he said. “Some things may be slipping, but there shouldn’t be any real changes as far as scheduling goes.”
After the staff and community meetings, construction drawings will be outlined and city officials will call for bids from contractors.
“Unless there’s a big demand by the community for another meeting, then we’ve got the details, we know what they want,” he said. “It’s just a matter of putting it down on paper so a contractor can build it.”
It will be an open bidding process, so all local landscape contractors, as well as external individuals, will be notified and the lowest responsive bidder will be awarded the contract, Rubcic said.
“A lot of the hard work of getting it designed is already completed,” he said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting it moving on.”
