Grading to begin on W.V. community park project





The Westlake Village City Council has hired Spirit Construction Inc. for the grading and drainage phase of its 50acre community park project.

Clearing and grading will begin in early July on the site at the north side of Thousand Oaks Boulevard between Lindero Canyon Road and La Baya Drive. Nearly 1.75 million cubic yards of earth will be removed from the hilly site. When the work is completed, there will be a 20acre pad area and another 25 acres of surrounding slope. Spirit will also construct storm drains and debris basins. The work will cost about $290,600.

The construction and maintenance costs of the multimilliondollar joint project will be shared by the city and the YMCA. The site will include a YMCA building with indoor pools, basketball courts and gyms. The city park will house facilities for baseball, soccer, skateboard, hockey and sand volleyball.

It is unusual for public agencies to undertake such large earth-moving projects, usually reserved for private development, said City Engineer John Knipe. Spirit Construction has this type of experience, something that was key to the company being chosen from three bids received by the city. The company also had the lowest hourly rates of the three companies considered, Knipe added.

In reviewing the proposals, city staff considered whether the team had worked together before, if they had experience with similar size projects, if they had public agency experience and how the earthwork removal would be monitored, Knipe said.

“It’s very important that when you’re moving this much earth you know where your work limits are, because if a contractor goes outside those work limits he’s going to ask for additional payment when he didn’t have to.”

To ensure that workers remain within the construction zone and within budget, a manager, observer and global positioning system operator will be on hand. The GPS will allow city engineers to keep track of the work by computer.

“We’ll know where he’s working at any time, so if they are going outside of the limits of the work . . . we’ll know. It will be at their cost,” Knipe said.

Council members commended Knipe and his staff for their oversight. Mayor Bob Slavin called it “expensive, good insurance.”

“I think there needs to be some accountability. Now there is going to be a responsible party who’s looking at everything,” Slavin said. “This is what they’re paid for.”

He also expressed satisfaction over the bids the city received for the project.

“When you see the bids that close like that it makes you feel like this is really what the market is. It’s not under or over,” Slavin said.

The work is expected to take seven to 10 months.


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