Vintage Park Construction Update

At the April 19, 2022, City Council meeting, a construction contract in the amount of $944,047.18 was awarded to Diamond Construction & Design ("Diamond") for the Neighborhood Park Renovations at Sundowner and Vintage Parks (PW 2017-17D).

This project improves both parks with the replacement of amenities, replacement of playground equipment, and the addition of a walking loop with exercise equipment at Vintage Park.

The initial conceptual plans indicate a concrete walkway around the exercise equipment. During the 2019 final design, the designer chose to use a decomposed granite (“DG”) path for the exercise trail. This has several advantages. First, it avoided the need to produce a State required “Water Quality Management Plan” because concrete increases water runoff, whereas DG is considered permeable which reduces water runoff. This saved time and additional design and construction costs, as the plan and additional mitigation such as a bioswale or other water quality devices were not required.  This final design was approved by City Council on April 19, 2022.

This type of design is also considered a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solution and is used in many of our parks. Although stabilized decomposed granite seems just like dirt, this material contains cement binders that allow the material to “glue” together to provide a rigid surface that will allow children to ride bicycles on or walk on without getting “muddy.”  It may have a “softer” feel to it, but it is rigid enough to provide full support for park users. DG is used vastly for park pathways, trail projects, and exercise loops and has performed well in our other City parks. 

Twelve parks within the City with some DG paths: Borrego, Civic Center, Concourse, Foothill Ranch, Lake Forest Sports Park, Nature,  Pittsford, Portola, Serrano Creek, Tamarisk, and Veterans Park. Tamarisk having the most extensive pathways and picnic area. In general, the existing DG pathways throughout the city have performed well without complaints from users or residents or any additional maintenance challenges when compared to concrete walkways.

Diamond Construction and Design, the original contractor on the project, continues to work on Vintage Park improvements. City staff has emphasized to the Contractor that the site must be kept clean and secure. 

Responding to Residents' Concerns

Updated 3/2023

·     The good news is that many of the issues brought up at the council meeting will be resolved once the project is complete. For instance, site drainage improvements are part of the design. Any apparent drainage issues you see now will be resolved when those improvements are complete.  

·     The DG path is not complete, due to the ongoing construction, so not all DG material is compacted and placed as final. Heavy rains displaced the uncompacted material and some areas, such as the edges, have not yet passed a compaction test. Grading around the exercise and walkway loop is also unfinished. The path is designed to drain water away from it. Once the grading is complete, the landscape adjacent to the mow curb will be feathered and what now appears to be an elevated path will be the same elevation as adjacent landscape.  

·     A few concerns, such as the budget cut and three contractors on the project, are not correct. Staff is not aware of any budget cuts for this project. The City is still utilizing the original contractor, “Diamond Construction and Design,” which was the lowest bidder and was awarded the contract for this project. Firing the contractor would result in an additional 6- to 12-month delay because the project would need to be bid out again. The State Public Contract Code has strict requirements about terminating a contract. With the weather impacts in this case, the City would not have a very strong case for termination.  

·     After City Staff meeting with some of the residents a few weeks ago, staff is working on replacing the DG with concrete at the entry to the DG exercise loop. This item is a feasible modification within the contract that will have a significant impact in addressing some of residents’ concerns. Any larger changes would need to go through the budget and City Council process. The City’s intention is to finish the project as designed and contracted for as quickly as possible (weather permitting).

Anticipated Construction Milestones

Updated 5/2023

Unfortunately, we experienced an unprecedented amount of rain this winter season, which delayed all of City’s construction projects including Vintage Park. Rain leaded to saturated soils which delayed the project even further, especially when grading, compaction and foundation placement were the next items of work. The project has experienced quite a number of inclement weather days and other change order related extensions. The current scheduled completion date is end of May 2023, with shade canopy structure anticipated to be completed within one month of delivery. Shade Canopy structure was delivered on May 15^th.

Playground equipment installation – substantially completed.

Irrigation System modifications – substantially completed.

Replacement of DG with concrete at the entrance to the DG loop – substantially completed.

DG compaction and grading adjacent to the new loop – substantially completed.

Playground resilient surface – substantially completed.

Landscaping – Last week of April and May – ongoing.

Shade Canopy Structure delivery – Mid May

Shade Canopy Structure installation – May and June

Fence removal – End of May