It was a lengthy evening for city government Monday after a special commission meeting at 5 p.m. that transitioned into a night filled with public hearings and presentations.
In the process, commissioners set the next phase of several projects in motion and purchased some new equipment.
The playground at the Planteen Recreation Center will soon be replaced. It was installed in 1997 and thus has exceeded its useful life of 15 years. The heavy use and weather damage has led to it being not feasible to repair the worn sections, so it’s time to replace it. The city got a quote from Rep Services, Inc., which was available via piggyback on an existing contract with Clay County. The cost to purchase and install the new equipment with a safety fall zone is $68,940.19. The project has a rather quick turnaround as there is no new design — it’s just a simple replacement.
Samuel W. Cooper Park will soon have fitness equipment installed after commissioners authorized a contract with Rep Services, Inc. on Monday evening for $137,265.60 via piggyback of Clay County.
Cooper Park has a 0.6-mile paved walking trail and the HealthBeat Outdoor Fitness System is set to be installed. It has a set of 14 exercise stations that “provides safe structures for users to enhance their balance, flexibility, strength and cardiovascular system. The ADA-compliant system can also be used for joint replacement rehabilitation,” according to the City of Plant City.
Big changes are underway for the McIntosh Park Preserve. Phase I of the Trail Construction was approved Monday by commissioners. Florida Communities Trust requires “development of a minimum two-mile pedestrian trail and a wildlife observation tower for the McIntosh Preserve,” according to the city report. This includes approximately 2.3 miles of “at-grade compacted aggregate trails” as well as a parking lot, parking amenities and an elevated steel observation tower.
Eight bids were received to tackle the project and the lowest responsive and responsible bid came from Stellar Development for $435,863.27. An alternate add-on was included to construct a small playground with poured-in-place safety surfacing at the wildlife observation tower for $55,757.42, which brings the total up to $491,620.69. The original budget for the project was $630,000. Of that, $529,181 is available in Project RC007 – McIntosh Tract Property Development, which includes $330,000 from a Florida Legislative Grant and $300,000 from Recreation Impact Fees.
City Manager Bill McDaniel said this has a “really fast timeline” and should be done 90 to 120 days after its start.
The CARES Act Funding Agreement between Hillsborough County and the City of Plant City was also revised. The city and the county originally entered into the agreement on Sept. 2. The agreement provided $4 million to the city “to offset allowable pandemic expenditures consistent with CARES Act funding requirements.”
This first modification will provide an additional $2 million to the city, for a total of $6 million. It will have until the end of the calendar year to use it to help with the impact of the pandemic. McDaniel said this was a massive project and that the entire second floor of City Hall is currently vacant. Some of the staff has been relocated, like the building department which is operating out of the Sadye Gibbs Martin Community Center. Others are working from home. The entire floor is being gutted for the new office setups, which will help slow the spread of contagion within City Hall.
The 2020-21 fiscal year’s budget included funding for a lateral launch camera system for the Utilities Department. The proposed system is an upgrade to the city’s current Cues Inc.-built TV sewer inspection van. It will provide “160 feet of pan and tilt lateral visibility from the main sewer line into service lines in an effort to proactively manage sewage complications.”
Using a contract already in place with Cues Inc. through Houston-Galveston Area Council, the city can purchase the Lamp 2 Lateral Launch Camera System for $125,160, which falls below the $131,418 budgeted funds in place. The funds are available via the city’s Fleet Replacement Fund.