191019

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1.  The Council finds:

1. Portland Parks & Recreation (PP&R) promotes health, livability, and economic vitality through the effective management of the City’s award-winning parks and recreation system.
    
2. Washington Park, located off Highway 26 and connected by a network of trails, is a 410-acre park which is home to the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, the former Portland Children’s Museum building, Hoyt Arboretum, the International Rose Test Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, and several memorials including the Oregon Holocaust Memorial and the Vietnam Veterans of Oregon Memorial. Washington Park is in the Arlington Heights/Sylvan Highlands neighborhood and serves as a regional attraction that brings in 3.5 million visitors annually.
    
3. PP&R and its design consultants engaged the public through focus groups, open houses, and online surveys to reach the final preferred design for the project. Community engagement for the Project began in 2015 and was completed in 2019. In April 2017, PP&R conducted multiple rounds of public outreach to gather feedback on proposed design alternatives for the master plan.
    
4. Public comments were received in 2017 through the “Party in the Park” open house and on-line survey; social media; tabling outreach at three local farmers markets; focus groups conducted in Spanish, Russian, and Vietnamese; and meetings with PP&R staff, the Explore Washington Park board, and the Champion Committee.
    
5. Over 2,000 people participated and gave their opinions in 2017. Throughout the planning process, PP&R presented information to Arlington Heights, Sylvan-Highlands, and Goose Hollow-Foothill’s neighborhood associations.
    
6. The City Land Use decision (LU 12-156689 CU) requires stormwater mitigation resulting from the construction of the parking lot located directly west of the former Children’s Museum building.  The implementation of this project satisfies the stormwater mitigation requirement in this LU decision.

7. In March 2018, the City Council unanimously approved the Washington Park Master Plan to strategically guide the future development of the park over the next decades. The master plan’s first step, the South Entry Project (“Project”), moves forward on achieving the overall park vision to address the circulation challenges and enhance the park experience.

8. In 2019, PP&R engaged the public to set community-supported priorities for the design and construction of park improvements, which comprise the current Project bid package.

9. The Community weighed in on three alternative designs in 2019. Community feedback resulted in the final preferred design. In addition to the stakeholders identified above, this long robust community engagement period involved Metro (zoo), Japanese Garden, Hoyt Arboretum, Tri-Met, Explore Washington Park, and the World Forestry Center. Additionally, the project included review with the City ADA advisory committee, and two additional public workshops were held for visitors to the Portland Children’s Museum and World Forestry Center. This project maintains an active website that allows the community to provide feedback through construction. The above stakeholders and organizations all have significant employee diversity and equity goals, and their responses are reflective of these diverse opinions.

10. The Project will include an enhanced grand entry, better access and circulation for pedestrians and cyclists, increased sidewalks, wayfinding and signage, and a functional stormwater garden that satisfies requirements of LU 12-156689 CU.

11. Funding for this Project is included in the 5-year Capital Budget beginning in FY 2022-23 through PP&R System Development Charges, the Washington Park – Parking Meter Fund, the ADA Transition Plan, a BES Percent for Green Grant,  and ODOT (cost sharing agreement is in process), with a total project budget of $6.83 million.

12. The construction cost estimate for the project provided by the consultant team led by 2.Ink Studios and its professional cost estimator DCW-Cost Management is $5.2 million.

13. PP&R’s confidence level in the cost estimate is medium due to the current bidding and construction market, low contractor availability, and pricing risk from uncertainties in material supply chains for estimates and project bids.

14. PP&R seeks Council’s authorization for Procurement Services to issue a competitive solicitation and execute a contract for the construction of the Project.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. That the Chief Procurement Officer is authorized to facilitate the use of the competitive solicitation process to obtain the lowest, responsible, and responsive bid for the construction of the Washington Park South Entry Project. Procurement will utilize their standard Subcontractor Equity Program specification
    
2. Upon Council acceptance of the Chief Procurement Officer’s Report recommending the lowest responsible bidder, the Chief Procurement Officer, or designee,  is authorized to negotiate and execute a contract, provided the contract has been approved as to form by the City Attorney’s Office.
    
3. The Mayor and Auditor are hereby authorized to draw and deliver checks chargeable to the PP&R System Development Charge funds when demand is presented and approved by the proper authorities.