LTC 053-2010 Polo Park Tennis Courtsm MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
LTC # _ 953-2.010 LE;~E~~~C~~V'f1~t~SSION
~~~~~`S OFF ICS
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City 6b~n~n~s~s~o~
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager ~, p'v-
DATE: February 26, 2010 ~ ~ :~
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SUBJECT: Polo Park Tennis Courts ;-
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This Letter To Commission is to inform you that the City Administration will be issuing an inv~atid~to
bid on the repair of the four tennis courts at Polo Park. An item will be introduced at the ~y 2010
Commission Meeting to recommend the award of the project to the best value bidder as determined
by bid prices and interviews with key personnel from the responding firms.
Background
The Polo Park tennis courts were constructed by Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) upon
the January 1994 execution of a Land-Exchange Agreement, Joint-Use Agreement, and
Construction Agreement with the City. Through these agreements, the City and MDCPS exchanged
the Polo Park property and the Nautilus Middle School property. MDCPS would build a new school
at the park and upon completion would construct recreational facilities on the former school site.
Over the next several years, MDCPS constructed the new school and the new Polo Park. New
facilities at Polo Park included basketball courts, sport fields, racketball courts, a playground, four
tennis courts, and landscaping. At that time, the City refused to accept the park due to substandard
construction.
On November 13, 2002, after extended negotiations, the City entered into a Settlement Agreement
wherein it accepted all sections of the park except the tennis courts. As part of this agreement,
MDCPS agreed to repair the tennis courts at its own expense and to pay $85,000 to the City for
necessary upgrades and repairs to the remainder of the park. The courts were to be turned over to
the City once the repairs made by MDCPS were found to be satisfactory.
Over the next several years, MDCPS made several repairs that were not satisfactory to the City.
These tennis courts still have differential settling at the construction joints. This condition is due to
improper intital construction wherein poor soils beneath the courts were not properly removed and
replaced with suitable base material.
The City and MDCPS have continued to negotiate a resolution to the tennis court issue. As a result
of these further discussions, it was agreed that MDCPS would pay an additional $50,000 to the City
to address these deficiencies and that the City would repair the tennis courts.
The City recently received payment from MDCPS in the amount of $135,000. This payment reflects
the originally agreed upon amount of $85,000 from 2002 that had not been paid plus the recently
agreed upon amount of $50,000.
Polo Park Tennis Courts
February 25, 2010
Page 2 of 2
Analysis
The $135,000 from MDCPS will not cover the removal of the underlying soil and the complete
reconstruction of the courts. This cost was estimated to be several hundred thousand dollars, and
the disruption to the park and school would be significant.
The City has, however, developed a contingency plan that addresses these deficiencies at an
affordable cost. This contingency plan is to build new courts on top of the existing ones with an
intermediate sand layer to impede migration of the setlement cracks. Suitable base material will then
be placed above the sand layer to provide a firm foundation for the courts. This design should
provide a service life for the courts that equals other courts in the City, which are typically resurfaced
every seven to ten years.
In addition to providing a smooth playing surface, the design includes changing the slope of the
playing surface to meet United States Tennis Association guidelines and using a blue acrylic surface
system similar to that used at the US Open Tournament.
The proposed improvements were designed in-house by the Public Works Engineering Division. It is
estimated that this in-house effort saved the City approximately $15,000 in professional design fees
and several months in the process required to retain a professional consultant.
Conclusion
The tennis court design is complete, and the project will be advertised the first week of March 2010.
It is intended to recommend award to the best value bidder at the May Commission meeting. Should
the Commission approve, construction would start after the last day of the regular school year and
be~com~p~leted before the beginning of the following school year.
~G/FHB/ /RS
F:\work\$ALL\(1) EMPLOYEE FOLDERS\Rick Saltrick\LTC for Polo Park Tennis Courts.doc