HILLSDALE—The Borough Council on March 12 approved a nearly $56,000 agreement with its engineering consultant for services including the design and bidding for long-awaited improvements to install natural grass and new drainage on Centennial Field.
Administrator Mike Ghassali told Pascack Press that the borough plans to advertise bid specifications by May and expects that work begins by August and finishes up by October.
He said the field must rest for approximately a year before recreation can resume.
Ghassali declined to provide cost estimates to us for the Centennial Field renovation project, saying bidders might use the information to increase bid prices.
Located off Kinderkamack Road, the facility is on land that was once the town dump but was converted into athletic fields in 2009.
Since 2021, the council has engaged Colliers to conduct studies and analyses of field conditions to upgrade the field, long plagued by drainage and its poor playing surface.
The vote to approve the Colliers work proposal was 5-0, with councilor John Ruocco abstaining. He questioned why all council members did not receive a copy of the engineering proposal’s project cost estimate from Ghassali.
Ruocco said he was not prepared to vote on the Colliers’ proposal without seeing the engineer’s construction estimate for Centennial Field in writing. He and at least two other councilors did not receive the written estimate but were told orally by Ghassali of the estimated cost range.
Ruocco pressed Ghassali to release the cost estimate but Ghassali said the future bid’s “integrity” prevented its release, noting some contractors would have an advantage if they knew the town’s budget for a Centennial Field project, and that such estimates had been released in prior years, “and that was an accident, lesson learned.”
The estimate was not provided to the public. Prior to abandoning plans to install artificial turf on Centennial last fall, estimates for that proposal ranged $4 million to $4.5 million. Officials told Pascack Press that the price range was significantly lower for a natural turf field but declined to reveal any ballpark numbers.
Borough Clerk Denise Kohan said the Colliers engineering services proposal for Centennial Field would be released since it was discussed by council on March 12.
It would not include the project’s cost estimate, officials said.
After bidding is completed, the council generally votes on whether to accept the lowest bid from a qualified contractor, or may reject all bids and re-bid the project. Council does not have to accept the lowest qualified bidder.
The approved proposal includes geotechnical services, design and bidding services, regulatory agency approvals, construction drawings, title sheet, general notes and legends, estimate of quantities, site dimension plan, grading and drainage plan, utility plan, soil erosion and sediment control plan, construction details, drainage design and calculations, progress meetings and project presentation, specifications, and a construction estimate.
According to Resolution 24109, the total cost proposed was broken down as $3,250 for geotechnical services and $52,500 for design and bidding services.
Ruocco noted that prior councils had spent nearly $400,000 on environmental and engineering studies since 2018 in efforts to get Centennial FIeld renovated and improved.
Councilwoman Abby Lundy said keeping Colliers on the Centennial Field project made sense as they’ve been involved with the project, prior studies, and can do the engineering work that needs to be done to move the project forward.
Following Colliers’ geotechnical report issued last fall, which found it would likely cost triple or quadruple initial estimates of approximately $4 million to upgrade Centennial with artificial turf due to drainage and landfill issues, the council halted turfing efforts and instead directed Colliers to focus on improving the field’s drainage and condition.
The Council’s preliminary 2024 budget, introduced March 12, shows a $1,300,000 field improvement reserve, which includes a $500,000 contribution in 2024’s introduced budget. A budget hearing for adoption is April 9, 7 p.m.
Colliers engineer Nick Chelius said CED had completed Centennial Field geotechnical testing, environmental investigations, and coordinated with the borough’s licensed site remediation professional on previously proposed field upgrades, noting there were “a lot of hoops to jump through” to improve the field.
He said the proposed project would improve on-field drainage, adding to previous drainage work done there, and said he was “very confident” that the proposed upgrade would improve drainage.
He said irrigation of the field was part of the project.