Council Hears Update on Les Lacs Pond Improvement Project and Approves Professional Engineering Services Agreement with Westra Consultants

At the June 14 City Council Meeting, Parks and Recreation Director Janna Tidwell gave the Council an overview of the Les Lacs Pond Improvement Project including background information, feedback gathered in the public input process, estimated construction cost impacts caused by the current economic climate, and staff's recommended approach for moving forward with the project.

In 2016 and 2017, Addison staff made presentations to Council regarding the failing pond edge and life expectancy of the existing pond liner at Les Lacs Pond. On May 23, 2017, Council approved a contract with Westra Consultants, Inc. to begin the development of schematic level design solutions and to facilitate stakeholder involvement for Les Lacs Pond improvements. Westra's scope also included the development of an opinion of probable cost for each design option.     

Westra developed a base project which recommended the minimum work that would need to be completed to replace the pond liner, address the failing pond edge, address American Disability Act (ADA) issues, and correct erosion/maintenance concerns. The consultant also developed an enhanced project which included various amenities that would enhance the project. The purpose of the enhanced option was to help facilitate public input and identify which elements were preferred by the community. To help capture this information staff developed an online web portal called "Imagine Addison." This portal allowed residents to build their own project by adding proposed enhancements for the pond edge condition, planting style, interactive elements, site improvement elements, environmental elements, and aesthetic improvements to the base project. As participants built their own projects, the project budget would adjust to include their selections.

Staff used the community's preferences for amenities gathered in Imagine Addison to present a recommended project to the 2019 Bond Election Committee. The committee recommended including the project in Proposition C in the 2019 Bond Election which was approved by voters in November of that year. The recommended project which included the base project, a combination lake edge, landscape beds, a rain garden, retaining walls, fountain lights, and tree up-lights was originally estimated to be $3,146,251 in 2018. Staff presented the item to the bond election committee in the amount of $3,282,110 to account for anticipated inflation for the project.

Due to increasing construction costs, staff recently asked Westra to look at the Opinion of Probable cost that was prepared in 2018 and make updates to reflect current construction prices that are being experienced in the region. This resulted in an approximate 18% increase. To address the budget concerns, staff recommended to Council that staff bid the base project along with alternate bid items that would be developed in the plans to provide decision-making flexibility once bids are received. 

Following the update, Council approved a Professional Engineering Contract with Westra to get the project started. The engineering design and project bidding segment of the project are estimated to take approximately one year. Actual construction is anticipated to take another year to complete.

You can watch the Council's Les Lacs Pond Improvement Project discussion here and read the presentation here.