By Debby Woodin
dwoodin@joplinglobe.com
A proposed contract with an engineering firm to design softball fields for the Joplin Athletic Complex and a bid on installing a skate ramp at Schifferdecker Park are among the business items to be considered tonight by the Joplin City Council.
The council’s meeting would normally be on Monday, but it was postponed until today because of the Labor Day holiday.
Softball fields for adults and children have been in demand by local players and coaches.
Mark Brower, a girls softball coach, spoke to the council last year and again at the city’s Aug. 15 “envisioning” meeting about the need for more fields for games and practices.
A contingent of adult players spoke to the council in April 2008, expressing disappointment that softball fields had not been built but that more than $1 million had been spent on a collegiate level baseball field at the city’s new sports complex. The group presented petitions signed by about 2,000 softball backers.
A contract with RDG Planning & Design, Des Moines, Iowa, is proposed to the council for design of the proposed fields.
“They would draw up a plan that entails four (softball) diamonds,” said Doug Joyce, the city’s parks and recreation director. “They will design them on a wheel (shape) with a concession stand in the center, but concentrate on building two of them now and maybe even start construction this year.”
Construction “really hinges on where the council can find the money,” he said. “The construction is not a budgeted item this year.”
The RDG contract estimates construction costs for two fields at $404,852 and recommends a 10 percent contingency of $40,485 in case an unforeseen expense or change comes along.
The firm’s fee would be $39,200, plus expenses.
Joyce said the engineers would plan the diamonds as multipurpose fields so that baselines could be adjusted for different ages of play, and to accommodate both baseball and softball. The design would include parking and bleachers for spectators.
In other business, the council will consider a proposal to install a skate park at Schifferdecker Park at a cost of $28,400. The bid being recommended is from American Ramp Co., a Joplin manufacturer.
Officials with the company earlier proposed installing a ramp and providing maintenance for it so that it could be used by the company’s employees to demonstrate its products to customers as well as being available to local residents who want to skate.
About 100 teens and children attended a demonstration project this summer on a portable ramp that was set up at Memorial Hall.
Three companies bid on the project. Other bidders were Kor Kat at $66,566 and Spohn Ranch at $30,796.
Meeting time
The Joplin council will have an informal session at 5:15 p.m. today. The formal meeting will be at 6 p.m. on the fifth floor of City Hall, 602 S. Main St.
