On Wednesday of this week, the City of Sapulpa sold another $6.3 million of the $40.235 million GO Bond package passed in January of 2022, bringing the total amount of drawn-down funds to $27.05M, or about 67%.
Members of the Bond Oversight Committee met with City Manager Joan Riley and other City staff members on Thursday to review updates on completed, in-progress, and yet-to-begin projects.
Much of the discussion revolved around the committee members’ request, spurred by feedback they have received from the community or read on social media, for the City to make the information on the bond’s progress more visible, accessible, and understandable.
Public Works and Transportation Director, Steve Hardt, gave updates on Proposition 1: transportation and Downtown Master Plan (DMP). He and Riley explained that the traffic light project at 49th West Avenue and Highway 117 has been fraught with issues, including Right of Way acquisitions and utility conflicts. “We got that down from 7 issues to 1,” said Riley.
“We are having a meeting with the engineer every week until it is finished,” said Hardt. “The plans and documents are all ready to bid. Right of Way is complete.”
Newly-hired City Project Manager Mike Russell said that “the last issue there is with rural water. We’re waiting on an estimate to locate the depth of the water lines which we should have [Friday]. They sent us a recoloation agreement. This would have had to have come out of pocket, but if we can find the depths, we can avoid the cost.”
Next week the City will have that estimate in hand, and then the project is finally, “good to go,” according to Russell.
Hardt said that the Highway 117 and Ozark Road extension began pre-work that morning and that construction will begin Monday, August 22nd. It is expected to be finished in mid-December.
The Easy Dewey and Mayfield projects “are ready to bid out.” Hardt said that he expects legal descriptions for the Right of Way offers on Monday and for those negotiations to move swiftly.
Construction on the first alleyway for the DMP, from Dewey to Hobson in the alley between Park and Water, has begun, and plans are underway for the second phase, from Dewey to Lee.
Carson Lynch, Director of Parks and Recreation, covered updates to Proposition 3: public parks and recreational facilities and Proposition 6: additions to the Sapulpa Youth Sports Complex.
Lynch said that the Bartlett Youth Sports Complex is “a continuous process” but that a significant amount of headway has been made.
Two of four additional baseball fields are “in the wrap-up phase” and a meeting reviewing closeout items for that part of the project was held a week ago. “We hope to be playing ball on them by September 15th,” he said, acknowledging that there are “some drainage issues” in the fields, but that their goal is to have those fixed and sod laid by then.
Other parts of the complex involve underground water mitigation. That project is “going out to bid, hopefully, on 15th.”
Another important part of that project involves the secondary road access to the complex via Cheyenne Road, which runs from Taft, just east of Walmart, south to the complex. Riley confirmed that Right of Way offers for that stretch of Cheyenne were recently sent to land owners and Hardt said that curbs, gutters, and a 5-foot sidewalk for the entire length of the project have been added to the plans.
The Liberty Park restrooms, said Lynch, are “finished and ready to go,” but for a mechanical issue with some of the hardware, which was expected to be complete by the end of the day.
Public restrooms at the lake have already been funded, but construction has not begun. Lynch said that they “will rely on Mike [Russell]’s expertise” to decide whether they should purchase prefabricated structures or build traditional ones, like the other City parks’.
A trench was dug for the electrical work for the McGoy Park restrooms earlier that day and all the materials are in, said Lynch, and that he hopes they are complete in 2-4 weeks.
The improvements to the McGoy Park playground are subject to the funds remaining after the completion of the restrooms, so that will move forward when the restrooms are totally finished. “We are waiting to see what we have to spend” and then will ask for requests for proposals, said Lynch.
Riley stated that “of the $6.3M just drawn down, $700K is set aside for [the Booker T. Washington Recreation Center]…That money is for finding and engaging an architect.”
“Architectural fees can be anywhere from 6-12% of the total buildout cost” of the facility, and the size and cost is still to-be-determined, so she anticipates a lot of important discussion about this project in the upcoming months.
