Construction of the parking lot at the new Cook County Community YMCA has disturbed the area around the north tennis courts, causing some erosion and accessibility issues. At the July 16 county commissioners’ meeting, commissioners voted to seek bids to restore the walkway and deal with the erosion. They also agreed to add a water fountain that has already been purchased and some additional steps. ORB Management Project Manager Wade Cole said he estimated that the work would cost $20,000 – $25,000, but commissioners said they hoped it would be much less.
An overlooked consequence of the parking lot being built outside the new Cook County Community YMCA had commissioners at the July 16, 2013 county board meeting discussing the difference between remediation and enhancement and the fact that either one could cost the county money.
The driveway leading to what will be a new parking lot above the tennis courts cut into the area around the north courts, and according to the architectural drawings, would require people to step down off a curb into the roadway to go from one set of courts to the other. This would make accessibility very difficult for people with mobility problems who play or watch tennis.
At the previous county board meeting, Project Manager Wade Cole of ORB Management estimated that the cost of restoring a walkway and dealing with an erosion problem that was created when the area around the north courts was excavated would be about $15,000-20,000. This week, the estimate had increased to $20,000- 25,000. “It’s gotten more involved than what we talked about last week,” Cole said. After consulting with several people with stakes in the project, such as Community Center Director Diane Booth and Cook County Tennis Association members, Cole said, the design had grown to include steps leading from the east-west walkway currently between the courts down to the parking lot, in addition to a handicap-accessible sidewalk leading down from the north end of the courts.
The parking lot has been built according to the architectural drawings created by JLG Architects, but no one noticed that it would cut into the area around the courts as much as it did. Cole said JLG told him they did not know this would be an issue.
In response to an inquiry from the Cook County News-Herald regarding why the driveway was designed so close to the tennis court, JLG Architect Dan Miller said, “With the programmed size of the aquatics, the required storm water retention sizing and parking requirements at the front of the building, the driveway between the building and the tennis courts had to be kept to a minimum dimension. But the clearances provided were more than adequate for the original design intent, which was for two separate entry walking points to each set of tennis courts that would be connected to each other by the driveway/parking area. This was the most economical way to address access to the tennis courts.”
Wade Cole responded, “…Things have changed and morphed throughout this project and with the late addition of the pool slide, the northwest corner of the building was bumped out to the west, exacerbating the relationship in proximity between the tennis courts and the new pool addition.”
“Until we actually saw it on the ground,” Commissioner Sue Hakes said, “we didn’t know it was going to be an issue, either.” She said she did not think it was right to reduce accessibility to the courts. “I’m glad it was discovered because we have an opportunity to restore it and make it better.”
Cole said that ORB and JLG have both offered to work at no charge on redesigning the area with a concrete sidewalk – what they consider an enhancement to what was there previously. Billing for the work, which Cole said he hoped could be done by local contractors, would be separate from the YMCA construction budget.
Commissioner Garry Gamble said he looks at the YMCA building and grounds as a “complex” or “campus,” and both what existed before and what is new should be considered part of the project. In planning, he said, you need to make sure multiple pieces fit together. How much of the proposed work around the tennis courts is improvement and how much is remediation because an already existing area was compromised? he asked. An overseer’s responsibility is to pay for problems caused by compromising what already existed, he said.
“It’s an expensive process to discover things on the ground,” Gamble said, adding that architects and overseers are hired to make sure they avoid discovering things on the ground. He questioned whether responsibility should fall on those providing oversight rather than on the county in regard to things that were designed wrong. The county should not have to pay for something that was removed, he said.
Cole said sometimes things are just not realized until they are seen on the ground. “I would definitely still call it an improvement,” he said.
Commissioner Hakes said she did not remember a stairway being part of any original plans. “This is a need that has been discovered,” she said. Cole said a stairway would be safer than a sloped sidewalk, especially in inclement weather.
Both this and the Birch Grove Community Center issue (where the new tennis court slopes away from the centerline) could have been avoided if the Cook County Tennis Association had been consulted, association member Rod Wannebo said.
“I don’t want to go there,” Commissioner Sue Hakes said. She pointed out that the tennis association was represented on the Cook County Community Center Steering Committee – by tennis association member Gene Glader. “We had strong tennis representation at every single meeting,” she said.
Glader said the parking lot encroaching on the tennis courts was never discussed at a steering committee meeting. He said the tennis court boundary lines were set when the county acquired the property from the school a few years ago. “I don’t think it’s an adequate defense to say the steering committee should have known better,” he said.
When Commissioners Heidi Doo-Kirk and Bruce Martinson were asked for their opinions, Doo-Kirk said, “I took this position on January 8: All that was discussed before I was here.” She said that with construction already under way, they have an opportunity to look at whether they want to put things back the way they were or whether they want to enhance what was there. “It’s that realization through the process,” she said. “… We’re always going to make mistakes.”
They could debate what was improvement and what was enhancement, Commissioner Martinson said. Their recourse if they thought someone else should pay would be mediation or arbitration, he said.
“I’m speaking to the issue of where responsibility lies,” Commissioner Gamble said. The reason they hire consultants is to inform their decisions and to help them avoid costly mistakes, he said. He acknowledged the services ORB and JLG were offering free of charge and said he realized that no one intends to do things wrong.
The board also discussed installing a water fountain by the courts while the work is being done. The county purchased the fountain previously but decided to wait on installing it until this project was under way.
With Commissioner Jan Hall absent, the board unanimously passed a motion to get quotes on installing the sidewalk, water fountain, and staircase. The costs of each element of the project will be broken out separately.
Commissioner Hakes said she hoped they could get the work done for $10,000. If they took legal recourse, she said, they would probably spend at least that much.
“When this is all done and done right,” Gene Glader said, “it’s going to be an improvement.”
In other business:
. In regard to the Birch Grove Community Center tennis court, Rod Wannebo said he had provided Birch Grove tennis court architect Tim Meyer a manual on proper construction of tennis courts, which if followed would have precluded the court from sloping away from the centerline in both directions.
Commissioner Martinson said that Meyer was proposing that the cost to fix the court be split among his firm (Meyer Group), Tofte Township, Cook County, ORB Management, and court designer Mateffy Engineering. He said the Tofte board needs to discuss the proposal.
. Commissioner Hakes reported that fiber optic installation throughout Grand Marais is almost complete.
. Commissioner Hakes reported that U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken are both opposing the possibility of charging fees for people crossing the border from Canada by car or on foot.
. The board approved a service agreement with Boreal.TV to continue videotaping regular county board meetings at a cost of $6,000 for the next year.
. The board voted to send a letter to City Administrator Mike Roth and the Grand Marais City Council taking Roth up on his offer to assist with human resources issues between the time Personnel Director Janet Simonen retires and the time a county administrator can be brought on board.
. County Highway Engineer David Betts said that he expected crews to start laying pavement on County Road 7 the week of July 22 and that it should take about 7-8 days but could be delayed by rain. Only the top several inches of the road are being replaced.
Betts invited commissioners to see how asphalt is made at the plant off County Road 6. He said the process is “relatively odor-free” and that mostly steam rather than smoke is produced.
. Engineer Betts said three candidates for the open assistant mechanic position were interviewed once, one was interviewed twice, and he hoped he would have a hiring recommendation by the next meeting on July 23.
. County crews have been grading gravel roads in preparation for applying calcium chloride, which has also been started.
. Emergency Management Director Jim Wiinanen will soon be on the county board meeting agenda to discuss a request to use federal funding to hire a Firewise program coordinator.
. Six months into 2013, county expenditures are at 50 percent of what was budgeted, an unusual amount because they are precisely on budget. Jail expenses have been higher than expected at 61 percent of the budget.
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