City staff told the City Council on July 1 that the guaranteed maximum price, or GMP, for the City Park project is expected to appear on a future council agenda for approval, and officials sought to explain recent tree removals after the project’s June 23 groundbreaking.

Administrative staffer Miss Powers said, “we've wasted no time moving forward with the city park project following the groundbreaking on June 23.” She told the council, “The guaranteed max price or GMP with Mecco Henney is expected to be on the next agenda for consideration of your approval.”

The update placed procurement and scope finalization at the center of next steps: Powers said city staff and the purchasing agent had been working with the architect Confluence and the contractor Meccohenny to finalize numbers and scope, and that staff expected to “lock in prices, in the GMP on the fifteenth for all the major components of the park project.”

A council member later addressed community questions about trees removed at the park site, saying, “I think the only real comment we're seem to be getting about City Park is why are the trees being cut down? So we're trying to do some education on that.” The speaker said staff had assessed the trees, noted storm damage from prior years and identified specimens likely to show failure in coming years as a reason for targeted removals.

No formal action was taken on the GMP at the July 1 meeting; Powers signaled the GMP approval would come back to the council for a future vote. The council also discussed coordinating community outreach as construction advances.

Background: the council set a July 9 retreat and staff indicated they will include park materials in retreat binders. The project’s procurement and final scope remain pending the GMP process and return to the council for formal approval.