By Martin Couch
On Monday night, the Bryant Parks and Recreation Commission voted to recommend a final bid on fencing at Bishop Park to pass along to the Bryant City Council for final approval.
The $150,335 bid by United Fencing, if passed, would build 6-gage vinyl-coated fences around all of the ball fields at Bishop Park.[more]
"We have been working hard to get a good list of specs together and a list of prices for fences at our ball parks," Bryant Parks and Recreation director Jeremy Lemons said. "With the specs, we've allowed a 60-day window that gives us time to approve the bids and get this company to come in and install the fences, so we're looking at some time in September before they get started."
When the bids opened, Lemons and his staff, he said, were "shocked" with the different types of fencing available. They chose to bring to the Parks Commission the third base bid on the list that also included Little Rock Fence Company ($185,250), Nichols Landscape-Benton Fence ($137,512) and Bill Fence Company ($176,000).
"The reason we like United's bid is the option of black-coated fencing and the vinyl galvanized coating," Lemon said.
Originally, Nichols was the main prospect, but their bid of $137,512 was based on 9-gage fencing, which is bendable and used for dugouts.
"We asked if they could keep that same price with the 6-gage and vinyl coating, but they could not," Lemons said. The cost increased to $177,000.00 from Nichols.
United Fence was the lowest bid for the 6-gage vinyl coated fence.
"We could got with some of the lower bids and that would keep us close to budget, but those fences would be less of a grade and not coated, so they'd have to be fixed more often," Lemons explained. "We're already over budget, but we've got enough to finish out the park like we want. Even with this $150,335 bid plugged in everything else, we're going to be cutting it close on the final amenities like the playgrounds, bleacher covers, but we can add those on as we go."
United has been in negotiations with the Parks and Recreation Department and has discounted the fencing nearly $9,000 to keep the job.
In other Parks and Recreation news from Monday, Candice James has been named the weekend supervisor for Bishop Park and will be in charge of the Community Center on Saturdays and Sundays.
"We're glad to have her on board," Lemons said.
In an update on the progress at Bishop Park, the department is expected to move into the service area of the Community Center during the first two weeks of August; the retractable roof over the pool area has been installed and, barring any rain, the parking lot area in front of the Community Center could be completed in two to three weeks.
"Everything is tying together," Lemons said.
