With roughly $2 million left from Peachtree City’s public facilities improvement bond proceeds, city staff is working on getting more current cost estimates for a variety of projects. And they are also working on cheaper alternatives for several projects, such as a proposed storage building to house the bubble over the Kedron pools in the offseason.
While that would cost $100,000, the city can save money by purchasing mobile storage units that would accomplish the same goal, Community Services Director Jon Rorie told the City Council at its retreat Friday.
The steel storage units would cost $9,000, which is a significant amount less, Rorie noted.
“The bottom line is, how do we get the biggest bang for our buck?” Rorie said.
In previous years, the city has transported the bubble to the basement of the recreation administration building for storage, but that led to some damage to the bubble itself, Rorie said.
Another project on the list, the replacement of the boat docks at Battery Way, may not need to be done at all, Rorie explained. An engineering report determined that the dock will hold up under normal conditions and use, but that may mean closing it during the one time of the year it is heavily used: on July 4th prior to the city’s annual fireworks display over Lake Peachtree, Rorie said.
The city had previously budgeted $150,000 to replace the boat dock.
One of the larger planned expenditures is the estimated $500,000 to add more parking at the city’s Baseball and Soccer Complex, which has significant parking issues with large tournaments, Rorie said. The city is looking at using a “grass pave” system that would have rock underneath but could still qualify as greenspace and be used occasionally as an additional field.
While the cost of that project would likely be comparable to regular asphalt paving, it is being studied as an alternative, Rorie said.
Rorie noted that the cost of resurfacing the rubberized surface of the All Children’s Playground will cost more than the initial $50,000 budgeted for the project. The final figure could get closer to $100,000, he cautioned.
“What we’re trying to do is avoid pinning a dollar figure to it without an accurate assessment as to what it is … so we really know the costs we’re dealing with,” Rorie said.
Other potential projects for funding with the bond include the repair or replacement of the heating and air conditioning system at the tennis center, repairs to the roof of the library, repairs to the amphitheater, remodeling of the Glenloch recreation building, the repair of several tennis courts and more.
The city’s consulting engineering firm is expected to complete the facility assessments in the next 30 to 45 days, and that will allow the city to pursue more accurate cost quotes, Rorie said.
