City Council ready to move forward with aquatics center project, repairs to Gondola dam

Permanent contract amendments will be set into place today, as the City Council takes action that will allow the Elmer Thomas Park aquatics center to move forward.

The council will consider the first change order in its now-$19.9 million contract with Miller-Tippens Construction, the firm tapped this summer to build a complex that will feature pools, diving boards and water slides, a lazy river, a bathhouse/restroom, concession stand and parking. Work crews already are on site in central Elmer Thomas Park, near the spray park, to begin site work.

When council members awarded the contract, they said they also wanted to try to cut costs through a process called value engineering — identifying work categories that could be changed or deleted to save money. The council indicated its approval Oct. 8 on what it will formally do today: remove much of the parking lot work and change framing for the concessions stand to wood. Members delayed a decision Oct. 8 until city staff specified exactly what Miller-Tippens would do in the parking lot. The parking space will be graveled, but the work to stabilize the site, do curb and gutter and pave will be bid as a separate contract, said Interim City Engineer Mike Jones, for an estimated savings of $644,544. The decision to use insulated wood stud interior walls for framing the concession stand, rather than precast masonry units, will save $60,505.

Savings from the two areas total $705,049, taking the contractor’s price to $19,194,951.

Two other potential savings still are being evaluated: eliminating air conditioning from the restrooms/changing rooms, and changing building pad requirements based on existing soil condition. While neither decision has been made yet, engineers say two borings indicated “favorable conditions” with existing soil because its potential vertical rise (how much soil can swell when exposed to water) would allow contractors to use existing soil rather than bringing in new soil. The proposal to eliminate air conditioning, still being evaluated, has drawn mixed reviews from the council.

The council also will deal with two items associated with city lakes.

The first is a proposal to amend an existing design contract with Jacobs Engineering, to provide detailed designs and construction support on a project to repair Gondola Dam. Jacobs Engineering already has done the condition summary, feasibility assessment on options, conceptual development and cost estimates for the dam located on Medicine Creek.

While the dam is located in Medicine Park, it is owned by the City of Lawton. Located just downstream of the Lake Lawtonka dam, it creates a small recreational pool in Medicine Park, but the damaged overflow spillway needs repairs. In his agenda commentary, Public Utilities Director Rusty Whisenhunt said there is no as-built information, maintenance records or previous inspection records for the 100-year-old dam. Designs in the $336,584 contract are expected to focus on replacement of concrete caps on all segments of the dam and building a new center cap. Funding will come from a $3 million state-allocated American Rescue Plan Act grant allocated for the dam.

City staff also will update the council on the details they have identified in a report on the potential sale of property along Chandler Creek, which feeds into Lake Ellsworth.

The City of Lawton has owned the land since the 1950s, purchased as part of the Ellsworth construction project. In 2002, then-council members rejected the idea of selling property, noting the municipality “should hold the perpetual right to this property for the protection of the reservoir and waters thereof from contamination and pollution.” But, council members said a new request for purchase should be weighed, and city staff was directed to outline what needs to be considered.

City staff said current challenges include the lack of a clear, agreed-upon process for selling the property; concerns about maintaining the tract to protect Ellsworth; and the legal requirements for declaring the land surplus so it can be sold.