City Council OKs Memorial Field turf propsal

Not without considerable conversation, the Sandpoint City Council recently approved awarding J7 Contracting, Inc. a company based in Bonners Ferry, the contract for the natural rubber, cork and sand mix infill and turf system to be installed at War Memorial Field. The cost for the project will be just under $2.9 million.

At the March 18 council meeting, city engineer Dan Tadic told officials three bids were received for the project. He said that the “lowest and most responsible bid” came from J7 Contracting, Inc. as it came within $20,000 of the engineer’s estimate of low bid for the approved materials.

“The firm, as an entity, has existed for the past three years and has the requisite contractors’ license class in the state of Idaho and a triple-A rating up to $5 million which is well within this project,” Tadic said. “They also have the requisite bonding for this project.”

He said that the field replacement is scheduled to be mostly completed by July 21 with a final completion date of July 31 and that in order to achieve that schedule the contract would need to be awarded that evening.

In answer to council members’ questions about the contractor, Tadic said that he has a list of the projects they’ve completed. Some have been in the public sector such as utilities and streets and others in the private sectors but that to his knowledge they haven’t done a project exactly like this one. However, the actual installation of the artificial turf will be done by the turf vendor.

Councilwoman Kate McAlister questioned whether or not there would be sufficient supplies in light of the current COVID-19 crisis. Tadic said that he’s been in regular contact with two suppliers who are located in the southern United States where raw materials are manufactured.

“I have no reason to believe that there will be any issues with the supply chain,” he said. “The only elements from overseas is the infield itself and natural rubber, and different vendors have different supplies on hand. It’s an unknown I guess, but we have no reason to believe there will be any delays at this point in time.”

Councilwoman Deb Ruehle said that it was her impression that council needed to award the contract at this meeting in order to stay on schedule. City Public Works Director, Amanda Wilson said that if it wasn’t approved there was a chance the whole project would need to be re-bid.

Sandpoint resident and business owner Dann Hall asked council if putting down artificial turf was a “fait accompli?” He said that he hasn’t spoken to a single person in Sandpoint who thinks artificial turf is a good replacement for natural grass.

“I know it’s been a little contentious, but my greater concern is the Festival. I hear it’s going to cost them $100,000, as if they don’t have enough problems. As a business, the two weeks of Festival is my best period for business. Festival brings in 20,000 people, how many watch football games and other sporting events down there? 10,000? What I understand from my friends at the Festival is they’re going to lose their cookies on this one and will have to move.”

Hall said he was in favor of the one percent tax for the new stadium, but he wouldn’t have supported it if he knew it came with artificial turf for the field.

Business owner and resident, Kevin Kluender added that he didn’t believe the figures that showed artificial turf to be cheaper than natural turf and requested the council pause the project. He also questioned the contractors’ ability to meet the timeline to have the project finished in time for the Festival.

Festival at Sandpoint’s Interim Executive Director Ali Baranski said that she was curious, not just about the procurement of materials, but whether or not sufficient labor will be available with the COVID-19 threat to which Wilson replied that the city was “not in a position to make any guarantees about work forces.”

Ruehle said she wasn’t suggesting a change in the city’s plan, but said maybe they should put it on hold.

“I don’t feel that with good social consciousness that I can go forward. Considering the nature of what’s going on in our world that we have no control over, I think, right now, this matter needs to be re-thought,” she said.

Wilson said that the necessity of approving the contract this evening was to procure long lead materials such as the turf itself and the infill materials. Then, the project could be on track to start on April 1. However, in answer to Ruehle’s question whether council would have the option to choose shovel in or shovel out before actually starting work, Wilson said, yes, that would be possible.

Ruehle and McAlister voted no on the motion to award the bid. Councilmembers Shannon Williamson, Joel Aispuro, John Darling and Andy Groat voted yes and the motion passed.