The park is located at the corner of Anthony Way and Las Juntas Way in unincorporated Walnut Creek. The original park improvements were constructed by Contra Costa County in 1994. The park property is rented from BART by the County, and maintenance of the park is conducted by Contra Costa Centre’s landscape maintenance contractor. Special Districts staff has met with representatives of Contra Costa Centre and BART to obtain input and concurrence on the proposed project, which would involve renovation of existing park landscaping. Staff has also conducted tabling at the site to gather comments from local residents and park users; all comments received were favorable.  
  
The purpose of this project is to enhance Fox Creek Park by replacing some of the landscaping with more sustainable landscaping, and increasing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility. The project consists of removing non-native and failing vegetation, and installing more sustainable landscape that will require less maintenance and water. Features that are inconsistent with ADA accessibility – including railings and park furniture –will be replaced; enhancements such as repainting seat walls and replacing the park identification sign will be made; and, deteriorating entry steps will be replaced.   
  
Following project CEQA approval by the Board of Supervisors in January 2020, approximately 20 trees that had either reached the end of their life spans, were not thriving, or were negatively impacting desirable species, were removed and trimmed as a maintenance activity, per the recommendations of the arborist’s report and the approved CEQA document. The planned landscape improvements build on this prior maintenance work to create a more attractive and safe park environment.  
  
Plans and specifications for the project have been prepared for the Public Works Department by Stantec Architecture, Inc., and filed with the Clerk of the Board by the Public Works Director. The construction cost estimate is $257,323. General prevailing wage rates to be used in the contract are on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and will be the minimum rates paid on this project. Bids were received and opened by the Public Works Department on September 23, 2020. The bid results, along with Good Faith Effort (GFE) Outreach and Mandatory Subcontracting Minimum (MSM) scores are provided in the attached table. Note that some bids were rendered non-responsive due to failure to submit, or low scoring, GFE packets.  
  
The lowest responsible bid was more than $100,000 over the designer’s estimate. There is not sufficient funding to cover the cost of construction and the necessary construction and project management, and to allow for a reasonable contingency; an estimated additional $200,000 would be needed to cover full project costs.   
  
Staff recommends that the project be “shelved” until such time that additional funding becomes available, and that the funds allocated to this project be reallocated to the Walden Green 1 & 2 Landscape Improvement Project, which is critical from an ongoing maintenance cost perspective and also needs additional funding. The reallocated funding will allow the Walden project to proceed, realizing significant irrigation and maintenance cost reductions for LL-2 Zone 7.

Due to a lack of adequate funding, the project cannot proceed, and thus there is not an option for negative action.