The Keller Development Corporation Board on Nov. 30 unanimously approved a guaranteed maximum price for the renovations at Keller Sports Park. The price is $30.9 million. The board’s recommendation will be considered by the Keller City Council at its Dec. 5 meeting.
Various upgrades are being considered at the park, from a splash pad to new bleachers to new fencing to new lighting. Rachel Reynolds, communication and public engagement manager for the city, told Community Impact in October the precise list has not been finalized because city officials haven’t received bids yet, and council members have not taken their final votes on issuing debt or awarding the project to a contractor.
The background
The park project is being managed through a construction manager at-risk contract, City Community Services Director Cody Maberry and City Director of Administrative Services Aaron Rector said in an email. The guaranteed maximum price sets a maximum price for the project, meaning any costs above that amount are absorbed by the construction manager at risk.
Maberry and Rector said a guaranteed maximum price is based on the bids received. The construction manager at risk is responsible for reviewing those bids and formulating a project that represents the best value to the city.
Zooming in
As far as the Keller Development Corporation’s role, the corporation manages the 1/2-cent of Keller's sales tax revenue dedicated to parks and recreation capital projects. The majority of funding and all of the debt issuance for the Keller Sports Park improvements project is coming out of that corporation fund, so the corporation is the recommending body related to funding this project, Maberry and Rector said.
Should council choose not to approve the recommended guaranteed maximum price and it wanted to add project elements and set a higher guaranteed maximum price, council would likely need to bid out the new elements, Maberry and Rector said.
If council is uncomfortable with the guaranteed maximum price and wanted to spend less money on the project, city staff and the construction manager at risk would have to find ways to cut the project down and bring a new guaranteed maximum price recommendation back through the approvals process, Maberry and Rector said.
