The Shenandoah City Council discussed proposed changes to an upcoming park and retention pond at Vision Park near Wellman Road during a Jan. 12 meeting.
Shenandoah Public Works Director Joseph Peart said the proposed changes include tiered walls for the retention pond as well as adding a connector bridge to make the site more of an amenity.
Peart said if the changes are approved, it will increase the total cost of the project from $1.7 million to around $2.8 million.
Peart noted there is a chance for the city to cut some of the costs if a developer purchases the excavated dirt from the project, which could save up to $480,000. This is factored into the final cost estimate for the project, he said.
“The original 2015 plan that we started with showed ... building up with earth work. Staff began looking at spanning a gap [on the southeast corner] ... you get more capacity,” Peart said.
Peart said around 95,000 cubic yards of dirt will need to be removed for the project.
“One of the goals the [Municipal Development District] tasked city staff with was to find ways to spur economic redevelopment on the south corridor of I-45,” Peart said. “One of the ideas was to provide additional capacity here at Vision Park, and through another project to capture the storm to reroute it to Vision Park, the city could offer that to developers.”
Peart said $825,000 has been committed from the Shenandoah MDD and the project would likely be paid over at least two fiscal years.
A timeline for the project was not available during the meeting. Peart said excavating the dirt for the project would take at least five months once work begins.
No formal action was taken on the topic, though the city council agreed to send the request to the MDD for additional input. The topic is anticipated to be discussed at a future meeting.
