El Paso County, Colorado

Bear Creek Regional Park Restroom Facility Replacement

The restroom facility at Bear Creek Regional Park, which was constructed over thirty years ago, is inadequate to support the variety of events at the park. The number of toilets and urinals and the capacity of the septic system regularly require special event users to rent portable restrooms for their events. The building also has minimal storage. Finally, the septic system is failing and is required to be pumped on a regular basis. Staff supports replacing the building with an enlarged, updated facility that will support the various activities at the park. The estimated cost is $320,000 with $200,000 provided through Regional Park Fees and $120,000 from Conservation Trust Funds.

 

County Fairground Improvements

The funding will be used to make general Fairground improvements including minor building repairs and facility upgrades. $20,000 is budgeted for these items.

 

Fountain Creek Regional Trail – Low Water Crossing

The Fountain Creek Regional Trail has experienced a major wash-out in the Widefield area that has resulted in the trail being closed in this section. Staff has negotiated a license agreement with Colorado Springs Utilities to utilize their property adjacent to the trail to move the trail away from this area. $45,000 has been budgeted to construct a low-water crossing.

 

System-Wide Trail / Road Repairs

The funds will be used to make trail and park road repairs that have been primarily caused by erosion problems throughout the park system. $40,000 has been budgeted for these repairs.

 

Fox Run Regional Park – Replace Pavilion Roofs

Fox Run Regional Park has three pavilions with wood shake roofs. It is proposed to replace the roofs with metal roofs to reduce maintenance and make the roofs more fire resistant. The estimated cost is $15,000.

Central Irrigation Control System

In order to provide more efficient use of our utilities and labor resources, staff proposes the installation of a Central Irrigation Control System. Each of these systems water turf based on Evapotranspiration, i.e. based on how much water the turf actually needs based on weather data received from a weather station. The systems can result in a utility savings of approximately 25%. We currently spend approximately $80,000 per year to irrigate our athletic fields / parks. Other benefits include reduced labor costs by eliminating the need to program multiple clocks in the field, real-time error messages and alerts notifying staff of breaks or other hardware errors, centralized controls allow for micro-management of turf irrigation by a single employee, and remote access to the central irrigation controller eliminates the need for staff to make visits to parks for irrigation related issues. We estimate the overall cost to be approximately $70,000 and we propose completing the installation over a two-year period with $35,000 being budgeted in 2008.

 

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