Watsonville OKs Ramsay Park construction contract
WATSONVILLE >> A longawaited revitalization of Ramsay Park is set to take place, as the Watsonville City Council unanimously voted to approve a construction contract with Robert A. Bothman Inc. at its Tuesday meeting.
Since the approval of a draft Park Master Plan in 2019, the city has been eyeing a renovation of Ramsay Park, Watsonville's largest park that has served families for decades. In recent years, the city has completed a new skate park and pump track which Parks and Community Services Director Nick Calubaquib said has made Ramsay Park a regional attraction.
“We talk to people all the time who come to visit the skate park and the pump track from not just Santa Cruz County but from Monterey County, from Southern California, from out of state,” he said. “With the changes that we're gonna be making with our all-inclusive playground and the expansion of all of our fields, this project has the potential to draw people from all over the place to really help with the economic development of our community.”
In 2021, the council approved a contract with Verde Design Inc. out of Folsom to design the Park Renaissance Project. Todd Young, senior project manager, reviewed the scope of the project. Projects completed so far include the aforementioned skate park and pump track but also a connector trail between Main Street and Harkins Slough Road, upgraded basketball court, wetland overlook, electric vehicle charging stations and renovated south parking lot.
The next phase of the project, the renaissance phase, will include renovation of the Sotomayor soccer fields to allow for natural turf, striping to accommodate youth and adult soccer matches and spectator seating
on the hillside.
Another major project is the conversion of the softball field into a multiuse field to allow for both softball and soccer, complete with synthetic turf, new fencing and netting and a 300-foot outfield.
“We're going to be upgrading the dugout areas and also including pitching and batting cages,” said Young.
The play area will also see a major upgrade with small and large dog parks, a sensory play area and playgrounds for the 2-5 and 5-12 age groups. The sensory play area will have percussion and chime instruments as well as pads that play music when stepped on. The 2-5 play area will have a nautical theme with a ship structure as well as spring animals and a see-saw that can accommodate multiple children at a time. The 5-12 area will have a repurposed large stainless steel slide, cargo nets for climbing, spinning features and multiple kinds of swings to accommodate kids of different abilities.
“We have ground play, but we also have access from two points and two different elevations onto the structure itself for wheelchairs and people with mobility devices so that you can make a loop even if you're in a mobility device which isn't always an opportunity in those play structures,” said Young.
The play area will also have a glass tree with colorful
panels to greet excited players.
Robert Berry went over the third phase of the project: the new nature center. Much like the old center, which operated on the southern edge of the park from 2004 to 2022, the new center will provide visitors with a space to learn about and take in their natural surroundings. It will feature a lobby and exhibit rotunda, community exhibit hall, open office, concrete amphitheater, picnic area, entry plaza and an accessible trail to be constructed in the fourth phase. The building approval will go before the council in May with construction expected to begin in August.
Construction on the overall project is expected to cost $33.7 million. To do the construction, the council approved a contract with Robert A. Bothman out of Santa Clara, which had the lowest responsive bid at $24.5 million.
Finance Director Marissa Duran talked about a ballot measure that could impact funding for the project. The Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act has been placed on the November ballot by the California Business Roundtable Association which would raise the voter approval threshold for tax initiatives. If passed, Duran said any measure that did not meet the act's requirements retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022 would need to go before voters again with these new requirements. This includes Measure R, a ballot initiative approved by Watsonville voters in November 2022.
“Measure R was passed with a simple majority, but the measure that's on the ballot for November 2024 would require a two-thirds vote,” she said.
While the city has identified the necessary funding and is ready to pay for 80% of the project without resorting to bonding, Duran said the measure has pushed the city into considering one of three alternative options, all utilizing the General Fund:
• Issuing a debt of $15.49 million in lease revenue bonds over 30 years for an annual debt service payment of $1 million for the term.
• Self-funding the project with the use of an internal loan from the city's pooled cash enterprise funds to the General Fund.
• Self-funding a portion of the $15 million if needed to cover any project costs incurred through the end of the year.
The council favored the third option, as it would buy the city some time to see if the measure passes.
“I think we have to take this global view of, we're not gonna panic, we're gonna take it one step at a time,” said Councilwoman Kristal Salcido. “We're gonna listen to the polls, we're gonna give ourselves some flexibility.”
Councilman Jimmy Dutra called it “one of the best votes I'm going to be taking,” as he felt the park looked the same as it did when he was a kid in the '80s and wanted to see it modernized.
“One of the so many reasons why we become City Council members, to be part of this community is to move forward like what we're doing today,” he said.
The council voted 7-0 to approve the construction contract and the third alternative funding option. Construction is expected to begin in May with a tentative completion date of Fall 2025.