A contract has been awarded by the Coon Rapids City Council for improvements to the Bunker Hills Golf Course.
Perkins Landscape Contractors was the low bidder in the amount of $154,322.05 for the upgrading of the tees and bunkers at the golf course, construction of the new ponding areas and irrigation system improvements.
The engineer’s estimate was $165,000. There were seven bidders on the project.
June 1, the council awarded a contract for the delivery of “special” bunker sand for the golf course to Plaistad Companies, Inc. in the amount of $342,500.
The bunker sand contract was awarded early because delivery takes over three months.
Construction will take place after Sept. 25.
Revenue bonds will be sold to cover the cost of these improvements. Repayment of the bonds will come from golf course revenues.
How much the bond issue will be and when it will be issued depends on another project that is to be included as part of the package, according to City Manager Jerry Splinter.
This is for heating and air conditioning improvements to the golf course clubhouse.
The city is waiting for a cost estimate on the project before making a decision on the size of the bond issue, Splinter said.
But the heating and air conditioning project is scheduled to be completed before winter, he said.
The council is scheduled to discuss this issue at an Aug. 31 work session.
The plan is to issue the revenue bonds before the end of the year, Splinter said. “Interest rates are starting to rise,” he said.
Throughout the 27-hole facility, Bunker Hills has 70 large sand traps averaging 5,000 square feet each, according to Golf Director Dick Tollette.
“These traps are edged and reworked annually, but over the many years these edges and shapes have changed,” he said.
“The traps are not as originally designed and have grown in size. Many have been polluted by subsoils, are inconsistent and unattractive.”
The bunkers will be redesigned making them smaller and visually more important to the shot making, Tollette said.
In addition, fractured sand has been purchased. This does not move with rain and wind, he said.
Several of the par 3 tee boxes are not in good shape and are in need of enlargement, according to Tollette.
In addition, the par 5 tee boxes need to be reconstructed to add length because the par 5s at present play too short as a result of new technology in golf balls and golf clubs, Tollette said.
“The tee project may use the old contaminated sand from the sand trap project for base construction,” he said. “This will result in a substantial savings in fill dirt.”
New controllers for the irrigation system, which was upgraded in 1989, will also be installed as part of the project.
The new controllers will make it possible to control the flow as well as the individual heads by computer, conserving both water and energy, Tollette said.
Source: Coon Rapids (Minn.) Herald