Morgan Preserve Wetlands and Stream Restoration

Pre-Proposal Site Visit July 11, 2011: Meeting Notes

The meeting was convened at the Park District office and proceeded to the site.

Present:Christine Craycroft, (Portage Park District), Mike Johnson (Metroparks, Serving Summit County), Ivan Valentic (URS Corp.), Seth Staffen (AGES, Inc.), Jeff Niehaus (Enviroscience), Jessica Hickey (Davey Resource Group), Mark Szakacs (Marks Construction Inc.), Dave Riddel (Davey Tree), Joe Rustic (CTL).

  1. Introductions: Christine Craycroft, Executive Director of the Portage Park District, introduced Mike Johnson, Chief of Natural Resources for Metroparks, Serving Summit County. Mike is providing expert consultation on the project, including assisting with the proposal reviews, interviews and Design/Build Team selection, as well as limited oversight during the contract period.
  1. Property history: The restoration area includes former agricultural fields that were farmed by the owner of the neighboring property, Harold Morrison. He may have some knowledge of field tiles, etc.
  1. Bid reference: There was a question about references to a “bid” in the proposal book. The proper reference should be “proposal”. The intention of the proposal should be to meet the objectives listed as deliverables in the scope of services and produce the best project for the grant funds available, the ‘not to exceed’ price of $46,496.
  1. Submittal: There was a question about the reference to the bid book being submitted in its entirety. This means that the proposal submitted by the Design/Build Team should be attached to the Request for Proposal document.
  1. Post-construction monitoring: There was a question about whether the contractor is required to conduct post-construction monitoring. The intention of the project is for the contractor to develop a written monitoring and maintenance program that can be implemented by high school or college students, park district staff and volunteers, and then provide at least one training session. Volunteers will monitor the restoration area using QHEI and ORAM methods and assist in controlling and mapping the change in invasive species.
  1. 50% Plan Review: There was a question about what to include for the 50% design review. At that point the Team should have completed the assessments with ORAM scores, and be able to present a plan view and selected profile view, with typical sections and typical drawings for proposed habitat enhancement features, accompanied by a list of existing and proposed plant species. Mike Johnson noted that the designs presented will be reviewed by non-engineers and therefore should include drawings that clearly depict the existing and proposed results vs. engineering drawings.
  1. Boundary lines: The Portage Park District will provide the means to determine property boundaries in the field, through boundary markers and/or GPS points.
  1. Topographic maps: Portage County’s digital topographic mapping is limited and not entirely reliable. Mapping of parcels, soils and other features is available on the Portage County GIS website:

The site visit concluded at approximately 2:30. Notes will be posted to the Portage Park District website.