2026 7 13 Work Session PACKET Council

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PUBLIC WORKS 
 
TO:  Bridget Roberts, Interim City Manager 
FROM:  Kevin L. Helms, Project Manager 
Cc:  Matt Siniard, Parks and Recreation Director 
  Ben Burchfield, Public Works Director 
DATE:  July 8, 2026 
SUBJECT: Parks Masterplan Professional Services Agreement 
Background 
The current Parks and Recreation Masterplan (Masterplan) was adopted in 2021. It was developed as a 
countywide effort that included facilities located in McMinn County as well as all cities within the county. 
The plan was prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associates (KHA). 
 
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) requires entities to maintain a 
Masterplan that has been updated wit hin the previous five years to remain eligible for grant programs 
such as the Local Parks and Recreation Fund. This program has been used extensively by the City of Athens 
in the past for various projects with the most recent being the renovation and additions to Heritage Park. 
Because an update is required this year for the City  to remain eligible for grant funding, $85,000 was 
included in the FY27 Budget for the Masterplan update.  
 
Because this  work constitutes professional service s, Tennessee law requires a qualifications -based 
selection process rather than competitive bidding. Under the City’s purchasing authority and Tennessee 
Code Annotated, the City may negotiate a professional services agreement with a qualified firm already  
providing similar services to the City rather than issuing a public Request for Qualifications. Even though 
this approach permits negotiations with a single firm, I requested proposals from both Lose Design (Lose) 
and KHA earlier this year. 
 
As mentioned above, both firms have worked on various projects for the City. Lose was the firm for recent 
improvements at Heritage Park, Ingleside Recreational Complex, and Cook Park. KHA is the firm currently 
designing Market Park  and preparing the Historic Downtown Masterplan, and it also prepared the 
Countywide Masterplan in 2021. 
 
I have coordinated this process with Matt, and earlier this week, he and I met with Ben to review the two 
proposals. It is our opinion that both firms are qualified to do the work requested. Additionally, while 
there are some minor differences between the proposals , both generally follow the same approach and 
produce substantially similar results. Another important factor to note is that both proposals  
 
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