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: Professional Services Agreement for Cook Park Parking Improvements 
Background 
The City Council recently requested that City staff investigate options to add parking at Cook Park. Staff 
delivered three concepts each with an estimated cost to Council for review. A fter narrowing the 
possibilities, staff met with community members who have a vested interest in the park to review those 
options. This meeting identified a preferred option among community members, which was subsequently 
presented to Council at its June meeting. Council then directed staff to solicit a professional services 
agreement from an engineering firm to provide design and bidding services for the selected concept. 
 
Because the Parks and Recreation Masterplan update is also being performed by Kimley -Horn and 
Associates (KHA), staff believes it is in  the best interest of the City  for the same firm to complete this 
project. Using a single consultant promotes consistency in park planning, improves coordination between 
the two efforts, reduces project startup time, and lowers overall design costs by eliminating duplication 
of effort. Once staff selected KHA as the firm to be recommended to Council for the Masterplan update, 
the firm was asked to submit a proposal to provide design and bidding services for this project. 
 
The design and bidding documents will consist of three primary components: 
• Parking area with access drive 
• Add alternate parking area 
• Lighting improvements for both the new and existing parking areas, as well as the primary 
pedestrian walkways 
 
Both parking areas have roughly the same number of parking spaces. As a reminder, th ere are currently 
11 parking spaces at Cook Park. The base scope of work will add approximately 14 parking spaces, 
including two ADA-accessible spaces. The new parking area will be served  by a one-way drive entering 
from Wabash and exiting onto E Harper Johnson. The add alternate would provide approximately 13 
additional spaces accessed from the same one-way drive. 
 
While there may be justification for limiting the scope of construction once the costs are known, there is 
virtually no cost savings for reducing the scope of design. For this reason, staff recommends including the  
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