Evanston council approves $636,000 Twiggs Park playground contract amid cost and procurement concerns

The Evanston City Council on July 28 approved a $636,000 contract with AGAE Contractors for the Twiggs Park Playground Improvement project, amid debate about procurement practices and rising park construction costs.

Council members split on fiscal and procurement questions but the motion carried 5–2. Opponents cited a single bid, concerns that the Responsible Bidders Ordinance (RBO) had not yet been applied to the procurement, and broader questions about escalating park project costs. City staff and supporters said leveraging Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds made it sensible to move forward with playground replacement and limited path improvements at the site.

The contract matters because the city and residents are weighing how to maintain and improve parks while containing rising construction and installation costs. Supporters argued that accepting grant funds allows the city to do more than the available local funds would permit; critics asked for greater cost analysis and fuller application of newly adopted procurement standards.

Council member Newsom moved the contract award; the clerk recorded a roll-call vote with five members in favor and two against. Council member Kelly and council member Davis voted no. Council member Burns and others defended the project’s scope and said the work is consistent with prior park improvements and lower than several recent projects.

City Engineer Laura Biggs described the city’s approach: when grant funding becomes available staff “look at it as an opportunity to leverage city funds to get something bigger done than we could do with just city funds alone.” Biggs said the playground equipment being replaced was old and that the project is in a Census tract prioritized under the city’s equitable planning. She also said the city moved to prioritize Twiggs Park because it qualified under the HCDC (Housing and Community Development Committee) action plan and the council-approved 2024 action plan.

Several council members pushed staff for more transparency on costs. Council member Burns noted that the $636,000 contract compares favorably to some recent work and urged colleagues not to stall projects at the final approval stage. Council member Kelly and others pointed out that only one bid was received and that the city’s new Responsible Bidders Ordinance has not yet been implemented across bid packages. Corporation Counsel Alex Ruggie said the delay in implementing the RBO was an “oversight,” and that purchasing was holding new bid packages until the ordinance language had been incorporated.

Council members also discussed installation costs. A staff explanation noted installation and site-work often double the cost of the equipment itself, and Council member Rogers asked whether the city should study bringing installation in-house; staff replied doing so would require significant new equipment and positions. Council member Davis requested a formal cost analysis and said she had submitted a referral previously asking for an in-house cost study.

Clarifying cost references provided by staff included comparisons to other park projects: Harbor Park reported costs near $858,000 in 2020, Larimer Park about $1,460,000, and another park project reported near $2,020,000; staff said the full Twiggs Park scope (play equipment plus paths and other work) totaled roughly $963,000 while the contract award for construction work is $636,000. Staff also said $92,000 for path improvements comes from a separate CIP line item rather than the playground CDBG allocation.

Ending: The council approved the contract 5–2; staff said they would incorporate RBO language into future solicitations, provide the requested cost analyses on in-house work if the council asks, and continue communicating with council members about prioritization of park projects.