The city's Board of Works and Safety and the Tipton Common Council confirmed selection of BuildBW (identified in meeting as "BW" or "BuildBW") as developer for the planned replacement baseball diamonds and approved engaging ERI for schematic engineering to begin construction documents.
City staff and board members said BuildBW aims to meet next year's play season timeline. Staff cautioned that a Division of Natural Resources (DNR) mapping issue could require a 90-day permitting process if the city cannot document that the existing ballfields were grandfathered under a 1973 flood map update.
Nathan, who reported on the Board of Works meeting, said the selection followed a scoring process assisted by Envoy and that a BuildBW representative attended the meeting and indicated an "aggressive" schedule to try to meet the play-season deadline. Staff explained that the next phase is preparing construction documents, with ERI retained to produce schematic architectural and engineering work so the project is ready for bid.
City staff noted site cleanup needs and some debris at the location; staff said DNR had confirmed the site does not contain contaminants that require remediation but that debris removal and potential floodplain permitting remain outstanding items. If DNR permitting is required, staff estimated a 90-day permit review that could move a conservative construction start into October.
Council members and staff also described coordination with police and fire about project timing and with stakeholders during August scoping work. The board discussed contracting options and noted an advantage in signing an ERI contract now so work on construction documents can begin within the project budget.
Staff said bids will follow the completion of construction documents and that the board expects to move to bidding and construction in the months that follow, subject to DNR and other approvals.