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Open Spaces requests $406,597 increase to finish Coyote Creek design after unanticipated hurdles
Summary
Project manager Ray Winn told commissioners that an engineered vehicle‑rated boardwalk, a full cultural survey, and late fire‑rescue comments raised design costs; staff requested $406,597 to backfill construction administration and permit costs.
Arapahoe County Open Spaces staff asked the Board of County Commissioners to approve a $406,597 scope increase to complete final design steps and backfill construction administration funds for the Coyote Creek regional park project.
Ray Winn, the project manager, told commissioners that three unanticipated hurdles sent design costs higher than originally scoped. He said engineering needs at the creek required a vehicle‑rated boardwalk rather than the pedestrian or breakaway boardwalks assumed in the master plan; that boardwalk alone now carries an estimated field cost of about $1,200,000. He also described a required maximum‑extent cultural resources survey ordered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the State Historic Preservation Office that cost $66,500, and late life‑safety comments from Bennett Watkins Fire Rescue that arrived 14 months after the planning submission and required six months of additional design work.
Winn said the design team temporarily used the project's construction administration budget to pay the new costs and now needs to replenish that line. He laid out the requested increases: $56,930 anticipated for Bennett Watkins Fire Rescue permitting and development review and roughly $99,082 to backfill construction administration, bringing the total scope increase and backfill request to $406,597.
Commissioners asked for details about the boardwalk and the reason the master plan estimate did not reflect the new engineering needs. Winn and Open Spaces staff explained that the original master plan allowed for simpler "breakaway" boardwalks; later, engineers and permitting authorities required deeper caissons and vehicle ratings to provide emergency‑access and regional trail crossings. "When we finally sat down with the engineers ... they said, no. You cannot do breakaway boardwalks," Winn said, describing the escalation in design requirements.
After discussion, the board gave staff support to proceed with the funding adjustment. Open Spaces staff said they would finalize permitting steps with Bennett Watkins Fire Rescue and complete the final L&E (location and extent) submittal that will trigger the building permit and construction timeline.
Next steps: staff will complete the Bennett Watkins Fire Rescue development review, finalize L&E and building permit submittals, and return with paperwork to backfill the construction administration budget as described.
