Council authorizes Hembree Park design contract, directs staff-led stakeholder outreach

City staff presented a design-intent-based scope and three public-engagement options for Hembree Park, a 35-acre athletic facility prioritized in the city’s 2022 parks master plan. Steven Malone said the design work focuses on six existing baseball fields, stormwater improvements and addressing aging infrastructure; he said staff had interviewed stakeholders including the Roswell Youth Baseball Association and prepared a design-intent package for the consultant.

Corinne Ballantine of the project team explained the procurement and cost tradeoffs: a high-level public-engagement package would add about $34,500 and extend design by three months; a mid-level option is approximately $15,600 and adds two months; a minimal online-feedback option is roughly $10,200 and adds one month. Malone told council staff had already prioritized baseball-field drainage and stormwater as the top work items.

Council members debated how broad outreach should be. Several members urged focused conversations with priority user groups — baseball, softball, tennis/pickleball stakeholders and playground users — rather than a broad open-ended public survey. Mayor Mary Robichaux cautioned that limiting outreach to a few groups could omit other park users. After discussion, council directed staff to remove the consultant’s public-engagement line from the consultant scope and proceed with a design contract with RK&K while conducting stakeholder engagement internally. Council member Sarah Beeson moved to award the task order for Hembree Park design and noted the not-to-exceed amount could be adjusted; the motion passed unanimously.

Ending: The committee authorized moving the contract to mayor and council for final award and asked staff to run internal stakeholder engagement in parallel with consultant work so design can proceed without added schedule delay.