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Soils, scope and budgets: what’s driving Jobson Park costs
Summary
Staff told 4B expansive soils, excavation depth, drainage and site work are major cost drivers for synthetic turf and that those geotechnical realities make adding multiple turfed fields significantly more expensive than natural surfaces.
Town staff said a geotechnical report showed highly expansive soils at Jobson Park that require deeper excavation, drainage and treatment for synthetic turf installations. That subsurface work increases costs compared with natural grass and was cited as a central reason the town limited the bid's deductive alternate to a single field.
The presenter and engineering staff explained that turf installation typically requires deeper excavation and subgrade preparation than a natural infield, increasing per-field costs. Staff said the three vendor quotes they obtained put a single full synthetic field near $900,000 at the high end; staff also noted the overall bid that the town had received for the project was favorable at roughly $6.4 million for the full scope before alternates were applied.
Because the current bid assumed clay infields and natural outfields, staff said moving to multiple synthetic fields would change the scope in ways that would alter bidders' approaches and likely require a rebid. Staff recommended exercising the deductive alternate for one field to lock in current favorable pricing while continuing vendor conversations and design checks for drainage and long-term maintenance.
