Fences at Frontier Sports Complex and A. George Pradel Park in Naperville damaged by a July 23 tornado will cost more than $100,000 to fix.
The Naperville Park Board is expected to approve a contract Thursday to pay Proline Fence Co. of Homer Glen $103,520 to restore the fences at the two park properties on the city’s far south side.
An EF-0 tornado, with winds of between 45 and 72 mph, touched down near the northwest corner of the White Eagle Golf Club at 5:40 a.m. July 23 and traveled 4.5 miles southeast, where it lifted at 5:46 a.m. near 119th Street and Book Road, according to the National Weather Service.
In the twister’s path was the Frontier Sports Complex, just south of 95th Street, and A. George Pradel Park, south of 103rd Street.
A memo to board commissioners from Eric Shutes, director of parks planning, and Mike Pisynski, superintendent of trades operations, said park staff and representatives from the Park District Risk Management Agency assessed the affected areas and found structural damage to ball field fencing and dugouts.
The scope of the work at Frontier complex includes replacing the chain-link fence on fields 2, 3 and 4 and removal and replacement of the chain-link fence and backstop on field 8.
At Pradel Park, the work involves replacing damaged sections of the chain-link fence along each baseline at the ball field.
The fence repairs will be the first of three emergency contracts the park staff will be requesting approval for from the board in the coming weeks.
Human Resources Director Kate Sepe told the park board July 28 that besides the fences, dugout roofing and masonry work also will need to be done. Contract quotes are being prepared for board review, she said.
Because repairs must be completed ahead of the spring 2023 program season, staff will not be seeking competitive bids, Sepe said.
Of the initial $103,520 cost, nearly $93,000 will be paid for through the district’s managed risk coverage from the Park District Risk Management Agency.
A 5% contingency has been added to allow for additional cost associated with any unforeseen conditions.
Next, district staff will gather estimates from contractors for the other repairs and run them by risk management agency before bringing contract proposals to the park board for approval.
Since the fence at fields 2 and 3 are to be repaired, the district officials are asking commissioners to add $5,735 for double-wide fences to improve access and assist staff maintaining the ball fields. The additional amount would be funded through the district’s 2022 capital budget.
As per park code, any contract under emergency procurement provisions must be approved by a supermajority of the commissioners.
Other expenses, such as replacing bleachers, will be bid separately later.
Proline Fence has done work for the district at the DuPage River and Nike sports complexes and at Wolf’s Crossing Community Park.
subaker@tribpub.com
