East Park improvements discussed at Quincy meeting

QUINCY — Planned and possible upgrades to Quincy’s East Park, and discussions related to design and design costs, dominated the Quincy City Council meeting Tuesday.

East Park is home to the city’s skate park and the city swimming pool, the Quincy Aquatic Center. City officials are working on plans to add a pump track to the skate park, and are considering replacement of the aquatic center.

A pump track, said Quincy city manager Pat Haley in a later interview, uses bumps and curves to test the riders.

“The momentum of going down one hill takes you to the next one,” Haley said.

According to pumptrack.com, such tracks allow skateboarders or cyclists - there are versions for each - to use body movements to develop momentum rather than kicking or pedaling.

Quincy resident Greg Martinez was among the original proponents of a pump track, who said during Tuesday’s council meeting that he got the idea after going to such facilities with his son.

There’s a tentative design for the Quincy track, but construction hasn’t started. Martinez said he had some concerns after looking at the design.

“It’s a beautiful pump park,” Martinez said. “But I don’t think it will meet the needs of our clientele here in town.”

Haley said there’s a large expanse in East Park for a pump track, and the designers, Evergreen Park Alliance, took advantage of that. During the council meeting, Martinez said he thought the design was too big and designed to accommodate bikes rather than scooters or skateboards.

“It’s a beautiful layout they have,” Martinez said. “My concern is it’s built for a very specific crowd and will not meet the needs of our game.”

He said he was concerned that the track wouldn’t get as much use as it would with a different design. He suggested a more compact design, similar to the pump park in East Wenatchee.

Haley said city officials and the design team wanted to reduce the possibility of collisions between riders in the park. In his experience that’s one of the issues in East Wenatchee, he said.

The current design includes different skill levels in different parts of the park, and Martinez said that was, in his opinion, a good idea.

Mayor Paul Worley suggested Martinez talk with city officials about the design and his ideas.

City officials are discussing replacing the pool because it’s an aging structure and appears, to be leaking, Haley said.

“The (existing pool) is old,” Haley said. “The bathhouse is ancient.”

The existing aquatic center has a pool, a separate pool for the waterslide and a bathhouse. The estimated cost to replace the pools, the bathhouse and redo the parking lot is about $5 million, although Haley said that’s just an estimate.

City officials tentatively selected NAC Architecture, Spokane, to refine the cost estimates and work on the design and construction. Council members were supposed to approve the NAC contract, about $1.2 million, at the March 1 meeting, but council member Dave Dormaier expressed concerns about the fee. Approval or rejection of the contract was delayed pending further discussion.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Dormaire said he thought the proposed fee didn’t match the project.

“A million dollars just seems like a lot for two pools and a bathroom and a parking lot remodel,” Dormaier said.

Keith Comes, an architect with NAC, said the fee is calculated using a schedule set up by the Office of Financial Management and used on projects that include public funding. Comes said the company had reviewed the proposal and found some ways to reduce the price.

Council members approved an amended contract, with a not-to-exceed price of about $974,000, pending review and approval by the city’s attorney, municipal services director and city manager. Dormaier voted against the adoption of the contract.