Dracena Park Bridge on Council Agenda Tonight

SUMMARY

A proposal to build a privately funded pedestrian bridge in Dracena Quarry Park comes before the Piedmont City Council Monday night for design and construction approval.

Also on the agenda:

—Approval of bonds or debt to refinance debt to the California Public Employees Retirement System; 

—Choosing an executive search firm to recruit candidates for the city administrator's position.

The council meets at 7:30 p.m. in the City Hall council chambers, 120 Vista Ave. The complete agenda and related staff reports are available on the City of Piedmont website here.

DETAILS

A proposal to build a privately funded pedestrian bridge in Dracena Quarry Park, approved "in concept" by the Piedmont City Council in June, comes back to the council tonight (Monday, Sept. 16) for approval of design and construction and a finding that it's exempt from environmental impact review requirements.

The plan calls for constructing the footbridge at the site of an earlier bridge built in the late 1920s and torn down around 1962 because it was deemed unsafe.

The bridge is an Eagle Scout candidacy project for Cole Becker, a Piedmont High School student and son of local designer-builder Mark Becker, whose construction firm designed the footbridge and donated considerable staff time to the project.

The footbridge would span a ravine leading to the off-leash dog area in Dracena Park.

It would be funded by private donations. One question before the council Monday will be whether construction can begin before fundraising is complete.

A cost estimate from Cole Becker puts the bridge's cost at $50,660, not including the value of time donated by the Becker design-build firm. 

However, an estimate prepared by the city engineer estimates construction costs at about double that amount, $100,395, plus an additional $3,012 for performance bonds.

Last June, the council agreed to waive city permit fees for the project and to absorb the costs of staff time spent on the project; structural and civil engineering review of the project (estimated at about $4,500) and inspection of the construction by the city's contract engineer; and the city attorney's time to determine if the project is exempt from formal environmental impact review.

A lengthy staff report on the project, including history of the former bridge and designs for the new one, is available on the City of Piedmont website here.

You may read more about the project in these articles:

"Dracena Park Bridge Gets Council OK, City Will Absorb Some Costs"

"Special Park Commission Meeting on Dracena Park Bridge Thursday"

"Dracena Park Bridge Project Gets Thumbs Up from Piedmont Park Commission"

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