Park Board learns price tag to install irrigation system on all 27 holes at Westview is $2.8 million

QUINCY — An irrigation consultant told the Quincy Park Board on Wednesday the cost of an irrigation system for all 27 holes at Westview Golf Course would be an estimated $2.8 million.

Les Hill of Navasota, Texas, recently completed design work for the proposed system. He said 1,166 sprinkler heads are needed at a cost of $2,300 per head. Hill also recommended a pump station upgrade at $45,000 rather than a new pump station which would cost approximately $200,000. He also added what he called a $75,000 “contingency.”

Hill first estimated 1,100 sprinkler heads would be needed at a cost of $1,800 per head for an approximate cost of $2.17 million. However, he said costs have risen more than 30 percent in the past 12 months. He expects them to rise between six and 10 percent more in the next 12 months.

He said the “state of the art system” will have irrigation heads functioning at double the efficiency of the current heads at Westview. An operator can control each single sprinkler head and manage it one minute at a time. HDPE pipe, which is more durable and heat resistant than PVC pipe, would be installed. Only the greens, tee boxes and fairways would be watered.

He says the projects would need 12 weeks for scheduling the bid letting process, Park Board meetings and contract approval. He said installing the irrigation system would take approximately 16 weeks, while ordering the materials should take about 10 weeks. The entire process is estimated to take 42 weeks.

Hill believes he can get at least three companies from throughout the nation to bid on the project. He said the installation is done one hole at a time. Closing the course is unlikely to be necessary.

“We used to close nine holes at a time or sometimes the entire golf course. We don’t close the golf course anymore,” Hill told the Park Board. “The contractor will come in and run all the main lines while leaving the existing (irrigation) system functional. Once they’re pressurized and fully ready to operate, all the other work is done in the rough with a few exceptions. Golfers can play all 18 the whole time.

“Over the years, we’ve gotten better and better and better on how we do this. From a revenue standpoint, it shouldn’t affect you for one penny.”

In an ideal situation, Hill said the requests for bids would go out in October. Completion of the project would be done “by the middle of August or early September” without weather complications.

The cost for irrigation on the first 18 holes is projected to cost $2.37 million. Irrigating holes 19-27 was projected to cost $428,000. If the Park Board voted to irrigate the first 18 holes and wait on irrigating holes 19-27, Hill said the cost would go up at least $118,000 — $75,000 for a “second mobilization” of bringing equipment to Quincy, and $43,000 for an expected 10 percent rise in cost from year to year.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to get together and map out a plan where we can get this done in a timely manner where it doesn’t stretch out into next year,” Park Board Vice President Mark Philpot said after the meeting.

“We’ve seen more traffic to Westview this year alone, which is amazing,” Park Board President Jarid Jones said after the meeting. “People in the community love Westview. To continue to recruit and retain people here, we have to completely, very analytically, look at every aspect of what it takes to maintain the golf course.”

Commissioners heard from Michael Vera Eastman, who asked for a pile of cinder blocks to be removed in Indian Mounds Park where a former maintenance building was razed.

They also heard from Carol Hochgraber, who lives next to Westview Park at 30^th and Harrison. She expressed concern for children darting across Harrison as they head to soccer practice. However, she was unhappy to learn about Park District plans to establish a gravel parking lot to accommodate 20 cars behind her home. 

“The problems we see are dust, weeds, trash, noise and security,” Hochgraber said. “Please don’t just look at your project on a piece of paper and say, ‘Put a parking lot there.’ Please drive out and look at the lot yourselves and see what other options are available.”

Commissioners also voted to approve:

• Spending an additional $4,500 to complete sidewalk work at Clat Adams Park. The contractor, Derhake Bros. Plumbing and Excavating, found large voids under the existing sidewalk. Derhake added 15 tons of rock and added 65 feet of sidewalk. The extra cost made the total contract price $19,000.
• Spending $11,600 with Derhake Bros. for concrete sidewalk replacement in Moorman Park.
• Spending $15,100 with Derhake Bros. to replace sections of concrete sidewalk around the pond at South Park.
• Spending $14,300 with Derhake Bros. to create a gravel parking lot with 24 parking stalls at 35^th and Koch’s Lane to address the popularity of the Bill Klingner Trail and the Nature Trails East.
• Spending $25,280 with All Weather Courts of Dawson, Ill., to repair and power wash pickleball courts in Madison Park and paint them.