Contract awarded for golf course improvements

By Grace Lovins

Birmingham city commissioners approved a contract award for tee hole and cart path improvements at Lincoln Hills golf course, at 2666 West 14 Mile Road, on Monday, March 13, awarding the contract to Jacklyn Contracting, LLC.

City engineer Melissa Coatta explained that the first hole tee box and cart path required urgent improvements due to existing conditions. There are currently issues with cracks in the cart path from tree roots and the slope needs to be adjusted. The retaining walls on the hill where the first hole is located also needs to be replaced on top of issues with the existing handrails and staircase.

After incidences had occurred along the cart path in the fall of 2022, said Coatta, the city conducted a site visit at the end of October. After staff had visited the site, the cart path and staircase were closed off. Commissioners awarded the professional engineering service to Nowak and Fraus Engineers in November of last year to design the plans and specifications for the bids. This took place between December 2022 to February.

Two bids for the contract were received by the city on Thursday, March 9, from Jacklyn Construction, LLC and Vettese Brothers Enterprise Corporation. Jacklyn Construction had the lower bid between the pair, bidding $898,469, and was selected by city staff to be awarded the contract.

Improvements to the tee box include the removal of an existing tree and the installation of one new retaining wall in place of the current two separate walls for each tee. A new retaining wall will also be installed just south of the pond to help ease the slope of the cart path, which will be placed towards the east with a maximum slope of eight percent. Coatta says restoration will include locations with “no mow” to have more native planting.

The project is considered to be an urgent repair and if the construction is held off there is the potential for an uncontrolled failure of the retaining wall, according to Coatta. Completing the improvements also reduces liability and the risk to users. Construction is expected to be completely finished by June 30.

The improvements total more than the golf course clubhouse renovations, noted commissioner Clinton Baller, but this is the most appropriate course of action due to the danger of a potential collapse and the current slope of the path, explained city manager Tom Markus. Coatta and Markus both said that staff had reviewed multiple alternatives – moving the cart path to different spots – to try and lower the cost of the project, but determined this was the best way to go in terms of cost and decreasing the cart path slope.

Commissioners voted 7-0 to approve the construction budget and award the contract to Jacklyn Construction. The contract was awarded for $898,469, with a five percent contact contingency requested by staff for a total not to exceed $943,392.45.