During Tuesday morning’s meeting, the Brownwood City Council unanimously approved entering into agreement with Freese and Nichols, Inc. to perform professional design services for Phase I of Downtown Master Plan projects including Baker and Fisk streetscaping, Art Park, and the Silo Promenade and Courtyard.
City Staff recommended Freese and Nichols to perform professional design services for the City of Brownwood for developing preliminary design and construction documents for Downtown Phase I projects. Freese and Nichols will refine the preliminary concepts proposed in the Brownwood Downtown Master Plan and prepare construction documents, including plans, specifications, and opinions of probable construction costs for the purpose of bidding the work in accordance with City standards and budgets, as well as federal, state and local laws.
The projects included in Phase I of engineering were identified as a higher priority catalyst projects in the Downtown Master Plan, which was prepared by Freese and Nichols and was adopted by the Council in March 2024.
Freese and Nichols was selected for design services due to their creation of the 2003 and 2024 Downtown Master Plans, having already completed 30% design work of Phase I projects, and having provided the engineering plans for Center Avenue Improvements. The scope includes two streetscape projects including Baker Street (2,300 feet from Main Street to Washington Street) and Fisk Street (770 feet from Chandler Street to Baker Street).
The proposed improvements for the two streetscape projects will include roadway, sidewalk, traffic signal, construction phasing, illumination, landscaping, pavement markings/signage, underground utilities, and erosion control in accordance with the 2024 Downtown Master Plan.
The scope also includes two park projects, of which the scope of work and fee schedule is based upon the preliminary design concepts in the Downtown Master Plan.
One is the Fisk Art Park located at the lot adjacent to Fisk Street, East Chandler Street, and Hawkins Street. The other is the Silos Park, located at the lot adjacent to Congress Avenue, East Lee Street, and Washington Street.
This scope of work includes professional survey, landscape architecture, architecture, and engineering design services. Freese and Nichols will be joined by the sub-consultant firms of McGray & McGray Land Surveyors, Inc. for the topographic surveying service, GHLA, Inc. for the architectural and structural conceptual design, and AWR, LLC for the irrigation design.
In May of 2024, City Council directed staff to include in the 2024-25 fiscal year budget $550,000 for engineering and design services to maximize future bond issuance towards construction. After $550,000 has been expensed in the 2024-25 fiscal year for engineering services, City Council is authorizing engineering work to continue and to be paid out of City reserves.
As directed by the City Council during budget workshops, the City of Brownwood will pursue an estimated $17.8 million bond issuance in the spring of 2025. At the time of issuance, Freese and Nichols anticipates having 60% complete engineering plans with updated opinion of probable costs for selected projects. The proposed bond issuance amount is based on debt capacity and the opinion of probable cost at the time of adoption of the Downtown Master Plan.
The City of Brownwood will also pursue a TPWD Outdoor Park and Recreation Grant and a TDA Community Development Block Grant for additional sources of funding.
After approval, engineering is expected to begin January 2025 and finish around October 2026. The engineering scope is estimated to take 18-21 months.
- The total cost for engineering for Phase I projects is as follows:
- $1,855,552 Streetscaping
- $611,070 Art Park
- $648,970 Silo Promenade and Courtyard
- $3,115,592 Maximum Total Engineering Design Services