Report to: General Committee Report
Date:
SUBJECT: Replacement Strategy – Loss of Soccer Fields at
PREPARED BY: Allan Seabrooke, Director, Strategic Services
RECOMMENDATION:
That the report
titled “Replacement Strategy – Loss of Soccer Fields at
And that funds be approved to an upset limit of $1.5 million dollars for the construction of one artificial turf sports field with lights and associated temporary parking and access on the town-owned “Southeast Community Centre Property”;
And that staff work with the Markham Soccer Club to obtain their input on details for the construction of the sports field;
And that staff investigate options with the York Region District School Board and the York Region Catholic School Board with respect to their lands in the East Markham Area, for future sportsfields construction;
And that the $1.5 million required for this project be funded from the Development charges, 90% of the $1.35 million, and the Ramp-up Reserve, 10% or $150,000;
And that staff be authorized and directed to do all the things necessary to give effect to this resolution.
1. Purpose 2. Background 3. Discussion 4. Financial
5. Others (Environmental, Accessibility, Engage 21st, Affected Units) 6.
Attachment(s)
PURPOSE:
To recommend approval of expenditures to an upset limit of $1.5 million to construct one artificial turf sports field with lights and associated temporary parking and access on the Town-owned Southeast Community Centre property, located on the east side of Highway 48, just south of 14th Avenue.
In addition,
approval is sought to investigate options with the York Region District School
Board and the York Region Catholic School Board with respect to their lands in
the
BACKGROUND:
The Town of
The YRDSB has advised that they will be proceeding with construction on this site which will impact the use of the fields effective 2008. The school board identified MDHS as a candidate replacement school in 2006 based on building and program renewal requirements. A Board commissioned architect has recently confirmed the feasibility of replacing the MDHS on the site. It is the intention of board staff to have the final site plan documents ready for submission to the Town in the fall of 2007, with final building design and specifications ready for building permit submission by early winter 2008. The Board plans to tender in the spring of 2008 and start construction by May 2008, with a scheduled move to the new building in February 2010.
Demolition of the existing school building will start once classes start in the new facility in February 2010. In the spring of 2010 final phases of parking lots and completion of the playing field construction will commence with new fields ready for use in the summer of 2011. These time lines are of course subject to timely approvals financial constraints and weather conditions.
Effectively, if the project proceeds on time these two full size soccer fields and potentially one Junior field will be lost from 2008-2011. At this time, it is not determined whether more than one field by the board will be re-instated back onto the property.
OPTIONS/ DISCUSSION:
There will be two full size soccer fields and potentially one junior field lost from 2008 for at least three years. There is a significant impact on the soccer clubs that use these MDHS fields. The three soccer fields in question are permitted for a total of 1,000 hours (2006). The most significant impact is for the Markham Soccer Club that is the main user of MDHS fields.
The Markham
Soccer Club is the largest of the three soccer clubs in
Impact on Southeast Community Centre Future Plans
The Parks, Recreation, Culture and Library Master Plan establishes priorities and policies to guide the delivery of facilities and services the year 2021. This plan recommends the construction of a new major multi-purpose community centre and outdoor recreation amenities at the proposed Southeast site. In general, the new community centre is proposed to include some combination of the following amenities:
- Indoor Pool
- Fitness Area
- Gymnasium
- Program Space
- Youth and Senior Space
- Ice Arenas
The final decision on the combination and sizes of amenities would be based on the circumstance, partnership opportunities and costs and benefits presented by the various delivery options.
The timing for
this major multi-purpose recreation facility and library is identified in the
medium term planning horizon (2011-2016), for which land has already been
purchased in southeast
Due to the
circumstances of losing these soccer fields, staff are recommending
construction of one artificial turf sports fields with lights at this site in
Phase I. The artificial turf, while offering a higher quality sports field,
will also enable clubs to extend their seasons with use as early as March and
as late as November. This is desirable for the soccer clubs to continue to
compete at the “rep” level where other communities such as
The artificial turf fields are engineered to perform like natural grass with a number of obvious advantages.
· Outstanding durability, withstands many times the level of wear and tear compared to the natural grass fields.
· Provides the athlete optimum range of movement and surface quality this is unaltered over time.
· Reduced maintenance costs. The cost of maintenance is estimated at one third of natural grass fields.
· No down time regarding field use after yearling sodding or re-sodding of natural fields.
· Ability to accommodate an unlimited number of activities that often conflict on natural grass; including football, soccer, rugby, etc.
· Potential for additional revenue generation from the extended season that occurs on artificial turf and hosting of high level playoffs and tournaments.
· Environmentally friendly construction materials used (i.e. consumer recycled tires used for the infill).
This is consistent with the plan to provide outdoor recreation amenities on the site albeit advancing the time frame, given our needs for the sportsfields.
Discussion of Sportsfields Construction Southeast
Property
The municipality
owned property, purchased for the construction of a future southeast community
centre is located east of
The configuration
of the site is such that challenges exist in terms of placing the proposed
community centre amenities, the provision of parking and outdoor amenities.
Therefore, until a decision is made on the size and components of the Southeast
Community Centre it is recommended that only one artificial turf field be
constructed at this site, during this initial phase 1 of construction, for
outdoor amenities. The one field will be placed on the site in a manner that
provides no limitations to the siting of a future community centre and library,
which would be on the east side of the property near the railway tracks. Once
decisions on the community centre are made, additional fields and/or other
outdoor amenities can be constructed in Phase II. The one artificial turf field
with lights will replace the number of hours lost from the two full sized
soccer fields at the
An accelerated construction process will be initiated to attempt completion of the field in the fall of 2007 so it will be available for permitting and use in spring 2008.
Future Discussion with School Boards
Staff are also
recommending that discussion with both school boards occur to ascertain the
time frames for potential construction of schools in the
FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS
The estimated cost of 1.5 million dollars will include funds for the site access, temporary surface gravel parking area, site grading, artificial turf field and lighting.
Staff recommends that the $1.5 million required for this project be funded from Development Charges (DC), $1.35 million (90%) and the Ramp-up Reserve $0.15 million (10%).
Development charges are controlled by Provincial legislation and is a funding source used to help pay for select growth related capital costs in a municipality. DC’s are collected for growth related facilities in the areas of parks, recreation and library services, and pay for 90% of the qualified capital costs with the municipality responsible for the remaining 10%.
In order to smooth the operating impact of new facility openings, such as new community centres, libraries and fire stations, the Town ramp-up the personnel costs of the new facilities over several years prior to the facility opening. The budgeted ramp-up funds included in the operating budget are transferred to the Facility Ramp-Up Reserve in the years before the facility is opened.
In the 2007 Operating Budget, there are ramp-up funds proposed for the East Markham Community Centre and Library and two additional fire stations. It is recommended that the $0.15 million which is the 10% non DC position of this project, be funded from the Facility Ramp-Up Reserve in 2007.
The DC funds for this specific project are being allocated from the Urban Design Parks D.C. In order to accommodate these fields, it should be noted that a substitution to components of the overall parks development plans will be made to complete this project.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:
Artificial turf sportsfields, use environmentally friendly construction materials as part of the components.
ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:
This project
aligns with the following key Town of
BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:
Strategic Services
Asset Management
Financial Services
Urban Design
RECOMMENDED
BY: ________________________ ________________________
Allan Seabrooke, Director, Jim Sales, Commissioner,
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A – Future Southeast Community Centre Site
Q:\Strategic
Services\Members\Allan Seabrooke\CSIO\Report- Loss of Soccer Fields.doc