MANSFIELD — Council tabled a bill in a 5-3 vote that would authorize the safety-service director to enter into a contract with EMH&T for park planning at Sterkel Park.
The Mansfield Parks Department was awarded a $60,000 grant by the Sterkel Fund to hire a park planner to design and create a new layout and ideas for Sterkel Park.
Fourth Ward Councilman Butch Jefferson questioned why a consultant would be necessary to help with park planning.
“I thought you as the park manager would have the ability to plan a park as far as how you lay it out,” Jefferson said to parks manager Mark Abrams.
“We do have that ability, but we’re bringing outside eyes in to take an objective look at what we could do to improve the park,” Abrams responded.
He added that with the way the grant is written, it’s meant to be used specifically for hiring a park planner to come up with ideas for improvement at Sterkel Park. The city can then decide whether or not it wants to pursue those ideas.
The goal is to create more connectivity among the facilities in that area along Lexington Avenue. Currently, the park can only be accessed from Hollywood Lane.
Matthew Stanfield, owner of FiELD9: architecture, said he was asked to put a proposal together for the master plan at Sterkel Park.
He submitted his bid, which was $13,000 less than EMH&T’s, he said, but was later told that his bid was denied.
“This is not an isolated incident,” he said. “It has happened to me before, most notably with the Garden City Cafe. And frankly, it’s starting to feel a little personal.”
He said he was told by the mayor and the city engineer that the other company was a “better fit.”
Jefferson questioned what this meant.
“Why would we take the higher bid?” he asked.
Mayor Tim Theaker said that EMH&T was selected because the work that they’d be doing for this project is their “core business” and “core competency.”
“They have a done a lot of work for the city, and in doing that work for the city they have performed excellently.”
Van Harlingen said he had a chance to look at the two proposals that were submitted.
“One of the proposals required upfront money prior to any work being done, which is not the way the city does business…That sticks out in my mind, what was said in that board of control meeting, on why that bid was not accepted,” he said.
Fifth Ward Councilman Jason Lawrence said he didn’t feel comfortable voting for the legislation.
“I want to hear more about this,” he said of the legislation.
Council tabled the bill and plans to discuss it further during a parks and recreation committee meeting on Tuesday, April 4 at 6:40 p.m. in council chambers.
