By Matt Wiley
The grass is not getting any greener yet for the new fields slated for the Wesley Chapel District Park — at least, not yet —as the Pasco County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) has voted to reject the only bid that came in for the project the first time it went out for bid.
During the October 22 meeting, the BOCC voted unanimously to reject the sole bid for the project from Lithia, FL -based QGS (Quality Grassing Services) Development, Inc., due to the company’s bid estimate of more than $2.2 million to construct two artificial turf fields at the District Park.
According to records, in addition to the cost of the fields, themselves, the bid also included lighting and parking in with the construction price. However, the project was only budgeted for $1.75 million, said Ed Caum of the Pasco Office of Tourism and Development.
“The (QGS) bid came in (almost half a million dollars) above that,” Caum told the commissioners.
District 5 commissioner Jack Mariano brought up the idea of installing grass fields at the park, due to their lower cost, but the idea met opposition from recently appointed Pasco County administrator Michele Baker.
“The specifications (for the fields) are being looked at again and can be tightened up,” Baker explained, adding that she thought that the county should go out to bid again to find a contractor to install turf fields. “We still believe that turf fields are the way to go for tourist opportunities.”
By tourist opportunities, Baker means marketing the fields for big sports tournaments. She said that turf was the logical solution because of the amount of wear and tear that type of field can take.
Baker explained that the county is interested in working out a deal with the Wesley Chapel Athletic Association (WCAA) to use the new turf fields for their regular sporting events, as well as the existing grass fields, any time a major lacrosse tournament is not in town.
“The (new) fields have got to be able to withstand the traffic and the heavy use,” Baker said.
“We’ve had problems before with over-use,” Caum said, adding that the two turf fields would collectively cost about $20,000, annually, to maintain. Although grass fields are considerably cheaper, it requires more work to maintain them, with constant reseeding, mowing and the abundant use of fertilizer, which the county is trying to eliminate in an effort to be “greener.”
Caum says that the marketability of the fields is key.
“Turf fields are always green,” he says. “Teams can’t use the fields when there isn’t any grass on them, which is what happens when they are reseeded. We want the fields to be usable year-round.”
The turf fields’ primary use would be for large lacrosse tournaments, such as the annual Dick’s Sporting Goods Tournament of Champions, which will be held at the park December 29-31.
Pasco purchasing director Scott Stromer says that the county has issued another solicitation for proposals, which are due by December 10.
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