February 25, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, February 25, 2005

City prods contractor to complete golf course by December

With costs for Pleasanton's new municipal golf course approaching $40 million and opening day delayed again to the end of the year, the city has moved its public works director to a construction trailer on the site to get the project back on track.

Public Works Director Rob Wilson doffed his suit and tie and the comfort of his City Hall office last week to share space with supervisors from the golf course project's general contractor, Ferma Corp. The move came after Wilson "encouraged" Ferma to fire its subcontractor, Forsgren, replacing it with Continental Golf. That Bay Area firm will take over responsibility for seeding, sodding and establishing the golf course fairways, greens and sand traps.

Nelson Fialho, who was named City Manager last October, said he asked Wilson to take over day-to-day field responsibilities after reviewing golf course construction delays and mistakes. Trees delivered to the site died because Forsgren had no system in place to water them. With too few laborers assigned to the Pleasanton site, Forsgren also was unable to seed most of the fairways before the winter rains stopped the work.

"After seeing how woefully behind schedule this project was, I took the bull by the horns and put Wilson on the course where he can work with Continental and Ferma to get this job done," Fialho said. "I'm confident that he will keep this project on track going forward."

Wilson, who inherited the 16-year-long golf course project when he was hired by Pleasanton two years ago, has more than 30 years in engineering, project management and construction inspection.

He said that all 18 holes have been graded and shaped, and that the city has accepted the seeding work completed on five holes. The push now will be to complete the rest by June. Weather permitting, that would give those holes six months for the turf to grow and firm up before golfers start using them.

In the meantime, Fialho and Wilson will decide whether to open the golf course clubhouse and the adjacent driving range this summer. Both would generate revenue for the city, which must start paying down the first of $25.3 million in bonds that were sold last year to finance the 145-acre golf course and trails, called Callippe Preserve. Although the driving range has not been seeded, its turf can be planted quickly and used faster since golfers aren't walking on it. Revenue from the clubhouse would come from equipment rental and purchases, and sales at its snack bar.

CourseCo out of Petaluma, a company that manages golf courses, has signed a contract with Pleasanton to operate and maintain Callippe Preserve once the construction work is completed. That would include the driving range and clubhouse, including kitchen and snack bar services.

Three miles of hiking and equestrian trails that skirt the golf course will not open until the course is completed, however. Officials said the trails are too close to the fairways where construction work and equipment make them a risk to hikers.

Ferma was the low bidder for the golf course project, coming in $2 million under the next lowest bidder, an unusually high difference that surprised both Ferma officials who had submitted the bid and a pleased City Council, which accepted it. Now, however, critics are claiming that Ferma has been making up the difference by hiring inexperienced or understaffed subcontractors, which has delayed opening day.

"With Rob Wilson now on site, I am optimistic that we can take this project to the next level of intensity, with the course completed and open by the end of this calendar year," Fialho said.

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