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Real Briefings

Parks and Recreation Committee

BEL-PRC-2025-04-28 April 28, 2025 Parks & Recreation Committee City of Bellingham 7 min
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Apr
Month
28
Day
7
Minutes
Published
Status

Executive Summary

The Parks and Recreation Committee unanimously approved a $3.73 million contract award for the Sunset Pond Loop Trail project, marking a significant milestone for a trail connection that has been in planning for many years. The committee awarded the contract to Faber Construction, whose bid came in nearly $700,000 below the engineer's estimate of $4.42 million. This project will create a 2.3-mile loop trail around Sunset Pond and connect three neighborhoods—King Mountain, Baker View, and Sunset—to the regional trail network including the Barkley Trail, Railroad Trail, and Cornwall Park access. The construction will include substantial boardwalk sections, two new bridges over Squalicum Creek and a tributary, and may span two construction seasons with completion anticipated by February 2027. The project received strong financial support from the Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office, which awarded $1 million after recognizing the significant need for outdoor recreation access in the Sunset neighborhood based on demographic data. The remaining funding will come from Park Impact Fees and Greenways Levy funds. #

Key Decisions & Actions

& Actions **AB 24528 - Sunset Pond Loop Trail Contract Award** - Vote: 3-0 unanimous approval - Action: Awarded contract to Faber Construction for $3,730,404 - Staff Recommendation: Award to lowest responsive bidder (aligned with council action) - Key Details: Project includes boardwalk construction, two bridges, 15% apprenticeship requirement - Practical Impact: Enables construction to begin in late June 2025 with in-water work completed by September #

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Notable Quotes

**Nicole Oliver, on project timeline:** "This project is such a long time coming. We've been identifying this missing gap for many years, and the reason it's taken so long is it's very expensive." **Nicole Oliver, on construction complexity:** "So it's not very much trail. If you look on the map in your packet, there's not a ton of trail that needs to be built, but it is a lot of it is boardwalk. There are two bridge, and it's going to make a complete loop." **Nicole Oliver, on community connectivity:** "It's going to connect the King Mountain and Baker View neighborhoods to sunset, which means they can get down to the Berkeley Trail and then the railroad Trail, as well as under the freeway on the Bay to Baker Trail into Cornwall Park." **Nicole Oliver, on state grant award:** "They came back around and gave us additional funding. At the end of the funding cycle, skipping a couple other higher, higher rated grants to give us more money for this project." **Committee Chair Williams,

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What's Next

- Construction begins late June 2025 - In-water work must be completed by September 2025 - Portions of Sunset Pond Park and surrounding trails may be closed during active construction - Project may span two summer construction seasons - Final upland restoration and planting scheduled during fall/winter planting window - Project completion anticipated by February 2027 - Contract requires 15% apprenticeship utilization for project labor hours #

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Tags & Connections

Data Tags: Nicole Oliver Gina Austin Edwin Williams Hannah Stone Jace Cotton Faber Construction Washington State Recreation Conservation Office Parks Recreation Infrastructure Investment

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