City staff are working through several new snags, including design adjustments to accommodate sewer force mains and long-term maintenance funding.  These bumps in the road, along with a preliminary cost estimate that is much higher than the city's early ballpark estimates, mean the city will have to solicit competitive bids to construct the project.  The city's goal is to put the project out to bid in early November, which means that a construction contract won't get to the City Council until either December 3 or December 10.
 
Park Planning Manager David Shpak cautioned us to not fret about this new slip in the schedule.  Every project goes through a process of iterative refinement and adjustment.  In this case, city staff have been communicating on the fly, so we have had a window into the progressive re-estimation of costs and schedule that normally occurs out of sight, before construction begins.  While staff had to take more time to work through known and uncovered issued,they say there is no less commitment to build the trail and plant the trees this winter.
 
According to Mr. Shpak: Typically, construction contracts are placed on the Council's Consent Agenda.  This part of the agenda is considered early in the Council meetings, which begin at 7 p.m., and does not typically involve public comment.  The reason for this procedure is to expedite actions that are not controversial.  However, the best way to provide an opportunity for the MDP group to speak to Council about the project is to request a Regular Agenda time slot.  Mr. Shpak won't know the specific time the project will be assigned until the Friday before the Council meeting.  In general, the Regular Agenda begins between 7:20 and 7:45 p.m.  After a brief staff presentation on the project, the Mayor will open the public hearing for the project.  Each person who wants to speak will be given 3 minutes for verbal testimony; written comments can also be submitted.  There's no guideline for content, but Mr. Shpak recommends that you consider preparing an outline to complete our desired input within a 3-minute statement.  If several people will speak, the best impact is gained when redundant comments are kept to a minimum.  On the other hand, if everyone shows up in our MDP T-shirts and cheers for the project (one at a time at the microphone, not en masse), then that will probably be an effective way to convey the message.