2 of 4 Department of Public Works Testimony Committee on Youth, Sports, Parks & Recreation OPENING REMARKS Good Afternoon Chairman of the Committee on Youth, Sports, Parks and Recreation, Senator Javan E. James, Committee members, other Senators in attendance, as well as the viewing and listening public. I am James Grum, Engineering Administrator for Capital Improvement Projects in the Department of Public Works (DPW). The Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) office administers the planning, construction, renovation, and improvement of government infrastructure facilities, as directed and prioritized by the Office of the Governor. PAUL E. JOSEPH STADIUM PROJECT The Department of Public Works assists the Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation with the construction administration for the Paul E. Joseph Stadium Complex project. $1.6M have been expended on contract management consulting including miscellaneous expenses. $17.8M, including retainages owed, have been expended on front end engineering investigation, design, and construction to date. The bi-monthly project status report was submitted to the Legislature President at the beginning of November. This report contained financial status, permit status, and the estimated project schedule. It also said that progress was halted until critical property was acquired and the building permit, now including Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) approval, is re- issued. An update to the progress over these two obstacles are: 3 of 4 Department of Public Works Testimony Committee on Youth, Sports, Parks & Recreation 1) On Tuesday of last week, the Government of the Virgin Islands completed the acquisition of the property to the east where the outfield areas are located. 2) The Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) application was submitted to the consultants for FEMA. On Wednesday of last week we received a lengthy response, but two sentences summarize the status. “We are currently reviewing your application we received November 11th. We should complete our review within the next few weeks and send you a formal response requesting additional information.” and “Please note that the average processing time for applications from start to finish is about 6 months, with some simpler cases requiring less time and some more complex cases requiring more time.” Given that progress is halted until the CLOMR is accepted and the building permit is re-issued, the balance of the construction will continue in May of 2021. This pushes the expected completion date for the $27M project to June 2022. Funding is from PFA, and inspection is performed by CIP engineering. DISASTER RECOVERY PROJECTS Canegata Complex 10-26-2020 4 of 4 Department of Public Works Testimony Committee on Youth, Sports, Parks & Recreation The long term plan for most Recreational Centers is to upgrade to to be suitable as public shelters. Concessions, shelters and facility repairs are being designed by consultants in accordance with 2018 International Building Code (IBC) per 29 V.I.C. paragraph 292 to withstand Category 5 hurricane force winds and earthquakes. Currently there are twelve (12) facilities in design for St. Thomas, ten (10) facilities on St. Croix, and two (2) facilities on St. John. Some projects, such as Kirwin Terrace Ballpark, are ready for procurement, with contract timing dependant on contractors’ bid pricing compared to the FEMA estimates. If contractor pricing is higher than FEMA pricing, we will have to spend time to ask FEMA to increase their estimates for reimbursement in order to write a purchase order obligating enough money before a contract can be signed. In conclusion, the procurement of professional services in approximate amounts of 1 engineering staff per million dollars of construction, the Front End Engineering upon which to base a design, and the design itself requires 2 to 3 years for most of the projects we do in the territory. That puts us at today, where if the bids and available money do not hinder the projects, we should be constructing the first projects after the five (5) month contracting process. Thank you for the opportunity to provide this testimony, and I stand ready to answer your questions.