Res 0214-2024

Whereas, The Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) has been criticized for delays and cost overruns in parks capital projects; and Whereas, Notwithstanding DPR's commitment to streamline and shorten the capital process, DPR still allots themselves 30 to 45 months for on-time projects, a negligible decrease from the allotted time in 2013, 33 to 45 months; and Whereas, The capital process has five stages which include Needs Assessment, Project Initiation, Design, Procurement and Construction; and Whereas, Needs Assessment includes DPR, community members and elected officials identifying a need for a park or recreational facility in a particular area followed by a cost estimate for the site prepared by DPR; and Whereas, Only after the estimated project cost is fully funded can the project proceed to Project Initiation; and Whereas, Project Initiation typically takes one to two months and DPR staff and/or an outside consultant are assigned to the project to review project plans, often with external agencies such as the Department of Environmental Protection to decide as to whether a completely new specialty design is warranted or, in the case of an existing park, if it may be replaced in-kind, with a similar park; and Whereas, The final step of Project Initiation is a scope meeting, which brings together DPR and members of the community to determine the scope of the project; and Whereas, The Design stage, which typically takes 10 to 15 months, is itself broken down into four discrete sub-stages including, Design Development (two to five months), Internal Schematic Approvals (one month), External Schematic Approvals (two to three months), and Construction Document Preparation and Permit Applications (five to six months); and Whereas, The Procurement stage, which typically takes seven to ten months, is broken down into four discrete sub-stages: Pre-Solicitation Review (two to three months), Solicitation (one to one and a half months), Pre-Award (three to four and a half months), and Award and Registration (one month); and Whereas, After legal reviews, bid reviews and the chosen contractor providing insurance, DPR then submits the package to the City Comptroller who registers the contract, and DPR will publicly notice the award to the contractor; and Whereas, The Construction stage typically takes 12 to 18 months and is closely supervised by DPR staff who oversee the daily operations of the project to ensure that it is built to contract specifications and to resolve any issues that arise; and Whereas, Construction supervision responsibilities include subcontractor approvals, submittals, change orders and overruns, and payments, which occur simultaneously on a project; and Whereas, Construction staff submit weekly progress reports with percent completion information and are published to the Capital Tracker on DPR's website; and Whereas, DPR capital projects, historically, have experienced large delays and substantial cost overruns; and Whereas, Delays in DPR capital projects have generally been attributed to the overuse of private management consultants, poor project planning and inaccurate early cost estimates; and Whereas, An authority that exclusively manages the design and construction of DPR capital projects may be able to increase the number capital projects which are completed on time and within budget; and Whereas, An authority would not require multiple approvals from the Office of Management and Budget or the NYC Comptroller; and Whereas, An authority may have a simplified procurement process for construction and contracted services; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass and the Governor to sign legislation that would create a New York City Parks Construction Authority. Session 13 LS #54 01/17/2024 Session 12 PM LS# 54 04/6/2022 2