Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: CONSIDER ACCEPTANCE OF THE PUTNAM PARK PHASE 1
IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT
Date: June 23, 2026
Written by: Craig Scott, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Recommendation
It is recommended the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution accepting the Putnam Park Phase 1 Improvements Project, authorizing the City Clerk to file the Notice of Completion with the County Recorder, and after 35 days with no protests, release the construction contract retention.
Background
In late 2019, the City of Cotati (City) approved the Parks Capital Plan for all parks in Cotati. The plan includes concepts for amenities, improvements, and upgrades to Cotati parks based on community input, with planning level cost estimates and relative priorities. In 2023, the City completed capital improvements for Kotate Park and just this past month completed improvements for Sunflower Park. In 2024, the design was completed for the Putnam Park Improvements and, on September 24, 2024, City Council awarded the construction contract.
Contract work has been significantly completed, and the improvements are to be considered for acceptance by the City.
Analysis/Discussion
The construction contract for the Putnam Park Improvements Project was awarded to Azul Works, Inc., and City issued the Notice to Proceed with a work start date of October 28, 2024.
The work consisted of new pathways through the park, a fenced dog park, a lawn area, several picnic areas, park furniture including exercise stations and dog activity structures, drinking fountains, and parking lot lights.
On October 6, 2025, the Public Works Department provided a formal notice to Azul Works, Inc. regarding the application of liquidated damages starting June 19, 2025, due to the project exceeding the allotted contract duration of 75 working days.
On October 27, 2025, a preliminary punchwalk was conducted by the contract Construction Manager, City Engineer, and contractor Project Manager. Several significant items remained unfinished, and a “punchlist” of these items was documented. The most significant unfinished items were repairing uneven surfaces on the decomposed granite pathways, complete drainage installation at the NE corner of the park, install gates for the dog park area, remove mounds of construction dirt, add the backflow enclosure, fill open trench at irrigation controllers, and install parking lot light fixtures. There were also a number of landscaping plant replacements needed.
Additional Walk-throughs were conducted, with the same participants, in December 2025, and January 2026, and again there were significant unfinished items. Correspondence as late as March 3, 2026, showed the dog bowl did not work, decomposed granite low spots had not been repaired, the dog park irrigation had 5 locations that leaked, and the broken light fixture in the parking lot was not replaced. On April 15, 2026, it was determined that the dog park items and granite low spots had been substantially repaired, however the light fixture was not replaced. On May 5th, the broken light fixture was replaced but, unfortunately, during the replacement, the contractor once again broke the replacement light fixture. With the light fixture again on order and other various repairs needed, the staff decided it was time to determine the project as complete as of April 15, 2026 and have public works complete the remaining repair work.
The work was originally to be completed on or before February 10, 2025. Accounting for wet weather delays, the contract, as of April 15, 2026 (date of completion of work for the Dog Park low spot correction), was over its allowable contract days by 206 days. The contract documents specify a daily liquidated damages amount to be multiplied by this amount to account for damages to the City for the extended project duration including additional costs for Construction Management and staff time, cost to the community of continued disruption and lack of use of the park, and for the City to complete the remaining unfinished improvements and repairs. The total of these damages is calculated as $103,000.
Despite the shortcomings, and in the interest of moving forward, the City Engineer is recommending the Project for acceptance by the City. Following City Council action, a Notice of Completion is to be filed with the County Recorder and after thirty-five days, provided there are no protests (would be by subcontractors or material suppliers not having been paid), the City is to release the retention to the Contractor. The City is aware of at least one Subcontractor protesting nonpayment and will use this time to determine if other contractors and material suppliers that may also have not been paid.
Financial Considerations
On September 24, 2024, the City Council authorized the initial project budget of $2,486,000 for the Putnam Park Improvements Phase 1 Project. The final construction contract amount, including approved change orders, totaled $1,982,482.25, less $103,000.00 in liquidated damages for a total adjusted cost to date of $1,879,482.25. For construction management and design, the City contracted with Integra Landscaping Architecture for a total of $208,450, but incurred total expenses of only $208,153.64. Total other misc. expenses were incurred totaling $1,041.86 primarily for project signage and other misc. supplies. This created a total project cost of $2,088,677.75, which is approximately $397,000 below the authorized total project budget.
As part of the project closeout process, the City assessed $103,000 in liquidated damages in accordance with the construction contract because of project completion delays beyond the approved contract completion date, including allowable weather delays. The assessment was calculated at the contractual rate of $500 per calendar day for 206 days of delay. To recover these costs, the City applied $96,162.22 in retained funds and withheld an additional $6,837.78 from amounts otherwise payable to the contractor (total $103,000.00).
Separately, the City will continue to retain $49,438.14 of the total construction costs of $1,879,482.25, representing approximately 2.49% of the total contract amount, pending expiration of the Notice of Completion period and resolution of any outstanding project-related claims, stop notices, lien claims, payment disputes, or other closeout matters. These retention actions are authorized under our contract documents and applicable provisions of the California Public Contract Code.
Environmental Issues
This action is found to qualify for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption under CEQA Section 15301 in that the project consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of the existing or former use.