Design/Build - OVP Tennis Court Expansion

Oconee County Board of Commissioners is conducting a design/build procurement for the expansion of tennis court facilities at Oconee Veterans Park located at 3500A Hog Mountain Road, Watkinsville, Georgia. The procurement requires qualified design/build firms to provide comprehensive design analysis, value engineering, and construction services for the development of sixteen new lighted tennis courts, a restroom/concessions building, and parking lot expansion within a $5 million budget constraint. Deliverables include stamped architectural and engineering plans, all design and engineering services, construction administration, pre-construction phase services, construction phase labor, and complete project closeout. Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: experience and qualifications (25 points), project understanding and approach (20 points), design quality and innovation (20 points), cost proposal (20 points), and references and past performance (15 points). Minimum qualifications require firms to be licensed and insured in Georgia with demonstrated experience in sports/recreational facility construction; preferred qualifications include a minimum of eight years of tennis court construction experience, American Sports Builder Association membership, and established relationships with International Tennis Federation-approved asphalt surface manufacturers. Key deadlines include a mandatory pre-bid meeting on March 12, 2026 at 10:00 am at the project site, written question submission deadline of March 19, 2026 at 5:00 pm, question responses posted by March 26, 2026 at 5:00 pm, and sealed bid submission deadline of April 2, 2026 at 10:00 am to the Oconee County Finance Department. Proposals must include five copies (one unbound original and four bound) not exceeding thirty pages excluding resumes and attachments, with font size of at least 11-point Calibri, and must be accompanied by an executed E-Verify affidavit.

All bids are subject to Oconee County's standard general terms and conditions, which require compliance with the Georgia Security and Immigration Compliance Act and Georgia Open Records Act requirements. The procurement does not indicate any specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, though standard bonding requirements apply during the construction phase with bid bonds equal to five percent of the total bid amount and performance and payment bonds equal to 100 percent of the contract amount from a Georgia-licensed surety. The project budget is fixed at $5 million, which represents a significant reduction from previous bids ranging from $6.9 million to $8.1 million, with design fees required to be included within this budget and listed separately on cost proposals. The awarded contractor will receive access to CAD files and supporting technical documents including topographic survey, hydrology report, and geotechnical evaluation prepared by professional engineers; Kevin Hamby of Atlas Technical Consultants will serve as project manager upon contract award. Three contractors submitted bids at the April 2, 2026 opening: Gunter Mead Construction, Headley Construction Corp, and Kevin Price Construction. The County reserves the right to reject any and all proposals and may request oral presentations for clarification during the evaluation and selection process.