Portland City Council Approves Cully Park Agreement

6.20.2012. Today, Verde celebrates a very important milestone in our Let Us Build Cully Park! project: Portland City Council approved an agreement between Verde and Portland Parks & Recreation/PP&R for the development of Cully Park.

This Agreement is a testament to the very good and challenging work put forward by LUBCP! Coordinator Tony DeFalco, pro bono legal counsel Jordan-Ramis, Portland Parks & Recreation, NAYA, Hacienda CDC, PCRI, Cully residents, the Cully Park Champions, Verde staff and Board, as well as many other strong partners from the nonprofit community, the public sector and professional services firms.

This Agreement, approved by Ordinance (note: the Agreement is included in the Ordinance document) as part of the Council's Consent Agenda, hands over a number of Cully Park development rights to Verde, including:

Fundraising. Verde is authorized to solicit public and private funding for the specific projects identified in the Agreement (i.e., Cully Park Phase 1).
Phase 1 Development, Construction Committee. Verde, PP&R representatives, the Project Architect and other Verde-designated stakeholders (e.g., Let Us Build Cully Park! Advisors) participate in a Construction Committee which will oversee the design and construction of the Project.
Phase 1 Development, Design. Verde will contract with architects, engineers and other consultants to prepare construction plans and specifications required to apply for building permits and construct the work.
Phase 1 Development, Construction. Verde will contract with a general contractor for the construction of Phase 1 in accordance with the approved plans and specifications. Verde may either competitively bid all of portions of the work or sole source contracts to contractors it deems to be uniquely qualified to do the work.
Phase 1 Operations and Maintenance. Unless agreed to otherwise in writing, upon substantial completion of the Project and acceptance by PP&R, PP&R shall immediately assume full responsibility for maintenance of Cully Park.
Future Development. Upon successful completion of Phase 1, it is the intent of PP&R and Verde to continue to work together to improve Cully Park. Both parties aspire to continue the development of Cully Park through a community-led development and design process that Verde will convene and implement for the development of Phase 1.

Go crazy folks...