Marin County Parks Staff to Build Bike Park After Outside Bids Come In Too High

The following is a news release from the county of Marin: 

With construction bids from two private companies exceeding the project budget, Marin County Parks will move forward on its own and start construction on the Stafford Lake Bike Park with its county parks staff members.

The Marin County Board of Supervisors rejected all bids and authorized staff to handle the job after legal questions were answered at the July 8 Board meeting. Marin County Parks will proceed with performing all bike park work and will hire additional part-time staff to minimize impacts to its annual performance plan and summer work program.

County and city of Novato dignitaries, planners, and Friends of Stafford Lake Bike Park broke ground May 24 at the progressive skills bike park just west of Novato. The bike park will attract riders of all ages and be the first of its kind in the North Bay. As drawn, Phase 1 will take up 9 ½ acres of the eventual 17-acre facility in the northwest portion of the existing park.

Marin County Parks Principal Landscape Architect Stephen Petterle, who orchestrated the planning efforts for County government, said the bike park could be open later this year.

Sponsorships and donations totaled $592,850 – enough to underwrite construction for Phase 1 of the facility. The bike park received more than 200 donations, including some from local families and kids. The largest sponsors to date include the Fox Factory Holding Corp., the Violich Family Foundation, Mike’s Bikes, Wilderness Trail Bikes, Santa Cruz Bicycles, and Bike Monkey.

The total cost of the park, following a second phase later on, is estimated at $1 million. Donations and sponsorships for the park construction will be used to reimburseMarin County Parks for employee time, equipment, and materials.

The full-spectrum bike park will enable riders of all ages to learn and improve cycling skills in a positive, healthy, and family-friendly environment. It is slated to include a single-track loop trail, gravity-fed flow trails with jumps and berms, several pump tracks, north shore-style elevated trails, a dual slalom course, and much more.

Learn more about how to help the project and follow the park’s progress at www.staffordlakebikepark.com.