Golf Course: Project Management

The source is about a project that was approved by the City of Melrose and assigned to a contractor to provide Big Dig fill covering the area of Mouth Hood Memorial Park and Golf Course in order to provide a new playing field and improve the current golf course. The money provided by this arrangement for the City was to be used to improve the golf course and new fields. The way in which the project was carried out indicates that it was mismanaged, and as a result, it did not achieve the intended intent (Kassel 1-278)

i. The City took part in a project that involved major changes to the Mount Hood without proper planning, coming up with cost estimates that were reliable nor an executed contract that was supposed to protect the interests of the city (Kassel 1-278)

ii. There was inadequate supervision when it came to filling in of Mount Hood deliveries

iii. The Part Department did not supervise, plan and document the project properly and this resulted in the failure to install a drainpipe on the twelfth fairway (Kassel 1-278)

From the perspective of project management, the failure of this project shows the significance of following sound management and contracting practices, legal requirements, and public accounting principles. This is seen in the way fill revenues in this project were spent without the needed appropriations by the Alderman Board; the hiring process of contractors was done without competition and started working without written contracts; Consulting contracts appeared to be implemented after performing contracted services; procedures to approve contracts were not consistent and did not comply with municipal finance law; and records on the project were incomplete (Kassel 1-278)

Work Cited

Kassel, David. Managing Public Sector Projects: A Strategic Framework for Success in an Era of Downsized Government. New York: Routledge, 2010.p 1-278