SEQUIM — Sequim School District has achieved the first major milestone for its planned bond and career technical education construction projects.
School board directors unanimously approved a contract on Sept. 2 for up to $5.3 million with The Wenaha Group to serve as the construction management firm for the voter-approved $146 million, 20-year construction bond projects, and the CTE Ramponi Center for Technical Excellence building. The contract goes through Dec. 31, 2031.
Board director Patrice Johnston said the contract is “very thorough” and “a fair contract on both sides.”
Wenaha was chosen to oversee voter-approved capital levy projects in 2021, and now the firm will help the school district complete the following projects in the coming years:
• Build a 10,000-square-foot CTE building.
• Replace Sequim High School’s A-E wings.
• Replace Helen Haller Elementary School.
• Add a bus loop between Fir Street and Sequim Middle School.
• Upgrade the multi-sport athletic field.
• Replace the transportation center.
• Add a Greywolf Elementary School cafeteria.
• Build a new Greywolf bus loop and parking lot.
• Improve Greywolf’s HVAC system.
• Upgrade safety and security systems at the middle school, Greywolf and Olympic Peninsula Academy.
Mike Santos, the school district’s facilities director, said via email that the contract is up to 3.5 percent of both the bond projects and CTE project, and it’s worth a total of about $151.1 million.
Santos told board members that the 3.5 percent construction management ceiling is traditionally at 5 percent.
Incidental expenses also will be billed at cost with no administrative fee or escalation, he said. Consultants’ hourly rates will be capped at 2 percent increases per year rather than 3 percent as in the previous levy contract.
After negotiations, Santos said Wenaha representatives told him they were proud to work for the school district.
Timeline
In the next 30 days, Santos said the school district will work with The Wenaha Group to prioritize the sequence of activities and program timelines for the board of directors.
He and Superintendent Regan Nickels said construction on projects such as the new elementary school and high school could take nearly 2 1/2 years before construction begins. However, less expensive and intensive projects could be started sooner, depending on variables, such as design and contractor decisions.
Wenaha was one of four agencies to respond to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) and was recommended by the district’s Source Selection Committee to Nickels and in turn the school board for their approval.
Wenaha will help the school district present projects to the state’s Project Review Committee (PRC), staff previously said, and that could take months as the commission only meets at certain times and reviews a set amount of applications per meeting.
Santos said they’ll consider bringing only certain projects to the PRC at a time due to their various timelines.
A different architectural and design team could be chosen for every project because they will be competed separately, he said.
The school district put out and shortly thereafter withdrew an RFQ last winter for the approximate $5 million CTE building to include with the bond projects for construction.
According to The Wenaha Group’s contract, some of its scope of service tasks would include: acting as the district’s representative during the phases of the projects; assisting the district in establishing project oversight and design guidance committees and task forces, as appropriate; managing specialty consultants; providing periodic presentations and tours of job sites; developing an overall management plan for the projects; assisting the district in the selection of architects and other professional services required for the projects; assisting the district in the selection of contractor(s) using competitive bidding and/or alternative delivery methods; monitoring the design process by reviewing design documents; and reviewing cost estimates for each project in each phase of the design process.
Updates on the bond construction process will be posted at sequimschools.org/bond_program.
Facility fees
Nickels said her staff has concluded meetings with groups impacted by proposed facility and field rental rate increases.
District staff paused proposed rate increases for 60 days in late August after hearing concerns from community groups about the increases. Some groups have moved events elsewhere while others have taken a wait-and-see approach.
Nickels said conversations were productive and that the impacted parties will see revised drafts before a new fee schedule is tentatively presented to school board directors tonight at 5:30 p.m.
District staff also will propose potential options for cell phones after discussions last school year about updating provisions for younger and older students at Sequim campuses.
________
Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. He can be reached by email at matthew.nash@sequimgazette.com.
