SEQUIM — Sequim School District leaders are negotiating with The Wenaha Group to serve as the construction management firm for the voter-approved $146 million, 20-year construction bond projects and Career Technical Education building.
School board directors unanimously agreed to the recommendation made by Superintendent Regan Nickels and a Source Selection Committee in a July 28 special meeting.
Mike Santos, the district’s facilities director, said there were four respondents to the Request for Qualifications (RFQs), and the Source Selection Committee narrowed the choices down to two firms (Wenaha and Vanir Construction) before both companies made presentations to the committee for consideration.
Wenaha was previously chosen to oversee voter-approved capital projects levy projects in 2021.
“(They are) experienced individuals that know how to navigate through the process,” Santos said.
“By having an experienced construction management firm at our side, we will be able to expedite our efforts to get to the (Project Review Committee, PRC) as soon as possible.”
Wenaha’s scope of service would, in part, include project-management services, project planning and scheduling, assistance with procurement and contractual agreements and grant funding compliance, according to the district’s RFQ.
It would oversee the following projects through their completion: construction of the 10,000-square-foot CTE facility; replace Sequim High School buildings A, B, C, D and E; replace Helen Haller Elementary School; add a bus loop between Fir Street and Sequim Middle School; add upgrades to the multi-sport athletic field and stadium; replace the transportation center; add a cafeteria a Greywolf Elementary School; build a new Greywolf Elementary School bus loop and parking lot; improve Greywolf Elementary School heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC) system; and upgrade safety and security systems at the middle school, Greywolf and Olympic Peninsula Academy.
District leaders previously said the larger projects could take up to 2 1/2 years before construction begins. Smaller projects could start sooner depending on when the district presents projects to the PRC, feedback from design committees is received and selections are made for architects, contractors and more.
If negotiations don’t progress with Wenaha, Santos said state law would require the school district to start the selection process over.
District staff previously said the chosen firm will help them present projects to the PRC and that could take months as the commission only meets at certain times and it takes on a set number of cases.
Staff said they’ll also consider only bringing certain projects to the PRC at a time, and the construction management firm will help them determine the order of construction.
District staff are considering a progressive design-build process that collaborates design and construction for faster project delivery and cost certainty, Nickels has said.
A different architectural and design team could be chosen for every single project, Santos said, because they will be competed separately.
An RFQ was put out last December, then withdrawn in January in anticipation of the bond vote for the Ramponi Center for Technical Excellence to be included with the potential bond projects. Funds for the $5 million CTE building are separate from the bond.
Prior to the July 28 vote to proceed with construction management negotiations, board member Pat Johnston said she has confidence the process of choosing Wenaha was thorough and professional.
Board president Eric Pickens echoed that, saying they’ve been objective about the process.
“We want to make sure to keep our process moving, to maximize our ability to move forward with decisions, especially considering we need to go to the PRC for an alternative delivery method and want to have negotiations behind us,” Nickels said.
Santos said the Source Selection Committee’s members remain anonymous under state law, but he told board members it consists of two community members and four senior district staff members.
Updates on the bond construction process will continue to be posted at sequimschools.org/bond_program.
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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.
