Washougal school leaders prep for long-awaited facility improvements

More than one and a half years after voters approved a capital projects and technology levy to help upgrade Washougal school buildings, the Washougal School District is moving forward with several facility improvement projects. On Dec. 10, the Washougal School Board approved a recommendation to enter into a contract with R&C Management, a Yamhill, Oregon-based consulting firm, to supervise the process of completing the projects, including the construction of a new roof at Washougal High School. “The structure of this was a little weird because it feels like a really long time ago that we were talking with the community about (the levy), and then nothing has really happened since,” Les Brown, the school district’s director of communications and technology, said during the Board’s Dec. 10 meeting. “That’s because we’re waiting for the money to start showing up. The good news is that 2025 is just around the corner, and we’ll start working on some of these contracts.” The projects, estimated to cost $6.2 million, include: Replacing the roof and boiler, and upgrading heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) controls at Washougal High School (WHS); Adding Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant door operators at Cape Horn-Skye, Gause and Hathaway elementary schools, and at Canyon Creek Middle School; Upgrading security systems and door access at WHS, Gause and Cape Horn-Skye elementary schools and Canyon Creek Middle School; and Replacing flooring at Gause and Hathaway elementary schools. “When we tackle some of these really large capital project endeavors, it is useful for us to have people that have construction experience working with the district to help supervise and make sure that everything is moving smoothly, people who know what to look for,” Brown said. The district sent out a request-for-qualifications (RFQ) earlier this year to identify “experienced partners who can ensure efficient, cost-effective, and timely execution of upcoming capital projects” and received proposals from six companies. District leaders selected a pair of finalists, and interviewed representatives from the two companies before selecting R&C Management, the same company that oversaw the district’s major capital projects in 2015, which included the construction of Columbia River Gorge Elementary School and Jemtegaard Middle School, the Excelsior Building at Washougal High, transportation complexes, and play structures; a parking and circulation project at Gause; and upgrades to Fishback Stadium. “They’re very professional,” Browns said of R&C Management. “They’re very knowledgeable, and they’ll help the district avoid pitfalls. Adam Cormack, one of the principles, was the person who supervised the (2015) project, and we’re excited to have him back. He’s incredibly knowledgeable, great to work with and really great at helping district staff understand where to move things forward in making sure that things are done correctly.” The contract calls for R&M Management to receive $184,772 to supervise the six construction processes, which will take place during the next 18 to 24 months. “There is a cost associated with (the quality of R&C’s work),” Brown said, “but their track record of delivering projects on time and under budget for the district is a compelling argument for it being a wise investment of district resources to make sure that we can get this work done.” Brown pointed out that “it is a very common practice for school districts” to contract with companies to oversee major capital projects “because we don’t have people on staff who (have expertise) within this world,” and that “even bigger districts, like Evergreen and Vancouver, that have undertaken really huge projects still work with outside construction management firms.” “I think it’s important to point out that hiring a construction management firm is a much more cost-effective way for a small district like ourselves to do this kind of work rather than hiring a permanent staff person that would handle this, as a larger district might do,” Washougal School Board member Jim Cooper said during the Dec. 10 meeting, adding that he was “all in favor” of the contract. The district will send out a RFQ for engineering services to support design work, and expects the bidding process to begin in the spring of 2025 and construction work to begin in the summer of 2025. “In the contract, there’s a contingency for extending that contract out for a second year,” Brown said. “When our construction experts are looking at (the WHS roof replacement), they’re saying, ‘The odds that you’re going to get a company that’s able to complete that big of a project in nine weeks of the summer (at a reasonable cost are low). There’s a fair chance that you’ll get really high bids because they’re anticipating working weekends or paying overtime to have additional staff on the site for a longer period of time.’” Brown said district leaders are “anxious to get that work done,” but also want the work done for a reasonable cost. “So, what we may do is split it into two projects, so that there’s a piece starting in the summer of 2025, and a smaller piece that’s done in the summer of 2026,” Brown said. The district also is pursuing grants and other funding opportunities, including a Washington State Department of Commerce grant for direct digital controls at Cape Horn-Skye and Canyon Creek ($624,000), and an ADA grant for the door upgrades at Gause and Hathaway ($100,000), to help fund a portion of the capital facility improvement projects. The Board approved a recommendation during the Dec. 10 meeting for the district to enter into a contract with the Washington State Department of Commerce (DOC) to receive $623,942 in grant funds for the HVAC controls upgrade project at Cape Horn-Skye and Canyon Creek. The district will provide a 15% match ($118,354) and cover the cost of the estimated utility incentives ($46,731) that will be reimbursed to the district after the completion of the project. The DOC has conditionally awarded the grant to the district, which is “expecting (the) contract to arrive prior to winter break,” according to a WSD report. “It’s a little bit unusual that we’re asking you to approve this without the grant paperwork from the Department of Commerce, but the grant has a funding deadline of June 30, 2025, so it’s in the current state fiscal biennium,” Brown told the Board on Dec. 10. “They may extend that, but we’re not guaranteed that they’ll do that, so we’re asking (you) to provide us with the authority to sign the contract if we’re awarded the grant. “We’ve been told that it’s coming. It was supposed to be here in October, and then in November, (but) it keeps getting pushed back. But being ready to sign the contract would let us move more quickly to get the work done so that we can meet the deadline of June 30, 2025,” Brown told the Board. The grant “shifts the burden from local taxpayers for the vast majority of the project,” according to Brown. “We’ll be able to do more of some of the other projects because we have additional resources to complete this project,” he said. The Board also approved a recommendation for the district to enter into a contract with McKinstry, a Portland construction company, to supervise the project, which the district estimates will cost $789,027. The district has worked with (McKinstry) in the past,” Brown said. “They do a study of a building’s efficiency and look for grant programs like this one, and they help districts apply for grants and use the ESCO (energy services companies) contracting process to guarantee the district savings through that fund bank.” Brown said the district will receive $47,000 in utility incentives after the completion of the project, which he estimates will save the district about $84,000 per year in utility costs. “It’s very easy to see that this project pencils out,” Brown said. “That’s one of the reasons that we were fairly early in getting notice from the Department of Commerce. They looked at it and said that it was a ‘slam dunk’ in terms of savings, but also (in its ability) to pay for itself. … The whole project, including the part that the state would be funding, will pay for itself in far less than 10 years, hopefully, if those energy savings are in place.”

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