After years of planning, construction on West Fir Street could begin once the Irrigation Festival ends, according to City of Sequim staffers.

Sequim city councilors unanimously agreed 6-0, with Candace Pratt excused, to a contract with Interwest Construction of Sequim on March 25 worth up to $6,198,700 including a 10 percent construction contingency to rebuild half-a-mile of road over 18 months. The West Fir Street Rehabilitation project includes new underground utility connections, sidewalks, a traffic light at Fir Street and Fifth Avenue, two bike lanes, new street surfacing and more.

City Engineer Matt Klontz said Interwest was the lowest of three bidders and that they came in under the engineer’s revised estimate of $6.2 million.

In recent years, city staffers estimated the rehabilitation project would be just over $5 million in the 2018 budget, and then about $5.5 million for this year’s budget before city staff reported in February that the project could be as much as $1.7 million over budget due to a consulting firm’s estimate bringing construction to $6.9 million.

Klontz previously said several elements led to the increase, including consultants not accounting for changing irrigation piping, inaccurate costs for supplies and quantities, and the city adding additional landscaping elements last year when funding seemed below estimates.

“The good news is we’ve come a long way down,” Klontz told city councilors on Monday.

He said during the bidding process, city staff made some modifications, bringing their estimated shortfall to about $465,000 for construction.

Klontz said no design work is compromised with the changes and that some of the savings comes during sewer line work where at least 70 percent of trench back fill could be reused.

“(The shortfall) is less than the contingency, so there is the theory that if things go great during construction, we’ll end up right on target with our original budget we planned,” he said.

City councilors allowed for some time for Klontz to meet with Interwest’s team to go over some final points prior to City Manager Charlie Bush finalizing the contract.

“Interwest is eager to start working,” Klontz said.

He estimates they’d create a staging yard just prior to the Irrigation Festival in late April.

No timeline has been set for when construction will begin to impact residents and schools. City staff previously said Fir Street will become one-way and one lane going west at times during construction with drivers being able to turn on Second, Third and Fourth avenues.

Sequim School District’s parking lots and softball fields will move 4 to 5 feet north for construction, but Sequim Schools superintendent Gary Neal said the high school’s fastpitch teams’ practices and games should be unaffected by the construction this season.

City staff previously said school bus parking will remain unaffected.

Shortfall options

City councilors tentatively hold a public hearing at their regular meeting on April 8 for a potential budget amendment to make up for the project’s shortfall.

Klontz said about 60 percent of the project’s funds come from grants but funding partners say no additional funds are available.

Some of the city’s options for making up the shortfall, city staff said, include using higher than budgeted sales tax revenues at $775,000 in the general fund, using up to $450,000 in the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) over two years, using Rainy Day Funds with a current balance of $826,000, using funds from the Transportation Benefit District (TBD), and/or using water reserves for the project’s water construction.

City staff said there are risks with using some of the funds, such as deterring from potential emergency street work (REET), minimizing flexibility during an economic downturn (Rainy Day Fund), and delaying future pavement rehabilitation projects (TBD).

Sue Hagener, director of administrative services, said the general fund is perfect to fund this type of project with one-time support. She said Transportation Benefit District funds are low right now and pulling funds from it may not be well-regarded by the community.

“Pavement preservation projects are so loved,” Hagener said. “The community looks at them with joy and relief.”

She said, if needed, the city council could take more time to decide because the city has enough funds for the project through the end of the year.

Construction manager

Along with a construction firm, city councilors approved a contract worth up to $178,700 with Steve Miller of Sequim’s Raven Engineering, Inc. to serve as a consultant for construction management.

Klontz said city staff didn’t have enough capacity to oversee the project so they budgeted for the position and that Miller is a seasoned engineer with 40-plus years of experience.

For more information about the West Fir Street Rehabilitation project, call Sequim Public Works at 360-683-4908 or visit www.sequimwa.gov.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.

Sequim city councilors agreed to a contract March 25 worth up to $6.198 million with Interwest Construction to rehabilitate West Fir Street’s utilities, pavement, lighting and much more. If construction begins in May, the project could run until October 2020. Sequim Gazette photo by Matthew Nash