School district boardroom comes into focus

Depending on contracts and supply chain timelines, Sequim School District’s administration building could get its new boardroom by the end of 2022.

Chris Marfori, a project manager with the Wenaha Group — the firm overseeing Sequim’s $15 million Capital Projects Levy — detailed activities his company is looking to complete in their Tier 1 timeline of April 2022-March 2023 at the board’s March 21 meeting.

Wenaha staff are loooking to complete a number of projects in that time with $2.985 million of the overall levy funding including:

• A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) system at Sequim High School ($1.8 million)

• A district-wide fiber optic infrastructure update ($450,000)

• A roof recoat at Sequim Middle School ($310,000), a district voice systems replacement ($200,000)

• An HVAC upgrade ($100,000) and roof recoat ($65,000) for the Olympic Peninsula Academy gymnasium

• A fire alarm system for portables at Helen Haller Elementary School ($60,000).

“All flat roofs have taken a priority for Phase 1,” Marfori said on March 21.

The fiber optic system upgrade will likely happen over the summer months, with other projects to be completed throughout the Tier 1 timeline, he noted.

Funds for an expanded district boardroom will come from the district’s general capital projects fund and an Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant. Those funds, totaling $715,000, will pay for the boardroom and installation of an elevator, allowing for full access for the public to the second-floor boardroom at 503 N. Sequim Ave.

The contract and design for the elevator has started, Marfori said.

The elevator’s second story landing would allow for quick access to the boardroom.

“This is just a first pass,” Marfori told board members, as they looked at schematics of the proposed boardroom, one that would double the capacity for meeting attendees (from 28 to 56) with room for attendees need more space, such as those using a wheelchair.

He said he expects the permitting process for the elevator to begin in June, with installation to begin by October and completion by December.

“Supply chain issues (are) probably the biggest dictator of when that happens,” he said.

The new boardroom’s design also features two large television screens and could be reconfigured for various purposes when not being used for board meetings, Marfori said.

“The vast majority of the time I can see that room being used for other purposes,” Sequim school board president Eric Pickens said.

Student board representative Alisa Bibaj noted that Sequim High students would like to see the school’s track receive an upgrade. The oval lanes around the perimeter of the school’s multi-use field on West Fir Street are rutted to the point the school’s track and field team will not host a home meet this spring.

Voters in February 2021 approved the four-year, $15 million Capital Projects Levy, and in a split (3-2) vote in June 2021 voted to go with the Tacoma-based Wenaha Group — the company leading the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s Healing Clinic project — to oversee the projects.

In a September 2021 report to the board, Wenaha Group staff said they expect to have Tier 1, 2, 3 and 4 projects completed by 2026.

An artist’s rendering shows one of three designs being considered for the Sequim School District’s new boardroom. Graphic by design2LAST

An artist’s rendering shows one of three designs being considered for the Sequim School District’s new boardroom. Graphic by design2LAST

An artist’s rendering shows one of three designs being considered for the Sequim School District’s new boardroom. Graphic by design2LAST

An artist’s rendering shows one of three designs being considered for the Sequim School District’s new boardroom. Graphic by design2LAST