The Alexandria City Public schools’ revised time line for the opening of the new T.C. Williams High School is September of 2007, not 2006.
"The single biggest reason for this delay is the site conditions,” said Mark Burke, the school system’s new director of planning and construction. “We have just received the geotechnical report, and it indicates that soil conditions will require us to use about 200 caissons and go down about 25 to 30 feet to support the front of the new building. We will need about four to six months of additional time to accomplish this.”
Burke presented this new T.C. information about the soil conditions and the revised opening date at a School Board work session last Thursday night.
“It was a surprise to me at the Facilities Committee meeting a couple of days before the work session. That’s when we were first told,” said Kenneth Foran, a member of the School Board. “I wish we had known sooner. I wish the public had known sooner. However, as anyone who has built a home will tell you, there are always construction delays, and things rarely happen when you expect them to.”
The Board submitted an application for a special-use permit to the city on Sept. 17. “We are now reviewing that application for completeness,” said Barbara Ross, the deputy director of planning for the city. “We are currently looking at the second iteration of the application and have committed to getting our comments back to the school system by Nov. 4.”
Both Burke and Howard Middleton, the local planning and zoning attorney who has been hired to guide the school system through the special-use-permit process, hope to have the completed special-use-permit application to the city by Nov. 11. “If we get this back to the city staff by Nov. 11, we hope to go before the Planning Commission and then the City Council in January,” Middleton said.
“Maybe January,” Ross said at this week’s City Council meeting.
IF THE SCHOOL system is to meet the September 2007 time line, it faces several other hurdles post-Council approval. To obtain permits to begin construction, city staff must review and approve final construction plans. “We have not given you dates for that approval because the city has not yet agreed to a date,” said Superintendent Rebecca L. Perry at last week’s work session. “However, we hope that that will be this summer and not late summer.”
In a letter to planning staff, Burke asked that this review be completed by May 2004. His time line for beginning construction is July 15, 2004. This would be a significantly expedited post-approval review period that seems possible, but not probable, in looking at a project of this size and complexity.
Another hurdle to meeting this time line is Burke’s desire to recommend another type of contract and delivery method. “I don’t believe that the ‘rip and read’ method is going to work on a project of this complexity,” he told the Board. “I am going to recommend another method and will be coming to the Board with that recommendation in the near future.”
“Rip and read” is a method that gives a contractor a set of plans, and the contractor simply builds to those plans. Any other type of procurement than the sealed-bid, low-bidder award will require the review of the Virginia Design-Build Construction Management Review Board.
“Best value” procurement is a method that is often used on complex projects that require a good deal of flexibility on the part of the selected contractor as site conditions change during construction.
“We have an urban site that will be occupied by students throughout construction,” Burke said. “Our first requirement is the safety of the students and staff who will be on the site and of the general public. We need a contractor who is used to working under these conditions and who is flexible. We are also recommending that the Board hire a contracting officer and an on-site construction manager who can deal with questions as they arise.”
IF THE SCHOOL Board selects “best value” procurement, it could add a significant amount of time to the process, including 60 days for the Virginia Design-Build Construction Management Review Board to review the proposal package before it is released for bid.
“We are all very concerned about the T.C. Williams project,” said Mayor William D. Euille at this week’s City Council meeting. “We will certainly have a work session and will continue to try and keep the Council informed about the project through our monthly meetings between myself, the vice mayor, the School Board chair and vice chair, the superintendent and the city manager. However, any City Council member or, for that matter, any member of the public, should not hesitate to contact School Board members or the superintendent to get more information about the progress of this project. It is a public project, and the public certainly has a right to know what’s going on.”
Cost is another concern for many Council members. “This is a public facility, and I am concerned that it be managed properly and that we have a thorough discussion of the cost,” said Councilman Andrew Macdonald.
There will be additional costs because of the 200 caissons and the 25 to 30 feet that they must be sunk. “I have not seen a complete estimate of what this will cost as of yet,” Foran said. Neither has Council.
The Planning Commission will look at the zoning changes that will be required for both T.C. Williams and Minnie Howard in November.