Transportation Cooperative contractor named

School board approves bid award for Transportation Cooperative construction project

Walla Walla Public Schools Board of Directors named T.W. Clark Construction, LLC of Spokane to serve as general contractor for the Southeast Washington Transportation Cooperative construction project.

Construction is expected to begin in August and be completed summer 2010. Earlier this year, the school board adopted a resolution to form a Transportation Cooperative, hosted by Walla Walla Public Schools, to offer school bus maintenance and repair service. Dixie, Prescott and ESD 123 have elected to join the cooperative.

Construction Bid Terms

Base Bid: $3,409,000

Alternate #1 - Bus parking asphalt: $109,000

Alternate #2 - North Loop parking:  $81,000

Alternate #3 - Existing house and garage demolition and earth work: $0.00

Alternate #6 - Fuel storage tank and pump: $56,700

Alternate #9 - Compressor: $0.00

Alternate #10 - Residential: $0.00

Alternate #12 - Automated Logic Controls: $37,700

Total - $3,691,400

State Matching dollars to fund project: The district is using the $3.4 million state matching money from the Edison Elementary construction project to fund the Southeast Washington Transportation Cooperative. This action will leverage nearly another $4 million, or 90 percent of the total cost of the Transportation Cooperative facility, in state matching money back to Walla Walla to support construction of a new Support Services facility.

*NEXT PHASE: A Support Services complex (warehouse, maintenance, grounds, print shop, food services) will be built on the same site as the Transportation Cooperative. Bids for the Support Services project are expected to go out winter 2010. The district openly communicated prior to the Edison bond election that state matching funds would be used to support district capital improvement projects.

The district has successfully used this formula for decades. Examples: State matching funds from the Sharpstein bond project funded air conditioning and new heating systems at Prospect Point. Matching funds from the Green Park bond project in the mid-1990s provided funds for major roofing and asphalt projects.