Transportation Cooperative Groundbreaking Ceremony Wednesday, August 19

Groundbreaking Ceremony Agenda
10 a.m. - Welcome, Introductions, Scope of Project - Rich Carter
10:15 a.m. - Thank you for the support - Mary Jo Geidl
10:20 a.m. - Construction Timeline / Facility Functions - Project Representative
10:30 - Closing remarks - Rich Carter

What is a Transportation Cooperative?
The Southeast Washington Transportation Cooperative offers regional member school districts:
- Discounted school bus maintenance and repair service
- School bus inspection support and professional development opportunities
- Preventative maintenance schedule
- Service record keeping

What districts have joined the Transportation Cooperative?
- Walla Walla Public Schools (host district)
- Prescott Public Schools
- Dixie Public Schools
- ESD 123 (to serve buses operating in the Walla Walla Valley)

Why did these districts join?
- Save money on school bus maintenance and repair service
- Improve school bus safety
- Extend school bus life
- Reduce risk liability

What was required of the districts to join the Transportation Cooperative?
Regional school district partners commit to a 10 year agreement for these services. There is a buy-in fee that all partners pay per state law which collectively equals 10 percent of the cooperative facility.

A fee for service, based on a formula driven by the number of buses the district includes in the cooperative, is also collected over a 10 year period with no interest rates attached. 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.

Transportation Cooperative contractor named
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.

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.