West Linn presents operations complex design update emphasizing wetlands, mass plywood and resilience

West Linn city staff and project architects presented an update on the proposed Public Works Operations Complex at the City Council work session on May 5, outlining environmental design choices, construction procurement timelines and resilience measures.

The city’s project manager, Eric (city staff), told council the design team is “roughly 70% design completion” and that the city is scoring Construction Manager/General Contractor (CMGC) submittals this week, after receiving 14 proposals from national and regional firms.

The update focused on several design priorities the team said guided recent changes: preservation of an on-site wetland and ravine, breaking the program into three smaller buildings rather than one large structure to avoid wetland impacts, and specifying sustainable materials and systems. Architect Jeff Dunn and consultant Brandon Dole of Scott Edwards Architecture described a concept that uses cross‑laminated timber or mass plywood for primary structure, photovoltaic arrays over a warehouse and carport, and a layout that orients buildings to view the preserved ravine.

“We chose to celebrate [the wetland]…and instead of seeing the wetland as something that was a challenge or a problem, we chose to celebrate it,” the architect said, describing boardwalk-like views and a landscape buffer to protect riparian habitat.

The design team said the project includes roughly 250 solar panels in current schematics, which they estimated would produce about 133,000 kilowatt‑hours per year (roughly equivalent to powering about 13 average homes for a year, per the team’s estimate). The administrative building is shown as all‑electric with a VRF heat‑pump system; the warehouses and fleet maintenance shops currently include radiant‑floor heating and gas‑fired systems, a design choice the team said balances equipment needs and cost.

Staff emphasized redundancy and resiliency: the project will include an on‑site generator sized to keep administrative functions, lights and limited services online for a multi‑day period. The team told council the generator is being sized for a minimum three‑day runtime and will be sited near the fueling station and connected to the site’s 3,000‑gallon diesel tank so refueling could extend run time during prolonged outages.

Sustainability features explored include mass‑plywood structural systems sourced regionally, large solar arrays, preservation of mature trees where grading allows, and design measures that would score points under the LEED rating system. The design team said they were not committing to full LEED certification as part of the base project, but provided a preliminary LEED “pointing” exercise showing about 21 points in hand, another roughly 52 “maybe” points that could be pursued with additional investment, and other points unlikely due to site constraints. The team warned that formal LEED registration and documentation alone can cost on the order of $100,000 for a project this size.

Councilors and members of the Sustainability Advisory Board pressed staff about future electrification of the city fleet and equipment. Sustainability Board member Greg Smith asked whether the project will provide electrical infrastructure for fleet charging as equipment naturally electrifies over coming decades. Brandon Dole said the design will “put a lot of infrastructure in the ground” — conduit and capacity sized for future chargers — even if initial day‑one charger counts are limited to a few spaces. Staff confirmed an early design assumption of roughly four EV vehicle chargers on site (two in the upper lot, two in the lower lot), and said the project team intends to coordinate with the utility on future expandability.

Councilors also asked about the operational staffing and use of the campus; staff said the site will support roughly 50–55 Parks and Public Works employees at peak operations, and that the layout includes covered parking/carport areas, material storage, wash bay, fueling, and fleet maintenance bays.

The team said the city will pursue a preconstruction CMGC partner in the next six weeks to refine costs and constructability. Staff expects a construction‑manager award before council in mid‑June (project team said they will return for the CMGC award on June 16/19, depending on agenda scheduling). Staff also said neighborhood meetings and land‑use application milestones are scheduled before construction.

Councilors voiced broad support for the design direction while asking staff to keep the council and the Sustainability Advisory Board involved in detailed tradeoffs about electrification, generator capacity, and tree preservation. There was no formal council vote; staff characterized the May 5 presentation as an informational briefing and requested feedback.

What’s next: staff will complete CMGC selection steps and return to council with an award recommendation in mid‑June. The team will continue neighborhood outreach and refine cost estimates with the selected CMGC, including tradeoffs for electrification and LEED pursuit.