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Board approves $1.62 million contract to Blue Cottage/Canon Design for administrative facilities master plan; vote 4-3
Summary
Trustees approved a $1,621,690 award to Blue Cottage of Cannon Design (doing business as Canon Design of Nevada, Inc.) to develop an administrative facilities master plan after staff described the RFQ process and finalists. The vote was 4-3 amid trustee concerns about local presence and past community engagement practices.
The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees voted 4 to 3 on Feb. 25 to award an administrative facilities master plan contract to Blue Cottage of Cannon Design (doing business as Canon Design of Nevada, Inc.) in the amount of $1,621,690.
Chief Operations Officer Adam Searcy and April Anderson, assistant director of procurement and contracts, told the board the district ran RFQS number RFQS-45-QS-10-25-AA, received nine proposals and advanced three finalists. The district's five-member evaluation committee (three district employees and two external members) interviewed finalists and recommended Blue Cottage of Cannon Design as the most qualified; a letter of intent was issued Jan. 17 and no protests were received.
April Anderson summarized the solicitation process: a pre-proposal walk attended by 15 people representing 12 firms, a question-and-answer period that produced 28 questions and a multi-stage evaluation that included independent scoring, interviews and negotiated fee/term discussions. She said the highest scoring firm was invited to submit cost and then the district negotiated contract terms and schedule.
Searcy said the engagement is a master planning effort rather than immediate design: "This engagement is fundamentally a master planning exercise, not one of specific design," he said, and described trustee- and staff-level interviews and public milestones planned through 2025.
Blue Cottage principal Mariahka Smit introduced the firm and said the work will be a mixed qualitative and quantitative process linking space, policy and organizational strategies. "BlueCottage is really focused around strategic planning. So it's not the environment and space is one aspect of it, but it's not entirely around space," she told the board.
Several trustees raised concerns about the firm's local presence and community-engagement approach. Trustee Westlake, Trustee Hall and others said community members had criticized Canon Design's prior outreach methods (including work on the facility modernization plan) and urged the district to consider local firms or alternative engagement approaches. Searcy and staff explained Blue Cottage is a design studio within Canon Design; some key personnel will be different from the FMP team but one Canon principal involved in past district work will serve in a minor role to preserve institutional knowledge.
Trustee Phoenix moved to approve the award; Clerk Woodley seconded. After discussion and public comment (including a Blue Cottage representative and community members), the motion passed 4-3. President Smith announced she would vote no, citing constituent concerns about outreach in her district. The board did not list individual roll-call votes on record in the packet; the tally was recorded as 4 in favor and 3 opposed.
The contract will fund a districtwide administrative master plan to evaluate central-service facilities, offices and potential re-purposing or siting options; staff said the plan would include conceptual scenarios, feasibility analysis and public presentations before the board and capital funding committee.
