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KQES construction plans delayed by DEQ review; county told $25–$26 million estimate still holds
Summary
Hudson Associates told the Board the King and Queen Elementary School project has been delayed by successive DEQ review cycles but remains on an estimated $25–$26 million price range; TRC said plan revisions could be turned around in roughly three weeks once county and DEQ comments are coordinated.
Richard Corner of Hudson Associates told the Board on Sept. 18 that revised construction plans for the King and Queen Elementary School (KQES) project have been under repeated review by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), producing comments the civil engineer had to address and delaying the project’s procurement timeline.
Corner said the submission was made to DEQ in early February, but comments returned in mid-June; a revised submission was filed Aug. 25 and DEQ provided additional comments Sept. 15. “We have basically been ‘sitting on them’ since February,” Corner said, characterizing the regulatory review timeline. He said TRC, the civil engineer, could turn around necessary changes in about three weeks if they receive the county’s comments, and that Ms. Donna Sprouse, Director of Community Development, had been copied on the correspondence.
Corner reiterated the project estimate provided earlier in the year of $25 to $26 million and said supply-chain concerns were improving. He cautioned, however, that due to the project’s location the county may need to pay premium prices for some subcontractors. He also said the team has a permit in hand for the wastewater/sewer portion but lacks well permits; drilling and sampling the well will precede the final water-system design. Corner said there is an estimated $80,000 cost to drill and sample the well and a $400,000 bid allowance included for the water system because the design cannot be finalized until the well is completed.
County Administrator Vivina Seay noted that DEQ is the stormwater reviewer for this project and that the county’s role would be limited to erosion and sediment control. Board members expressed frustration with the length of DEQ’s reviews and suggested reaching out to delegates and senators for assistance.
Why it matters: KQES is a major county capital project; delays in regulatory review affect the schedule for bidding and construction and may influence costs if subcontractor demand rises.
Next steps: The project team expects to respond to the most recent DEQ comments, coordinate county comments with Donna Sprouse, and aim to have a complete document for bidding by the end of the month, contingent on responses and any further DEQ comments.
