Poulsbo unveils $24.3 million schematic for new Public Works facility; council to form working group

Poulsbo city staff and consultant Helix Design Group presented a schematic design for a consolidated Public Works campus that would place operations on a single site on Viking Way. The plan shows three pre‑engineered buildings: Building 1 (Maintenance and Crew Workshop, just shy of 25,000 square feet), Building 2 (heated enclosed vehicle storage, just under 10,000 square feet) and Building 3 (open vehicle and equipment storage, just under 9,000 square feet). Jeff Lukowski, project architect with Helix Design Group, said the firm completed a 12‑week programming and schematic‑design phase and issued a final report with a cost estimate. “So the base estimate, the MAC, that was our estimate that we generated, in February, and it was based on, the numbers for September of this year, and that was 16,800,000,” Lukowski reported to council.

That base number, the team said, was augmented for escalation, contractor markups, a combined contingency and soft costs (design fees, permits, sales tax and reserves), producing a total capital project estimate of about $24,300,000. Staff explained the city plans to allocate project costs across enterprise funds (water, sewer, storm, solid waste) and general‑fund services (streets and parks), which produced a rough per‑utility share of about $4.8 million each if the full package proceeds. Diane (staff) told council the presentation did not require decisions tonight but said the city needs accurate current costs to inform options and financing.

Council members pressed on options to reduce initial outlays, phasing, and whether to include the solid‑waste enterprise in the new facility. Mike (Public Works operations) emphasized the operational need: “I think this is the where we need to go for the future of the city, the future of the city is only getting bigger,” and noted the city already owns roughly three to 3.5 acres at the Viking Way site that could accommodate the proposed layout. Staff recommended a working group for value engineering, phasing analysis, a review of financing strategies and potential grant funding, and promised to return with recommendations in October or November. Council also flagged a parallel policy decision about the future of the city’s solid‑waste operation and asked that analysis run in parallel to avoid misaligned facility capacity and future service decisions.

Next steps: staff will convene a working group (operations, engineering, mechanics and finance), perform value‑engineering with outside contractors, consider additive bid/phase approaches, and report back on costs, funding scenarios, and implementation timing.