County reports site cleanup, readies RFPs for Weaver Street project

County staff gave the Board of Supervisors a progress update on the Weaver Street property — the former ModCraft building the county plans to convert to a multi‑use facility that includes a career and technical education (CTE) component.

"We've removed just over 300 tons of material at this point," Brandy said, reporting ongoing site cleanup with assistance from the sheriff’s office. She told the board the county has drafted a request for proposals for owner's‑representative services and has collected sample RFPs for architecture and engineering (A&E) services. The project is being scoped under a traditional design‑bid‑build delivery strategy; staff said a third‑party cost estimator will be engaged to produce detailed cost estimates before contractor bidding.

Brandy described the owner's‑representative role as an owner's project manager who would help with preconstruction services (programming, constructibility reviews, schedule and cost control), manage bid outreach and contractor prequalification, and provide on‑site construction oversight and contract administration support. She said the county will coordinate closely with the school system, community colleges and economic development partners as the project advances.

Board members asked whether the owner's‑representative should be a single individual or a firm with a team of specialists. Brandy said both approaches are used and that staff will scope the RFP to match the project's complexity. A supervisor suggested including performance incentives in the owner's‑representative contract tied to cost containment and minimizing extra work orders; staff said that could be built into the solicitation.

Next steps outlined to the board include issuing the owner's‑representative RFP, selecting an A&E firm, prequalifying general contractors, and returning to the board with a more detailed cost estimate and schedule.