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January 2007 Virginia Town and City Public-private infrastructure act cleared way for new high school THE CORPORATE PAGE Two years ago, James City County residents approved a $40 million bond referendum to construct a third high school for the Williamsburg-James City County (WJCC) school district. The county already had the land, and design plans were well under way, but it would be a challenge to get the new school built in time for the opening of school in the fall of 2007. James City County had acquired 588 acres known as the Warhill Tract from a residential developer in 1996. The site, located on Centerville Road near the interchange of U.S. Route 60 and Route 199, was envisioned as multi-purpose in the county master plan. Plans included a 1,250-student high school, a proposed 350,000 square-foot campus for Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), and shared access for a proposed 3,000 seat sports stadium at the adjacent Warhill Sports Complex. To meet the needs of these facilities, significant off-site infrastructure was required, including access roadways, traffic signal improvements, water and sewer line extensions and a regional stormwater management facility. “This project is time-critical,” said Steven Hicks, general services manager for James City County. “Our challenge was to have access to the school site by August 2005 and infrastructure improvements completed by August 2007. Traditional procurement (design-bid-build) would not have allowed us to meet our milestones and completion date.”
Use of the Virginia Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act by James City County expedited construction of a new high school. In January 2005, pursuant to the requirements of Virginia’s Public- Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002, James City County solicited proposals for a public-private partnership for the design, permitting and construction of the off-site infrastructure at the Warhill Tract. In February 2005, just one month later, the Board of Supervisors approved the negotiation and award of a comprehensive agreement with the design-build team of Timmons Group and Curtis Contracting. “The beauty of the PPEA process is the cost of the project is fixed and agreed to by both parties prior to the comprehensive agreement,” said Andy Curtis, project manager. “The contractor includes a value for risks of unknown site conditions. These risks are then shifted from the owner to the contractor. Unless the owner changes the scope of the work, both parties know the final project cost prior to commencement. This allows all team members to focus on quality, safety and schedule for completion.” One of the project’s major milestones was to provide access to the high school site by August 2005. This was necessary to provide the high school contractor (procured through traditional methods) with two full years for construction. Because the PPEA process allowed the engineer to work hand-in-hand with the contractor, the site access road was designed and completed, through base course paving, two months ahead of schedule. Other improvements in the $14.7 million contract are well ahead of schedule. Paul Trapp, Timmons Group’s managing principal for infrastructure and environmental services, credits a strong partnership among all of the stakeholders for achieving construction deadlines ahead of schedule. “Bi-weekly team meetings were held for the first six months of the project until construction really got rolling. Representatives from James City County, the James City Service Authority, TNCC and VDOT were all at the table. This allowed the design-build team to get designs submitted and issues resolved quickly, which translated into more time for construction.”
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