PORT ANGELES — Clallam County Sheriff Brian King says the long-planned Public Safety Facility is back on solid ground after securing an additional $2 million in the state’s capital budget — a key piece that helps close the remaining funding gap.
The joint facility, planned near the Port Angeles airport, is a collaboration between Clallam County and the City of Port Angeles. It will house the county’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the PENCOM dispatch center, replacing the current EOC located in the courthouse basement — a location considered among the most seismically vulnerable in the county.
“I feel really good about the progress right now. Kudos to Steve Tharinger, his effort got us another two million dollars in the capital budget. That’s confirmed. We’re still going through thousands of pages in the budget, but that two million dollars is definitely there. I think that helps us get past that delta of where funding was coming from. We’re currently at 60% design, we just received a cost estimate,” said King.
King says a recent cost estimate puts the core building at about $15 million, but total project costs — including soft costs such as permitting, sales tax, and design fees — are estimated to push the full price above $20 million. With the new funding, King believes the project is financially viable.
“What we don’t know are all the little soft costs. We know that the building right now is about 15 million dollars, and we have a budget of a little over 20 million with the new two million included. The question is: do we have enough money to cover those soft costs—things like sales tax and permitting,” said King.
King said that while the team had to scale back the original design after early cost projections brought “sticker shock,” the revised plan still delivers a functional and resilient facility.
A joint meeting between city and county commissioners is set for May 20, where officials will present an updated design and detailed cost estimate. The project team is pushing toward bid-ready documents and closely managing multiple grants to keep the project on track and minimize reliance on local dollars.