BY PEPPER FISHER
Port Angeles – The City of Port Angeles and Clallam County Commissioners held a joint special meeting Tuesday night so they could discuss and then take a final vote on a Design and Construction Agreement to build a planned Joint Public Safety Facility. The vote was nearly unanimous in favor of approving the agreement, with City Councilmember Lindsey Schromen-Wawrin opposed and Commissioner Randy Johnson not present.
This agreement has been a long time coming. Located near Fairchild airport, the facility 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.
Commissioner Mike French and Mayor Kate Dexter expressed relief and thankfulness following Tuesday night’s vote.
“This has been a long journey between our two organizations. I’ve sat on both sides of that journey, which is really weird. But we, at some point, found a core team that was able to move the project forward and, I think, make some really tough decisions. Bringing a 30 million project down to a 22 million dollar project is not easy.” “I will echo the commissioner’s comments that it’s been a really long process, and I’m excited to be at this point. There were definitely times in this that I wondered if we’d get here. But I’m grateful that we are, and I look forward to the updates as we move forward.”
Reasons for the years-long delay include false starts on finding the right location for the facility, and what Sheriff Brian King described as “sticker shock” when the price tag came in for the original design. The newly approved design is a scaled back version that King says still delivers a functional and resilient facility.
As for financing, the agreement has the City and County splitting the bill, putting them on the hook for $4,350,000 each. At a total cost of about $22 million, the rest is paid for with grant commitments from the Washington State Department of Commerce and FEMA.
Below is the planned schedule going forward, according the City of Sequim.
- Invitation for Construction Bids anticipated to be released by end of this month
- Construction Bid Opening for late October 2025
- Executed Construction Agreement and Notice to Proceed late November 2025
- Construction December 2025 through April 2027 with the first 90 days largely approving submittals and ordering of materials
- Formal Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting anticipated for April 2027