October 21, 2011

Good afternoon,

This week’s briefing will be a little different from previous editions. With work winding down within about 85% of the project boundaries but still very active between Ireland and Ilwaco Streets, it seems useful to step back a bit and provide a more comprehensive overview of the remaining tasks. While the 85% has been deemed “substantially” complete in accordance with the City’s contract with Strider Construction, work is still underway to reach “physical” completion. Of course, completion of the archaeology block will not begin until it has been cleared for construction.

Here is what we know at the moment about how the project will reach full completion:

The Punchlist

□ A small crew from Strider Construction will be on the street Monday through Wednesday of next week working on the project “punchlist.” This list was created to document the remaining work tasks, from small to large, including those on private property where some damage has occurred as a result of the construction (chipped windows, broken tiles, uneven thresholds, etc.).

□ Of the remaining punchlist items, only a small number will likely be disruptive to pedestrian and/or vehicular travel. Of particular note is the ongoing work to re-line the old manholes and the upcoming work to sandblast (for texture) the concrete panels that provide a transition between the large and small sidewalk grid patterns.

□ There are several items on the punchlist that will be completed when the contractor and subcontractors return to town to complete the archaeological area.

□ The street, sidewalks, parking and other improvements in the unfinished area between Ireland and Ilwaco will be completed at the conclusion of the archaeology work. Subject to the availability of subcontractors and, of course, our fall and winter weather, Strider anticipates that the time needed to finish off this final section could be 4 to 6 weeks.

The Archaeology

□ The crew from Northwest Archaeological Associates is on track to complete excavation work within the southern half of Pioneer Way by the end of next week or the beginning of the following week.

□ When the southern half has been completed, the temporary fencing will be moved to the northern half of the street to enclose the future parking area in front of Mike’s Mini Mart (we anticipate that neither Ireland nor Ilwaco will be blocked by the fencing). Concurrent with moving the fencing, the southern half of the street will be prepped for traffic and will become the new temporary driving lane.

□ Once the enclosure is in place on the northern half, Northwest Archaeological Associates will begin excavation to recover any human remains or other cultural materials in this area. While we obviously can’t be certain until the work is underway, the expectation is that finding significant new discoveries on the north side is fairly remote given the degree of recent disturbance from utility work and the relatively shallow excavation needed to build the street.

□ Looking ahead, recovery work within the piles of soil removed from Pioneer Way and deposited at a local gravel pit must still be scheduled and completed.

The Underground Power Conversions

□ The entire project area has now been energized by Puget Sound Energy (Potelco) and is available for connection by those customers who must convert their overhead lines to a new underground service. By State law, these conversions must be completed within 90 days from when the underground power is available. The last group of customers has been notified that they have until January 18, 2012 to complete their conversion work.

□ Once all the customer conversions have been completed (likely at some point early in 2012), PSE, Frontier and Comcast can remove their overhead wires from the poles and soon thereafter the poles themselves can be pulled. Lastly, the sidewalk will be repaired where the poles were removed and the rest of the street lights can be installed.

The Project Office

□ The “For Lease” sign is up at 720 SE Pioneer Way, Suite 1. The City has given notice that it will be pulling up stakes at the Pioneer Construction Office by November 10, 2011.

□ Project staff will mostly be out by November 4 although we will still be working actively on the street until the project is finished. Please note that one or more of us will continue to be available on Tuesday mornings beginning November 8 between 9:00 am and 10:00 am, most likely at Angelo’s Caffe.

Scheduled Gatherings/Events

AM TUESDAY COFFEES Every Tuesday morning – 9:00 to 10:00 am
Pioneer Way Information and Construction Office (only two more chances!)
Have a cup and pastry, hear what’s on the schedule for that week

Key City Contact People

These are your go-to City staff for issues connected to the construction project:

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org

October 19, 2011

Homecoming Parade Tomorrow (Thursday 10/20) at 5:30

For those who may not have heard, the annual excitement of homecoming (with the Wildcats at 7-0 this season, the level of excitement might just be higher than normal!) will arrive tomorrow (Thursday) on Pioneer Way. Between 5:30 and 6:30 pm, there will be a homecoming parade from City Beach Street to Midway Boulevard. Parking will be restricted starting at 5:00 pm and the street will be reopened as soon as possible after the parade passes through key intersections. Strider Construction and staff will do everything we can to have the street looking sharp for the event.

Key City Contact People

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org


Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org

Briefing No. 33
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

October 7, 2011

Good afternoon,

Yesterday (Thursday), the project reached the stage of “substantial completion” in all areas except the block directly affected by the ongoing archaeological work. As noted before, there is still work to be accomplished before the project is physically complete (including bringing down the power lines and poles, completing punch list tasks and repairs, and actually building the street between Ireland and Ilwaco), but substantial completion is a major milestone. To mark the progress so far, the downtown merchants are busy planning “Pioneer Way Celebrates” on October 15. A day full of activities includes a fun run on the new street, food, music, poker walk, ribbon cutting, chalk art (weather permitting), Native American youth dancers and “a sweet taste of Pioneer Way.” Watch for ads in local newspapers for details.

For approximately the next three weeks, most of the construction activity on the street will be concentrated on completing items from the punch list. While most of these tasks are relatively minor, several work items will likely cause some disturbance and/or traffic impacts. One of the largest, replacing the two flawed sidewalk panels in front of the Pioneer Way project office and Casual House, will likely occur on Monday of next week. Also on tap for next week is the pouring of the replacement sidewalk on the upper east side of Dock Street.

Construction Work

□ The landscaping subcontractor completed topsoil application and irrigation in the remaining planter islands and the last trees and plants were put into the fresh topsoil. Work began today on applying the top layer of mulch to the planter islands. Next week, the Oak Harbor Garden Club, City Parks staff and volunteers will join together to plant the new ceramic pots.

□ Iron was raised last week, meaning that all the manholes and valve casings were brought up to be flush with the new paving. The patches are only temporary and will be replaced when the paving crew returns to complete work on the archaeology block.

□ Puget Sound Energy and Frontier Communications are both working on the street pulling wire through the new underground power and communications network. Phase 2 (east of Dock) was energized by mid-week.

□ Strider Construction continued to work on installing the “amenities,” including handrails, landscaping, streetlights, planters, benches, bike racks, tree grates, permanent signs and streetside restoration.

The Archaeological Work

□ City officials and the City’s consulting archaeological firm, Northwest Archaeological Associates (NWAA), welcomed the arrival of a revised excavation permit on Monday, October 3. NWAA began work on Tuesday inside the archaeological enclosure to remove the top 10” or so of dirt to allow the street to be completed. This material will be screened for human remains and other cultural materials with any new discoveries set aside for reburial. This work is expected to take about four weeks to complete.

□ Archaeological monitoring is continuing whenever Strider or one of their subcontractors performs any excavation work.

Scheduled Gatherings/Events

AM TUESDAY COFFEES Every Tuesday morning – 9:00 to 10:00 am
Pioneer Way Information and Construction Office
Have a cup and pastry, hear what’s on the schedule for that week

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 Pioneer Way Celebrates!
Lots of Merchant-Sponsored Activities on the new street and sidewalks
Fun Run, Food, Music, Poker Walk Chalk Art (weather permitting), Sidewalk Sale and Much More
Ribbon Cutting at Dock and Pioneer, 12-2


Key City Contact People

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org

Construction Alert No. 21
Pioneer Way Reconstruction Project

October 4, 2011

“Raising Iron” Raises Some Questions

At this morning’s regular Tuesday AM coffee, we were asked about why the contractor was jackhammering holes into the freshly completed paving. Great question and certainly worthy of a quick construction alert. It is standard practice in street construction to bring the water valve casings and manholes up to street level after the final asphalt has been applied. This process, termed “raising iron” in construction-speak, involves removing the asphalt above these structures using a jackhammer, installing risers to bring them up to street level and then patching the area around the hole.

A natural follow-up question is why can’t these structures be brought up to finished street level prior to paving? Put simply, it is to protect both the underground utilities and the paving equipment from potential damage should the paver catch on the edge of the structure. Not only would it damage the equipment, but it would likely pull the structure out of alignment or, worse, break the structure itself and/or the underground pipes that connect to it.

The raising iron work is scheduled to be completed by Thursday of this week.

Key City Contact People

Larry Cort
Project Manager
360 914-7107
lcort@oakharbor.org

Joe Stowell
Project Engineer
360 279-4520
jstowell@oakharbor.org

Rhonda Severns
City Utilities
360 914-7256
rhseverns@oakharbor.org