At its February 12 meeting, the Board of Health authorized the administrator to submit a capital appropriation request to the Senate for the Mariner Community Campus (see Exhibit A for project background). The final appropriation in the 2019-21 budget for this project was $2.25M. Staff are working with the Department of Commerce to gather necessary contracts needed to access the funds.
Sno-Isle Libraries had received funding from the legislature in 2018 to facilitate community engagement and to complete a community needs assessment. The first phase of that work has been completed, and the executive summary from the needs assessment is in Exhibit B. More details can be found at www.marinercommunity.org. Sno-Isle has some remaining funds that have been extended by the legislature to continue facilitating the community engagement work.
Senator Liias met with Chair Stephanie Wright, District staff, and Sno-Isle Libraries leadership in May. He expressed an interest to work towards securing a property by the end of 2019 if at all possible. There may also be an opportunity to return in the next session to request some additional monies to go toward a purchase or help with design and permitting costs. Subsequent phases of the project may also be eligible for additional funding requests in future sessions.
At the Executive Committee meeting in May, staff were directed to prepare an RFQ to begin the process needed to select real estate services. The draft RFQ is included as Exhibit C. While the Board of Health retains authority to approve the contracts and potential real estate acquisitions, staff are recommending that 1-2 representatives from Sno-Isle Libraries be part of the selection committee for real estate services, as well as included in site visits for potential properties.
In addition to real estate decisions, future discussions with the Board will center on governance options, preferred space allocations for the District, and developing MOUs with partners.