County commissioner to appoint group for ag center interviews
By Steve Herring
Published in News on January 1, 2016 1:46 PM
Wayne County Commission Chairman Joe Daughtery Tuesday is expected to appoint a working group to interview for construction manager at-risk services for the $16 million Wayne Regional Agricultural and Convention Center.
The working group will make a recommendation to the full board.
Tuesday's meeting will get under way at 8 a.m. with an agenda briefing followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
Commissioners last month awarded the design contract for the center to HH Architecture of Raleigh -- the company that designed the initial 35 percent of the center plans.
The company's fee for basic services including contract administration is 8.25 percent of the final cost of the project.
Interim payments will be based on the architect's estimated costs, but will true up within 30 days of project completion on the actual construction cost.
Also last month, commissioners authorized County Manager George Wood to prepare a request for qualifications for construction manager at-risk services.
That was sent out prior to the Christmas holiday and Jan. 12 at 3 p.m. is the deadline for companies to submit a proposal.
A construction manager at-risk provides construction management services and guarantees construction costs.
The company also provides services that may include preparation and coordination of bid packages, scheduling, value engineering, evaluation, pre-construction services and construction administration.
The company also works closely with the architect.
It is expected to take 22 weeks to complete the design, six weeks for review and 70 weeks for construction.
Commissioners have said they would like to hold a groundbreaking for the project next summer.
The center will be located on a 12-acre site on North Wayne Memorial Drive just north of Wayne Community College.
Goldsboro is providing the land as part of an agreement with the county. An adjoining city-owned six acres remains as the site for a possible hotel and restaurant.
The proposed center will house the Cooperative Extension Service, Farm Service Agency, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Wayne County Soil and Water and have classrooms and a large lobby.
The center's assembly hall is designed to accommodate 840 people when set up banquet style and 1,554 for assembly seating.
It also can be broken into four rooms of different sizes to accommodate crowds of 190, 210, 380 and 494 respectively.
The county has set aside $4 million for the project. It also has applied for USDA loans/grants totaling $2.6 million.
The 10-year, zero-interest loans account for $2 million of the total. The county also plans to seek federal funding as well.
Another funding source will be the revenues from the countywide 1 percent hotel occupancy tax commissioners approved in October. The tax was effective Dec. 1.
Convergent Nonprofit Solutions is conducting a fundraising campaign for the project The county also plans to seek state and federal funding.