Kingston Navy housing demolition moves forward this month

One of the most-asked questions in Kingston this summer has been “When are they tearing down the Navy housing?” It’s a question asked for the last few years now, repeatedly. “September” is the latest answer from Kitsap County Parks and Recreation Department.

With vandalism at the site this summer and concerns voiced about its lack of safety, Kingston Parks, Trails and Open Space, a committee of the Kingston Citizens Advisory Council, sent a formal inquiry to Parks and Recreation Director Chip Faver in June, asking for a specific schedule for the demolition project, how the site will look afterwards, and who the project manager is currently.

Faver replied with some explanation of the permitting issues that arose during the process, causing delays. The parks and trails committee then extended an invitation to Matt Keough, hired this spring as a county parks planning project manager, to attend its July 7 meeting. After meeting with the group, Keough followed up their requests for a status report, setting forth a timeline for the demolition and site development, now estimated to take place in September.

According to Keough, the parks department was in the process of obtaining demolition permits and applying for post-demolition permits to include “capping existing infrastructure and re-grading this site for useable, passive, safe green space. Demolition is a priority for all – especially due to the nuisance factor and we were all uncomfortable with the unknown timetable associated with the wider permitting required.”

The site of the Navy housing is a part of the Village Green park.

Keough said a large team from the county has been working on the permitting and site-development plans, including Brian Lyman who will continue working a contracted as project coordinator.

“… There should be minimal disruption to the community based on the logical access and egress points associated with the property,” Faver told the trails committee in an e-mail last month explaining the scope of the post-demolition work. “Asbestos abatement is integral to the contract in order to expedite the process. All rubble will be removed and the site will indeed be graded … to approximate the existing lay of the land prior to development. No serious dirt work is programmed for changing slope grade or leveling. It must present itself well to the community and a minimal maintenance solution will be sought in light of our current maintenance budget and looming cuts in 2009.”

Demolition timetable

The demolition timetable outlined by Keough follows:

• The demolition specifications (drawings with permit) were advertised in July and a pre-bid site visit is scheduled for contractors July 29.

• The asbestos report, under contract with Parametrix, is expected soon and will indicate lab results and the materials that contain asbestos. The asbestos report will be submitted to bidders as an addendum through purchasing.

• The bid date is Aug 13; at that time, bids will be reviewed and a contractor selected.

• A notice of award will be sent to a contractor Aug. 14 and a contract will be drawn up and signed after an internal review, bonds and other policies from the contractor are approved and the Board of County Commissioners signs it with a notice to proceed. This process should take two to three weeks.

- Demolition work is expected in early September.

Immediate activity

- Underground tanks at the site are being removed the week of July 28, under contract with Parametrix, Keough explained.

- The process to obtain a Site Development Activity Permit is moving forward, having received a second estimate July 18. According to Keough, “steps involved for this permit can be time-consuming but each step results in specifications we require for a contractor to do this work appropriately. This provides greater confidence and speed for awarding

the re-grading/finishing of the project.”

- The county hopes timing will follow the demolition and take place through the month of September to finish the project and hydroseed before fall rains arrive in October.

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