As contractors put the finishing touches on Jefferson Transit Authority's (JTA) new transportation hub at Four Corners, agency officials are packing up their offices on Upper Sims Way.

“It's so much better than what we have now,” JTA general manager Tammi Rubert said June 4 while walking with finance manager Sara Crouch through the recently constructed facility, which sits on 10.6 acres surrounded by trees and the sounds of birds chirping.

“And it's so beautiful out here,” Crouch said. “I'll be able to open my window and not hear the traffic on Sims Way.”

Following a 1:30 p.m. grand opening ceremony on Friday, June 12 at the facility, located at 63 Four Corners Road, agency officials plan to spend the weekend moving their offices and equipment before opening for business at 8 a.m., Monday, June 15.

The Upper Sims Way administrative offices are to be closed on June 12 for the ceremony.

Customer service is to remain open June 12 at its new location at the Haines Place Transit Center, 440 12th St. in Port Townsend, which previously housed the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce Visitor Information Center.

Both customer service and shift supervision moved from JTA's Upper Sims Way offices, 1615 W. Sims Way, on May 18.

OLD OFFICES UNSOLD

JTA officials had hoped to change the Upper Sims Way property's land-use zoning designation by this time, but a disagreement between the agency and the City of Port Townsend over how to do that spurred JTA to file a petition in Jefferson County Superior Court in late December 2014.

“It remains in limbo at this point,” Rubert said of the case.

The property is currently zoned for public infrastructure and cannot be sold until rezoned. The Port Townsend City Council decided in early December 2014 to rezone the property for a mixture of commercial and residential uses, but JTA had requested it be zoned entirely for commercial use.

The case has yet to have a hearing in court, though attorneys on both sides have agreed to put the proceedings on hold and are seeking an out-of-court resolution.

NEW FACILITY

General contractor Pease Construction Inc. of Tacoma has completed the facility on schedule and within budget, JTA officials said.

“We've been very careful to keep within the budget we set out for ourselves in the beginning,” Rubert said.

What began in 2002 as then general manager Dave Turissini's grand plan to better accommodate a booming public transportation agency saw project costs swerve up and down over the years from a high of $13 million to the current $5.8 million.

In May 2014, JTA awarded the construction contract to Pease, which bid $4,625,000, some $386,150 more than what project engineer Samantha Trone initially estimated.

Prior to breaking ground, JTA had secured more than $2.4 million in federal funds, more than $1 million in state funds, nearly $1.5 million of its own money and $60,000 from East Jefferson Fire Rescue.

Still short some $920,000, JTA took out a $1.1 million, 20-year bond through Martin Nelson & Company of Seattle just prior to starting construction.

The bond allowed JTA to pave the new facility's parking lot, rather than use gravel, and pay for an in-ground lift for its maintenance bays, with the remainder of the financing going into its contingency fund, Rubert said.

She also said 50 more parking spaces are still to come and a transit shelter on-site would eventually be replaced with a “bike-and-ride,” where travelers could lock up bicycles. She said JTA also hopes to install an electric vehicle plug-in station there.

The facility, designed by TCF Architecture of Tacoma, is to house the agency’s administrative offices and serve as home base for its fleet of coach and cutaway buses. Two maintenance bays would be able to house the full-size coach buses.

“We're going from 0 to 100 with this new facility,” Rubert said. “We're all really excited to move in.”