The Cumberland County Board of Commissioners Crown Event Center Committee met Wednesday, Sept. 11, to approve the Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) for the sitework portion of the project and to receive a project update from the Crown Event Center Project Delivery Team.

Assistant County Manager for General Government & Stewardship Brian Haney shared that the approved contract with Construction Manager at Risk TA Loving/Metcon was for preconstruction services with the intent of bringing the GMP back as a contract amendment following the bidding process. He said the Project Delivery Team (PDT) has been mindful of adhering to the approved project timeline and budget, and that in order to maximize efficiencies in the project schedule, the PDT recommends splitting the project into three phases with three GMP amounts. The first phase, which was bid by TA Loving/Metcon on Aug. 27 with a re-bid on Sept. 3, is for sitework and demolition. The second phase will include structural steel and concrete, as well as long-lead items like switchgear and the generator. The third and final phase will include all remaining bid packages.

Matt DeSilver, Regional Manager with MBP Carolinas, the County’s Owner’s Representative for the project, said the GMP for the sitework phase (GMP-1) came in at $3,414,411. Haney said the recommendation to the Committee was to approve the GMP-1 amount and direct that it be submitted to the full Board of Commissioners at their Sept. 16, 2024 regular meeting for approval as part of a GMP-1 Amendment to the Construction Manager at Risk contract. Approval of the amendment will allow the project to transition into the construction phase for sitework. The Committee voted unanimously to approve the GMP-1 amount.

The Committee discussed the following additional ITEMS OF BUSINESS:

Declaration of Official Intent to Reimburse Expenditures: Robin Deaver, Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer, presented. U.S. Treasury regulations and guidelines that involve debt financing transactions require that a governmental entity declare its intent to use debt financing for a given project before expenses are incurred. A reimbursement resolution must be approved so that the County can reimburse itself for any expenses paid before debt is issued. The Board of Commissioners adopted a reimbursement resolution for the Crown Event Center project on April 4, 2022, however at the time the project cost was not expected to exceed $82.5 million. Deaver requested approval of a revised resolution that updates that amount to the Board’s approved project budget of $144,455,422. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend this item for approval by the Board of Commissioners at the Sept. 16, 2024 regular meeting.

Approval of Capital Project Budget Ordinance Amendment B250150: Robin Deaver, Finance Director and Chief Financial Officer, presented. Deaver requested approval of a Capital Project Budget Ordinance Amendment to account for a temporary $30 million transfer from the County’s General Government Capital Investment Fund that will be needed to fund the first two phases of the project until debt is issued in early 2025. Upon debt issuance, this transfer will be reimbursed in full. The Committee voted unanimously to recommend this item for approval by the Board of Commissioners at the Sept. 16, 2024 regular meeting.

The Committee also received an overall Project Update, which included a review of the project schedule and future GMP submissions, discussion that County staff are working to coordinate a groundbreaking event and provide information on alternative parking options in the area once construction begins, and an update from the PDT’s recent interior design meeting.

The Crown Event Center Committee is comprised of Cumberland County Commissioner Jimmy Keefe, who chairs the Committee, Board Chairman Glenn Adams and Commissioner Jeannette Council, along with Cumberland County Civic Center Commission Chairman McBryde Grannis, who serves in an ex-officio capacity. The Project Delivery Team (PDT) is made up of County staff, and staff from the County’s owner’s representative MBP Carolinas, project architect EwingCole, construction manager at risk (CMaR) TA Loving/Metcon and Crown Complex Manager OakViewGroup (OVG).

For more information on the Crown Event Center project, goto cumberlandcountync.gov/crowneventcenter.