At the regular meeting of the Waushara County Board of Supervisors on March 16 the supervisors heard proposals from Kurt Berner of the Samuels group about two phases the Building Renovations Committee agreed to present to the board.
Option A would have the county departments in two campuses including a two-story building constructed adjacent to the Waushara County Sheriff’s Department that would house the courts, Department of Aging, ADRC, Veterans Services and Community Dining. It would also include building a Sheriff’s Garage and a building for Sheriff’s Training, a Building and Grounds structure and an EMS Department. The county presently owns 3.46 acres in the downtown site. Cost of this project was $42 million.
Option B was a Single Campus moving all downtown offices and departments to the Law Enforcement site on Division Street. This campus would include: a two-story Sheriff’s Training, Staff Garage & Emergency Management Addition; one story sheriff’s evidence storage garage; two story building for all other County Government Departments; a one-story building for Buildings & Grounds and EMS; and selling the historic Courthouse. This is at a cost of $47 million.
Both proposals include the demolition of the North Annex (once the highway department) that houses the EMS, Health Department, Veterans Services Office, etc. Both proposals also include a Poy Sippi EMS & Senior Dining project and both proposals also had an additional line item of $19 million for the Waushara County Highway Department with the central location in Wautoma and the Poy Sippi and Hancock locations.
Following Berner’s presentation and answering questions from the supervisors, the board voted to pass the resolution to authorize the Samuels Group to begin the design and construction phases of Plan B on one campus. All voted in favor of the resolution except Supervisor Larry Timm and Supervisor Pat King. King represents the City of Wautoma and said that he believed moving the courthouse from downtown would hurt the businesses.
The supervisors also voted to approved a resolution authorizing not to exceed $63,000,000 General Obligation Bonds or Promissory Notes for the County Building Project. Jeff Belongia, Huntington Securities, explained the borrowing process to the board and explained that passing this resolution did not mean the county was borrowing any money, but it did give vote to borrow what is necessary when it is necessary at a very low interest rate. Belongia said the county has an excellent AA credit rating which makes it convenient for borrowing at a low interest rate and also the county is a $2.8 Billion Corporation. The taxable base grew by 5 percent last year and the estimated cost for taxpayers would be $44 per $100,000 valuation, depending on the amount borrowed.
These proposals to the board follows the Building and Renovations Committee working with the Samuels Group for several months to devise a plan that best suits the county. The group along with Venture Architects, toured all the present county buildings and offices and talked to department heads on what they needed in their departments. The old highway shop now housing the Health Department, Veterans Services office and the EMS has outlived its life. So those offices were listed to be relocated.
The courthouse building itself has the previous county jail attached and that has been made into offices. The Samuels Group determined the courthouse has good “bones” but the envelope surround the structure needed work. Also, inside the courthouse the HVAC systems and the offices are not adequate.
As for the court system, bringing in the inmates from the sheriff’s office through the courthouse could pose a problem, as there is no secure path to bring them to the upstairs courtrooms. The courthouse has gone to a one entry system with X-ray detectors and officers on duty.
Going with the proposed one campus plan it will be a one-stop shop with everything under one roof and there will be one secure entrance for the public and a secure entrance directly from the jail to the courts with a holding cell for inmates inside the proposed facility till their court appearance.
Watch the Argus for more details on this project as they become available.
The next regular meeting of the Waushara County Board of Supervisors will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 20th at the Waushara County Courthouse in Wautoma.
