County consultant reports facility scans complete; assessment flags ADA, lighting and courthouse needs

Ryan Archer, senior design architect and planner with Tower Pinkster, updated the Van Buren County Board of Commissioners on a facilities master plan process begun several months ago, saying the consultant team has completed scanning of the county’s building portfolio (excluding detailed jail cell scans) and has produced draft assessments and initial planning deliverables.

Archer told the board the consultant team has finished PDF and CAD file preparation and site plans based on county GIS data and is moving from assessment into cost estimating and conceptual planning. “We’ve gone through and scanned every building but the jail,” Archer said, and the team now intends to attach conceptual budget numbers to recommended scopes so the county can prioritize projects.

The assessment organizes findings by site and rates building components as good, fair, poor or replace. Archer said common countywide themes include accessibility upgrades, LED lighting retrofits, and electrical-service opportunities, while the courthouse’s age makes it a distinct case requiring its own analysis. He said the firm will produce a planning workshop for commissioners and staff to test conceptual diagrams and prioritization.

Community Services Director Lisa Hanson introduced Archer and said Tower Pinkster held user-group meetings with most county departments to capture needs and “guide rails” for planning. Archer said the planning work will consider zoning constraints on building height (typically limited to about 2½–3 stories with a hard 45-foot limit in village zoning) and will identify rough floor-to-floor dimensions to inform feasibility and costs.

Commissioners and members of the public asked whether courthouse annexes or outlying facilities such as South Haven court and animal control were included; Archer said courts and related sites are being considered “as part of the overall portfolio,” and specific decisions—such as relocating or rebuilding a court or animal control facility—would be evaluated in the planning and prioritization phase. Archer said the team plans a small-group planning workshop before a larger administrative-group meeting in November that could include elected officials and community partners.

Archer said the deliverables will include a facility assessment, planning diagrams and two conceptual budgets (one tied to assessment-level repairs and one tied to larger planning options). He described “recommendation” tabs that pair technical findings with professional next-step guidance and said items labeled “replace” are those the team considers immediate priorities while “poor” items are recommended for attention within a 3–5 year horizon.

Commissioners requested follow-up on South Haven court scans and further detail about whether animal-control needs would be cataloged; Archer said staff will follow up to confirm inclusion and to surface user concerns in the planning workshop. Hanson said the county will be provided the CAD and PDF files and that Tower Pinkster will return a final report after budgeting and the planning workshop.

The presentation concluded with commissioners inviting a workshop and asking the consultant to circulate dates and an initial guest list. No formal action or vote on capital funding was taken at the meeting.