Summit County staff present facilities master plan; $3.5 million placeholder for courthouse in 2026 budget

County staff presented a facilities master plan on Sept. 24 that breaks county facilities needs into phased recommendations and identifies preliminary budget placeholders and funding options. The presentation framed immediate needs for the next one to three years and longer‑term facilities priorities.

Shane (county facilities staff) summarized the master plan’s phased approach and told the Council that staff will present recommended FY2026 budget language on Oct. 15. Shane said staff will include a $3,500,000 placeholder in the FY2026 budget for initial courthouse design and work; he described that number as a planning placeholder and said the courthouse project will be a multi‑year, phased effort intended to keep operations running during remodel. Shane also referenced an $8,000,000 figure shown in the plan as another preliminary placeholder tied to a multi‑year courthouse remodel and said those figures were starting points for design and budgeting.

The presentation reviewed other priorities shown in the master plan: tenant improvements and a phased build‑out at the recently acquired Skullcandy property (staff plan to put some desk/station purchases in place and to issue a request for proposals for tenant improvements), solid‑waste and recycling master planning tied to potential new drop‑off and transfer facilities, landfill cell expansion (Public Works reported that the new landfill cell is on schedule and under budget and expected to be ready for next year), and a recommended future jail corrections remodel and mental‑health ward.

Shane also described a proposed public‑private partnership (PPP) project identified in the plan with an estimated planning cost of roughly $38,000,000. He and council members noted the PPP estimate bundles items including parking spaces intended to be paid by High Valley Transit and other elements that could be funded from multiple sources. Council members asked staff to separate those buckets in forthcoming work‑plan and budget discussions.

The master plan also identified a possible Mountain Operations Center for South Summit to consolidate emergency‑management, search‑and‑rescue and other regional functions; staff noted the plan’s analysis that much of that center’s potential funding could come from non‑county sources (federal grants, emergency services tax, tourism‑related funding).

Council members asked for additional detail on timing and funding. Shane said staff will bring bonding, reserve and fund‑balance analyses to the council in the Oct. 15 work plan session and that many projects will require multi‑year phasing, grants or partner funding.

Ending: Staff will provide the council with budget placeholders and fund‑balance materials ahead of the Oct. 15 work‑plan meeting and will return with more detailed scopes and funding breakouts for the PPP and courthouse work.