Isanti County moves toward site selection for new highway shop; commissioners set public input window

Justin Bergerson, Highway Department staff and member of the Highway Exploration Committee, told the Isanti County Board on Jan. 14 that the county92s highway facility—originally built in 1949—no longer fits modern fleet and operational needs and that the committee is preparing to select a site for a new consolidated shop.

Bergerson said the highway department maintains about 359 miles of county roads and 36 bridges, operates with 23 full-time employees and up to four seasonal laborers, and currently occupies a piecemeal collection of buildings on about 15 acres in downtown Cambridge. "Our trucks have gotten bigger, equipment92s gotten bigger, and just kind of outgrown our space," he said.

Nut graf: The board heard a status update from the Highway Exploration Committee on a multi-step process to identify a long-term site, including criteria such as parcel size, accessibility to trunk highways, utility availability, buildability and environmental constraints; commissioners set a Feb. 6 deadline for landowners to express interest.

Bergerson summarized planning and due diligence already completed: a 2021 cross Anderson facility assessment that recommended divesting the current building rather than investing in major repairs; a space-needs study completed in March 2024; and committee work to develop site-selection criteria and a scoring matrix. The cross Anderson study estimated roughly $4.5 million to $5.5 million in deferred maintenance over 10 years for the current facility.

Committee priorities for a candidate site include: about 20 acres (to allow future county expansion), proximity to county roads and trunk highways for quick response times, access to municipal sewer and water (to avoid costly private solutions), a buildable pad with limited earthwork, and minimal environmental constraints such as wetlands. Bergerson said some counties ultimately chose to extend city utilities rather than use private well/septic systems because of industrial-level water and wastewater needs.

Commissioners discussed public notice and outreach. The board agreed to invite landowners to contact highway staff with potential parcels; staff asked for submissions by Feb. 6 so the committee would have time to complete due diligence before a near-term decision point. Bergerson and committee members said they have already evaluated listed and off-market properties and have one site that currently "checks all the boxes." He said an architect or engineer must know the exact site to complete design work.

Clarifying details provided in the discussion included counts (359 miles of county roads, 36 bridges), staffing (23 full-time, up to four seasonal), the current site footprint (about 15 acres with some restricted usable area), and the deferred-maintenance estimate ($4.592$5.5 million over 10 years). Commissioners and staff discussed potential funding options and the tradeoffs between a single main shop (efficiency) and multiple out-shops (local redundancy).

Ending: The committee will finalize a short list of parcels, continue public outreach and work to document funding options; staff asked owners with potentially suitable land to contact the highway office by Feb. 6.