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Dunn County weighs $7.5 million equipment facility, prioritizes truck wash bay
Summary
County highway staff presented analysis showing indoor storage and a wash bay would extend equipment life and reduce repair costs; a 50,000 sq ft steel facility was estimated at roughly $7.5 million up front, but the committee agreed to study phased options and financing before any vote.
Dunn County highway staff presented a cost-benefit analysis Jan. 7 that put a new equipment storage facility and an automated wash bay at the top of the department’s capital priorities, but the committee made no final decision.
The department’s engineer (Speaker 3) told the committee that keeping heavy equipment indoors and adding a wash bay would reduce depreciation and downtime. “So if you kinda say over, a 10 year lifespan, we’re saving $90,000,” the speaker said, citing modeled savings per vehicle and an inventory of roughly 40 higher-value pieces of equipment. Staff’s back-of-envelope estimate placed a 50,000-square-foot steel building at about $7.5 million up front; a precast concrete option was estimated materially higher.
Why it matters: staff said the county spends heavily to repair weather-exposed equipment—examples in the packet showed tens of thousands of dollars in repairs on three pieces of equipment over a decade—and argued that a wash bay could cut labor time and extend component life. Staff recommended prioritizing an automated wash system because it both reduces employee time spent hand-washing and helps remove corrosive salt and sand from undercarriages.
Committee members discussed a phased approach, with some favoring a standalone wash bay and lighter cold-storage sheds for low-use equipment. Speakers warned that a standalone wash bay would require a controlled-temperature space to park washed vehicles in winter; staff said concrete construction and heated approach pads would be needed to avoid ice inside the facility. The committee also raised fire-protection and code questions about storing vehicles indoors, and discussed whether a bond issue—potentially pushed to 2027—would be necessary and how that would affect debt service and property taxes.
Next steps: staff will run more precise cost estimates and fire-protection research and present updated financing options. No binding vote was taken; bids were extended in part to give the committee more time to reconcile costs with debt-service limits and the county’s broader capital plan.
