Commission reviews FY‑26 capital outlay priorities, large road projects and countywide fire-suppression/water-storage plan

Commission staff walked through a broad FY‑26 capital-outlay overview and a detailed discussion of county fire-suppression and water-storage projects intended to improve rural firefighting capability and reduce insurance costs for residents.

The capital discussion covered road-department fleet replacements (pickups and heavy equipment), a multi-year plan to widen and overlay major county roads with an initial $65 million ask scaled to realistic contractor capacity (~$40 million), replacement and maintenance for community centers, detention facility upgrades including perimeter fencing and kitchen equipment, and information-technology projects such as private fiber (dark fiber) to connect county facilities for redundancy.

Airport projects were discussed in the context of a master plan: runway lighting upgrades, runway and taxiway rehabilitation, terminal ramp expansion and land acquisition to comply with FAA safety areas. Staff said many airport projects are largely federal/state grant-funded and that design and environmental clearance ahead of construction will allow future grant applications.

Fire-suppression and water-storage proposals presented by county fire staff described the need to increase water storage at remote stations to meet fire-flow requirements: examples included Knowles Station 1 with a 60,000-gallon storage and a 1,500 GPM pump. Staff said projects were designed to deliver continuous flow for two hours for the largest structures, would include redundancy (isolatable tanks, draftable systems), and carry significant costs for automation, pumps and underground piping beyond tank purchase (Park Hill engineering estimate with a 20% contingency cited; staff referenced a $1.4M figure for a package component). Presenters noted that improved water storage contributed materially to better ISO ratings and potentially lower insurance costs for residents.

Commissioners asked about donation and partnership opportunities—staff noted Apache has donated a tank for Monument and that use agreements with private water stations were being explored—and discussed prioritization steps, engineering requirements and grant funding options. The county manager noted capital requests across county entities could total multiple hundreds of millions when combined with authorities but that many projects are grant-supported or will be phased across fiscal years.

Staff also presented the March 2025 finance snapshot showing operating revenue of $246.4M, net revenue of about $173.5M year-to-date, and capital expenditures YTD of $42.6M funded via transfers. Property tax collections and gross receipts tax performance were reviewed as part of the budget context.

Next steps: staff will carry forward the capital list to budget workshops, pursue design and grant timelines for airport and fire projects, and coordinate engineering and procurement steps where carryover funds or multi-year contracts are needed.