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San Juan County begins formal capital improvement plan process, flags courthouse seismic work
Summary
County management proposed a transparent, department‑driven six‑year capital improvement plan (CIP) with draft documents due this summer and prioritization criteria focused on life‑safety and mandated projects; staff cited a $1.5 million state grant for courthouse seismic work requiring a 50% match.
County Manager Jess Hudson told the San Juan County Council at its Jan. 13 retreat that staff will draft a formal capital improvement plan (CIP) to give the council a clearer, prioritized six‑year view of facility and infrastructure needs. Hudson said the goal is to circulate a first draft this summer and tie adoption of projects to budget decisions later in the year.
"We're gonna play ping‑pong a little bit: come speak to council, get department priorities, come back with a draft, and iterate so the final document isn't a surprise," Hudson said, outlining a process of departmental check‑ins, transparent prioritization and regular updates to council.
Deputy County Manager Tillery Williams urged adoption of objective criteria to help departments bring forward projects, proposing metrics such as public‑safety risk, end‑of‑life for systems, and legal mandates such as ADA compliance. Several council members pressed for clarity about how money will be allocated among REET 1, REET 2 and the county's general capital bucket.
Hudson and Williams identified three major projects already in the pipeline: completion of Fern Street and the Lopez sheriff substation, electrical updates to the annex, and seismic work at the courthouse. Hudson said the county secured roughly $1.5 million from the state’s historic courthouse renovation grant program for seismic work but noted that most grants require a 50 percent local match.
Council members emphasized the need for an asset inventory and clearer condition assessments so prioritization is defensible and not perceived as ad hoc. "We need criteria that are easily understood by everybody," one member said, urging engineering assessments for high‑risk items.
Staff told the council that prior studies — including an earlier Miller Hall assessment — will be re‑used and incorporated to avoid duplicative work. Facilities Director Greg Sawyer and Capital Projects Coordinator Mackenzie Sims will continue to provide technical detail to inform project scoping and cost estimates.
Hudson said the CIP will remain a planning tool until the council approves corresponding budget allocations: "You'll get a draft this summer, but you won't be asked to adopt until you adopt the financial documents that go along with it." The county anticipates roughly $1–3 million per year in capital receipts across REET 1 and REET 2, an amount staff said is not enough to meet all deferred‑maintenance needs but provides a planning baseline.
The council asked staff to return in April with initial draft criteria and confirmed Tillery Williams as the staff point of contact for the CIP work. Staff plans include departmental interviews, mapping of county facilities and periodic progress reports to council.
The council did not take formal action at the retreat; staff said project funding and final project lists will be presented as part of the normal budget adoption process later this year.
