Commissioners set April public hearing for five-year capital plan after transit-garage update

County administration asked the board to set a required public hearing on a proposed five-year capital plan and briefed commissioners on a preliminary transit-garage grant selection.

Administration proposed Tuesday, April 21 at 9:30 a.m. as the public hearing date. Staff reported preliminary notice from the Minnesota Department of Transportation that the county’s transit garage project was selected for future funding; the budget figure presented to the board is $4.156 million with an anticipated grant award of $3.325 million and an owner share of $831,000 (budgeted across 2027–28). Staff said the project would include bus bays, a wash bay, offices and locker rooms and accommodate propane-fueled buses tied to a new fueling station.

The five-year plan also incorporates deferred-maintenance items through 2031 (notably HVAC and boiler replacements in the law enforcement center) and placeholder figures for possible longer-term work on the old jail/infill space. Administration said program managers and stakeholder meetings will guide options for the jail space and that some requests (for example, demolition or major infill) are likely far-term due to bond and debt constraints.

Commissioner Krueger and others discussed timing and the capital-plan balance; the board set the public hearing date and approved that procedural motion by voice vote.