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Resident asks commissioners about LakeTran cash, jail demolition and I‑90 pavement
Summary
A resident asked the Lake County Board to consider rescinding a quarter‑percent sales tax from LakeTran after reviewing its financials, and queried a rough $4 million estimate to raze the county jail so the parcel could support a transit/distribution facility; county staff said no decisions yet and demolition is several years away. A separate emailed resident asked about I‑90 pavement; officials said ODOT controls the schedule.
At the end of the Lake County commissioners workshop, resident Brian Massa said a public‑records review showed LakeTran still held more than $50 million in cash and asked the board to consider rescinding a quarter‑percent sales tax temporarily to put that money back into the community. "I took a look at their financial statements and I saw that they had over again still over $50 million in in cash," Massa said, giving his address as 8196 Rainbow Drive.
Massa also asked whether the county has budgeted about $4 million to tear down the existing county jail once the new facility is ready and whether LakeTran might receive the parcel for a transit or distribution facility similar to a previous facility at Lakeland. County officials said estimates on demolition costs are rough, that no final decision has been made, and that the existing jail will remain in use through the summer of the next construction year while the county completes due diligence, asbestos abatement planning and other preparatory work. One official said meaningful redevelopment was likely several years away.
Separately, a commissioner read an emailed concern from a resident who could not attend the workshop asking for action on poor pavement conditions on I‑90. County staff explained that ODOT governs maintenance and that the county will continue to press ODOT for a timeline and to relay updates to the resident. "I know from my time as a councilman that ODOT makes the decision and so we have to apply our our impromater to them," a commissioner said, and staff promised to follow up with the resident with a schedule if available.
Next steps: county staff said they will continue to evaluate LakeTran’s finances and potential uses of the jail site, perform demolition cost and environmental due diligence if the schedule requires it, and request a maintenance timeline from ODOT for the I‑90 section raised by the resident.
