County staff seeks design funds for highway shop upgrades; estimates show $17M construction with $2.5M design cost

Director of Facilities Mike Elder presented a facilities master-plan follow-up that identified the county highway shop as the first candidate for capital investment to address long-standing operational constraints.

Elder said prior work remedied office-area mold discovered in 2021, but that remaining problems include maintenance bays too small for modern tri-axle plow trucks, a compact salt shed that requires mid-winter reloads, a truck wash that forces difficult turning maneuvers, undersized locker and meeting space, and constrained indoor storage that leaves some equipment exposed outdoors. He described a combined facilities condition and space-needs assessment that identifies the highway shop as a building worth preserving and upgrading rather than relocating immediately.

Venture Architects provided ballpark cost estimates staff summarized for the board: roughly $17 million to upgrade the highway shop (office addition, expanded garage, drive-through truck wash, salt shed enlargement) and another $15 million to relocate facilities to a consolidated campus; staff estimated design work at about 8% of construction costs (about $2.5 million). Elder proposed pursuing one-time ARPA/spirit-fund dollars for design to produce bid-ready documents and to start addressing an observable backlog of deferred capital needs.

Supervisors and staff discussed sequencing, the merits of touring the facility, and how the project would interact with broader master-plan options (moving some county operations nearer the Park View jail area, potential consolidation benefits). The board did not take a final funding vote at the meeting; staff said they will bring more detailed scope and packet materials to supervisors and to the ARPA committee for consideration.