Burke County manager lays out multi‑year capital plan, highlights courthouse, EMS and Parker Road options

County Manager Brian Epley told the Board of Commissioners that staff has prepared a multi‑year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) and is seeking the board’s direction as it finishes budget work for the 2025–26 fiscal year. He said staff is roughly a quarter to a third of the way through revenue forecasting and department reviews and expects the board to prioritize projects during a two‑day work session.

Epley emphasized three principal components that drive the CIP: understanding needed space, the current condition of facilities, and available capital resources. "If you pair all three of those together I think you're able to really put a meaningful plan together," he said.

He reviewed fiscal guardrails the board has adopted: a 10‑year payout target for installment debt (the board’s policy calls for 50% of principal to be paid in 10 years; the county’s current 10‑year payout is about 78.5%), a ceiling that debt service should not exceed 15% of total expenditures (Burke is roughly at 4.4% today), and a limit that total principal outstanding not exceed 2.5% of assessed property value (manager cited an assessed value near $11 billion).

Epley said the county has created a capital reserve funded by a 1.1‑cent allocation that is expected to yield about $1.2 million annually to smooth spending and reduce year‑to‑year volatility. He reiterated that the county has prioritized grant funding first for major projects and uses pay‑as‑you‑go cash and, where appropriate, debt proceeds as additional funding sources.

On projects, Epley said several major items are in planning or construction: an EMS headquarters under construction (masonry nearing topping out), an animal services facility with foundations underway and a courthouse renovation that will add a courtroom and relocate the district attorney’s office to the lower floor. "Those are what I would consider material in major projects," he said.

Epley spent considerable time on the Parker Road building — the county’s largest operational building that houses public health, public safety functions and some school administrative staff. He presented four options for meeting the county’s long‑term space needs: new construction (rough order of magnitude about $45 million), adaptive reuse of the existing structure in phases, repurposing unused space at the Foothills Higher Education Center (about 37,000 square feet identified as adaptable), and limited reuse of existing county square footage. He estimated phased renovation costs and argued a phased adaptive reuse approach would be fiscally responsible while allowing room for future expansion.

Architect Greg Melton, who joined the meeting to present project updates, told the board the district attorney space renovation in the courthouse is on track for substantial completion in late April under a design‑build contract. He said the EMS headquarters contractor anticipates finishing site masonry this year and expects project completion by December, while the animal services project—bid together with EMS—should finish in early 2026, and noted the joint bid saved the county more than $1 million.

Epley closed by asking the board for direction on priorities that staff should fold into the budget process; he said staff will return within 30 days with a formal updated CIP reflecting the board’s direction.

Ending: The board paused for a short break before moving to water and sewer topics.