Facilities committee identifies jail upkeep, neighbors maintenance and fleet as top priorities

Dunn County Facilities Committee members completed an interactive operational-planning exercise and told staff to dig deeper into options for fleet management, jail maintenance and upkeep for the county’s "neighbors" facility.

Dan, a staff member leading the exercise, told the committee the activity was "the next phase of looking at prioritization of services" and handed each member colored post-it notes to mark services to keep or review. He said, "Green is go. Red is stop," explaining red notes were for services the group might reduce and green notes for services to maintain or increase.

The exercise produced a clear leaning toward keeping maintenance for the neighbors facility and jail upkeep at their current levels, with fleet and general facilities maintenance also receiving significant attention. Dan emphasized the exercise was nonbinding and intended to give the executive committee guidance during budget deliberations: "This is really just, hey, let's go figure out some more information. Let's get that back. And then we would look for further guidance."

Committee members stressed legal and operational constraints when discussing possible cuts. One member noted that jail maintenance is governed by statutes and that some jail costs are offset by contracts taking in inmates from other counties: "The Sheriff's Department does contract with some other counties," said a staff member, adding that the revenue helps offset costs but does not create a windfall.

The group asked staff to return with options and cost estimates, including the feasibility of reducing in-house staff versus outsourcing particular maintenance tasks. Dan said results of the committee's prioritization would be passed to the executive committee as part of the budget-setting process but that the facilities committee retains the ability to set policy later if it chooses.