Three new capital improvement projects top the list of recommended investments for Portage County to take on in the next five years.

Portage County Executive Patty Dreier and Finance Director Jennifer Jossie presented a nearly $19 million Capital Improvements Plan (CIP) for 2017 to the Capital Improvements/Economic Development Committee Thursday June 30.

The three major – and new – projects include $10 million for a new Health Care Center, $5.2 million for the newly approved Government Center and $300,000 of an estimated total $8.3 million cost for County-City building remodeling.

The Health Care Center Committee Wednesday, June 29, approved moving forward with a $10 million contribution to a public-private partnership to build a new Health Care Center; the County Board approved moving ahead with the new $78.5 million Government Center concept on June 21; and Dreier took previous years’ capital improvement requests for the County-City Building and courthouse and spread them over the next five years of the CIP.

“Since we have some clarity on a broader direction for Portage County, it was easier to take out or hold a number of projects that were stalled and consolidate them in the plan,” Dreier said. “I think committing to the courthouse, this historic structure, is important.”

The meeting Thursday, June 30, was for information only; the Capital Improvements/Economic Development Committee will meet again to discuss the 2017-22 CIP recommendations at 5 p.m. Wednesday, July 13.

If discussion is not complete or a decision has not been made during that meeting, the committee will gather again on Monday, Aug. 1, following the Finance Committee meeting. The goal is to present the committee’s CIP recommendations to the County Board of Supervisors for approval at the Tuesday, Aug. 16, County Board meeting.

Because the new Government Center option that was approved does not designate dollars for repurposing the existing County-City Building, Dreier said she included the $8.3 million in improvements and upgrades throughout the CIP’s five years.

Of the 59 projects identified over the next year, 13 are new, two were deleted (the Health Care Center construction and heating, ventilation and air conditioning for the HCC), seven were delayed, 11 were updated and the remainder are occurring as planned in previous CIP. Two projects are on hold and two others were not funded, one of which was improvements to the Law Enforcement Center.

The CIP also estimates just under $900,000 in revenue for the projects, including $81,000 that would come back to the county from Stevens Point for their portion of the courthouse remodeling. State and federal grants for roads, trails/bridge and elevation data projects also are factored in.

That leaves about $18.1 million in project costs for 2017. The proposal shows funding that amount with about $800,000 in tax levy, $4.7 million in CIP funds, and the remaining nearly $12.6 million would be funded through borrowing or other county funds, Jossie said.

How 2017 is funded would affect future years as well.

“That $4.7 million is all that’s in fund balance,” Jossie said. “Last year, we put $1.6 million back into (CIP) savings, I’m not sure we’ll be able to do that this year, but that should be our priority.

“(It’s) something we have to work on,” she said. “What do we think our debt policy should be? How do we structure it?”

For funding the new Government Center, there are options such as $6 million in Business Park funds and a Jail Assessment Fund could go toward the jail portion of construction, she said, but those all are decisions that have yet to be made.

Many of the initial questions about the proposed CIP were regarding the contribution to the new Health Care Center and why the total dollar amount had to be allocated in 2017.

“Obviously a lot of the details need to be worked out, but we wouldn’t do anything unless it’s far enough in the project,” Jossie said.

The County-City Building projects tagged for 2017 are plumbing inspection, courthouse and under building ramp replacement, and tuck pointing and caulking totaling $145,000. The following year, $890,000 is slated for elevator and cab replacements and window replacements with upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, electrical and plumbing scheduled for 2018.

Other projects in the CIP for 2017 include library air system and roof repairs and boiler, chiller, window and lighting replacement; county road bridge replacements and highway facility roof replacement; video conferencing equipment; parks paving, chip sealing, campground expansion and toilet replacements; and radio system enhancement and radio tower construction.