---

WALKER - No members of the public appeared to comment Tuesday before Cass County commissioners adopted their five-year capital improvement plan.

The county has been setting aside fund balances at the end of each year toward capital projects costing at least $50,000 and projected to have a useful life of at least 10 years. Money spent from this account goes toward highway construction and equipment, longer-lived equipment in other departments, new buildings or major repairs to existing buildings. Cass has been able to operate debt-free for a number of years by using this account to pay without borrowing for its capital expenditures. To this point, the county has been able to add a little each year to the fund. A combination of the fact Cass has levied the same dollar amount for about six years and the fact interest earned on investments has been low since the recession, the county expects to spend down some of the balance in 2015.

In addition to the county levy, some capital projects are also paid by user fees and state or federal revenue.

At the end of 2014, Cass' capital fund contained $16,241,000. The balance projected for year end 2015 currently is $15,687,000. Among the expenditures planned the next five years are new voting machines, digitizing recorder's office old records; transfer station sorting equipment, baler and truck weighing scale; audio-visual equipment for courthouse and health, human and vets services meeting rooms; courthouse security improvements; courthouse carpet replacement; major maintenance upgrades to extend courthouse life ($100,000 annually); replace county website; pave south courthouse parking lot; tie together courthouse fire alarm systems; generator to back up power for land department building; replace courthouse phone system; replace uninterrupted power supply for main computers; replace satellite highway garages; high reflectivity highway signs; and several road construction projects. The county updates its plan annually. The plan also projects, but makes no board commitment for possible projects beyond the next five years.

The commissioners currently have no target date for activating the concept to possibly build a new courthouse/jail complex on former Ah-Gwah-Ching property the county bought from the state.

Administrator Robert Yochum reiterated Tuesday his impression the county is still serving taxpayers well from present buildings. What is newly being discussed for consideration after the next five years is an alternate jail-court option to building one big central complex at Ah-Gwah-Ching. The board believes the contract for services with Crow Wing County's jail has worked well. Prisoners also are still housed at Cass' jail in Walker. There has been growing county cooperation with Leech Lake Tribal Council. Therefore, the board may consider whether it could make more sense to partner with the tribe to develop a third Cass jail-court site at Cass Lake. This would give Cass County three detention and court facilities, so they could be convenient to residents of southern, central and northern parts of the county.

The board has taken no steps yet to do any cost comparisons between having three smaller jail sites versus one large complex at Ah-Gwah-Ching by Walker in the future.

Second publication rights after Brainerd Dispatch.[[In-content Ad]]

---