More than $3 million will be spent on capital improvement projects in Shawano County in 2025, with almost all of it earmarked for highway and bridge projects.
The Capital Improvement Committee approved the 2025-29 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) on Oct. 10, and the Shawano County Board of Supervisors is expected to sign off on it Oct. 23.
If approved by the County Board, the county will borrow about $2 million for some of the projects.
“We are doing a short-term loan for this, which is very common at the city and what they do,” Administrative Coordinator Jim Davel said. “In the past, we had not done that with the roads and bridges. We had used some (federal) Rescue money, levy funding, and because we want to do this borrowing, we have to borrow against a specific capital improvement. We can’t borrow for operations.”
Highway paving projects are expected to cost $1.8 million, with all of that financed through borrowing.
Road and bridge improvements and construction projects will include 1.45 miles of County Road D from North Branch Road to Water Street. This was last surfaced in 1999. Another 1.8 miles of County Road D from Bierman Road to Woodlawn Road, last resurfaced in 1993, will also be repaved.
A 4.08-mile stretch of County Road N from Riverview Road to Maple Road is also scheduled. This was last done in 2005.
Finally, a 1.5-mile stretch of County Road CC from Ranch Road to Belle Plaine Avenue will be completed. It was last done in 1998.
Another project is a 1-mile reconstruction of County Road M from Buss Road to Rangeline Road. This reconstruction will include clearing and grubbing, earthwork to widen the road, culverts, base course, paving and shouldering.
The County M project is anticipated to cost $1.175 million. Of this, $200,00o would be borrowed, and the remaining $975,000 would come from the tax levy.
Three other projects are also on tap for 2025.
Updating the water softeners at the sheriff’s department and jail is expected to cost $30,000.
Another $15,400 is planned to patch and seal and address heat pump and controls at the Gresham and Marion emergency management towers.
Vertical grab bars would be added to the toilet stalls and partitions at the Huber Work Release Center for $19,400.
A few projects were put on hold with a to-do date yet to be determined.
These include a request to replace two old maintenance shops with one large enough to store equipment inside. At the current time, both buildings are aging, and parks equipment is being left outside.
Also on hold is a proposal to reconstruct the space above the snack shop at the Shawano Lake County Park to allow for an office for the parks director. A second phase would renovate the home currently used as office space into a rental facility, located on Shawano Lake.
A plan to update the county’s fiber infrastructure was also put on hold.
“The Shawano County CIP plan does not include the potential building of a multi-use center, library or jail,” Davel wrote in the introduction to a document detailing the CIP. “If the board identifies that new facilities must be built to benefit the county financially and to better serve our citizens, then the board will relook the overall CIP plan.”
In 2026-29, the plan includes projects for the work release center, emergency tower locations, sheriff’s department, jail and evidence storage unit.
Upgrades to or the replacement of the Shawano County Library also remain in the plans. Also, any significant upgrades or maintenance projects at the courthouse are on hold, pending a decision on the future of the building.
The county’s ad hoc building committee is expected to make a recommendation to the County Board in December. The three options are to continue to maintain the existing buildings as is done now, remodel some or all of them (courthouse, library, jail, sheriff’s department) or build new.
Regardless of the course of action, projects would have to be completed in phases, Davel said.
“I think the supervisors are going to have to have some pretty serious discussions on the future and what does that means at it relates to capital improvements,” Davel said. “We want it right in our face, but we have to think further down the road.”
It was suggested those long-range plans have to take into account the county’s needs for the next 40-50 years.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
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