The Shawano County Finance Committee has postponed action on a resolution authorizing the county to start infrastructure work for a proposed evidence building.
Committee members said the resolution might be counterproductive, since county officials are working with Green Light Grants, based in Shawano, to find foundation grant money that would pay for construction of the new evidence storage facility at the Huber Work Release Center.
Earlier this summer, the 7,200-square-foot building was estimated to cost $715,000, based on the lowest bid from S.D. Ellenbecker, of Athens, Wis., but costs are expected to increase the longer the project is delayed.
Last month, the committee discussed using leftover capital project funds — $80,000 from the courthouse roof project that came in under budget — to get the infrastructure work done but delayed action until it could get firm numbers for the work.
Supervisor Marlin Noffke spoke against the resolution that would have authorized using the leftover funds for the evidence building’s infrastructure. He said the $80,000 should be returned to the general fund.
“I don’t really believe in a bait-and-switch type thing,” Noffke said. “When we have money approved for a particular project, and there is extra money left over, we shouldn’t take the money because it’s there and allocate it to something that is less popular.”
Noffke said the county would be setting a dangerous precedent. Officials might inflate estimated costs of future projects, he said, and then, when bids come in under budget, try to allocate that money on other projects that had not been funded.
Supervisor Jerry Erdmann suggested a motion to require any future funding of the evidence storage facility to be approved only after infrastructure was in place, but he could not find support from the other committee members.
Erdmann’s argument was that a site should be prepped to increase the county’s chances of getting a grant.
“The sheriff can’t have his building without any site preparation,” Erdmann said.
Supervisor Sandy Steinke disagreed, saying that the county should make sure it has grant funding before starting work and that any strings attached would not require the county to redo the infrastructure.
Even if infrastructure work were to start now, there will be lag time in finding out about grant funding.
“They’re estimating six months to a year,” Erdmann said.
If supervisors would use the roof funds for the evidence facility site preparation, they would still need to find funding for the rest of the building.
County officials have discussed working with other counties that are in the same boat as Shawano County — too much evidence and not enough space to keep it in — to create a regional evidence building.
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