Cook County commissioners pared down the list of projects they will bond for in 2018 at the Tuesday, October 17 committee of the whole meeting, dropping the potential bonding request from a little more than $11 million to $7,722,057.50.
Commissioners will vote to approve—or amend—that list at an upcoming board meeting.
What changed in the initial $11.2 million potential bonding list?
Some $3,302,443.30 was moved from bonding to possibly be included in one percent financing. That includes $62,252.30 to repair the YMCA roof, $3,148.842 for the Community Center, and $91,350 for the Cook County Historical Society.
County Auditor/Treasurer Braidy Powers said commissioners would have to go to the Minnesota legislature to ask that the county’s current one percent tax— which is now at its $20 million limit—can be extended. There are other ways to finance those three projects, but that would be the simplest for the county.
The proposed Community Center expansion and upgrade doesn’t meet the current criteria for capital improvement bonding, said Powers.
The most significant need for funds comes from the highway department, with $6,322,000 for five projects that can be reimbursed through the county’s transportation sales tax. Of that total, $4,423,000 will be used to reconstruct County Road 17 (Mineral Center Road), something that has been requested to be done for more than 20-plus years.
Capital projects that made the final cut include $277,543 to fix the courthouse roof and replace courthouse windows. The leaky Law Enforcement Center windows also need to be replaced at the cost of $27,514 and the maintenance shop in Hovland will be replaced for $845,000. Removed from the list was the highway department maintenance shop in Tofte. That also had a replacement cost of $845,000.
Only one piece of equipment, a Pictometry machine priced at $250,000 that is used to take aerial photos, will be bonded for.
Powers said the Pictometry machine could be used by many departments at the courthouse. Land Services could use it to determine wetlands or find new structures built on remote property. The IT department can use it for mapping projects, and the auditor/treasurer’s office can use it for documents like deeds and mortgages.
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