How the County Reached This Point

Capital improvement plans help elected officials consider future needs when setting annual operating budgets and provide a comprehensive process for considering existing building conditions and infrastructure and a process to meet future physical facility needs. Guided by our strategic plan and our county’s capital improvement plan (CIP), which was in development over 12 months starting in January 2022, one of our plan’s goals is to maintain a strong infrastructure to protect taxpayer investment. The CIP was first reviewed by the General Government Committee and presented to the full board at a work session in April 2023.

A space needs analysis of all county facilities was completed in 2021 by ICS, a facility planning and construction firm in Park Rapids. Key facility issues identified in that assessment included:

Renovate or add space to accommodate the County Attorney’s Office.
Relocate the Auditor/Treasurer to be co-located with staff on the first floor.
Expand the jail to accommodate holding, booking, and storage needs.

The scope of the proposed jail renovation was reviewed with the board in May 2023, and a public hearing was held in May 2023. Our County Board of Commissioners, County Administrator, and additional key staff members have worked to bring this project forward for our community.

In fall 2023, BKV Group was hired to provide architectural and MEP engineering services, Bolton and Menk, Inc. was hired to provide civil engineering services, and EEA Engineers was hired to provide security electronics for the project. In early 2024, the county published a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire a project team to provide construction management services for these project efforts, for which ICS was selected. Collectively, this team will oversee, design, and construct the new facility. Since rounding out the project team, the county has worked through an extensive design process to ensure these facilities best meet our county’s long-term needs. Our project team has worked through the following project phases: Schematic Design, Design Development, Construction Documents, Bidding/Procurement, and Construction Administration.