Courtroom investment likely, bike trail on hold

Contained within the recommended 2021 Ozaukee County budget are more than half a million dollars’ worth of capital improvement projects that, if approved by the County Board on Nov. 4, will improve courtroom technology and pay for a new septic system at Pioneer Village, among other things.

Money in the capital improvements fund comes from budget surpluses, excess debt service funds and new construction property tax revenue and are meant to pay for one-time projects and not to fund regular or ongoing county services.

The fund currently totals about $1.1 million. Of that about $505,000 is earmarked in the 2021 budget for a list of projects that were scored and prioritized by county staff on the basis of their financial return, long-term savings and affect on delivery of services and operational efficiencies.

“The 2021 budget will more than replenish those funds from monies explicitly set aside for capital and other one-time expenditures,” County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said. “The county will again be well-positioned to address needed projects without having to increase taxes.” 

Each of the county’s five oversight committees recommended projects to the Executive Committee, which is made up of the chairmen of each oversight committee. The Executive Committee made the final recommendations to the County Board, which is scheduled to review and vote on the budget on Nov. 4.

The 26-member County Board can make any changes it wishes to the list.

Tops on the list for 2021 is a technological upgrade for the county’s courtrooms to make it easier for defendants and others to appear in court by video. 

Equipment to be purchased includes microphones, monitors, cameras, digital recorders and better integration of existing telephones, county Clerk of Courts Mary Lou Mueller said in a memo to supervisors justifying the project.

Other items and their costs include $22,000 to replace a septic system and plumbing for Pioneer Village in the Town of Fredonia near Hawthorne Hills County Park; $50,000 to replace the roof on the caretaker’s house and maintenance building at Mee-Kwon Golf Course in Mequon; $33,000 for a new four-wheel-drive utility cart and 60-inch mower for the county Planning and Parks Department; and $26,000 for design and engineering work for a new heating system to replace the county Administrative Center’s 51-year-old boiler system.

Last year, the County Board approved a capital improvement budget that included spending more than $100,000 to repave the Ozaukee Interurban Trail. That would have been combined with about $300,000 in other county funds for the project, whose costs would have totaled more than $1 million, with the bulk of it being paid for by a state grant.

That grant was awarded but a state Supreme Court ruling this year quashed that effort after it said Gov. Tony Evers incorrectly exercised his veto power to approve the grant.

The state has invited the county to apply for another transportation grant in 2021 for that project, Dzwinel said.

A park shelter at Covered Bridge County Park in the Town of Cedarburg has long awaited funding.

To make it happen, the project was taken off the capital projects list and will be funded, officials hope, through a Wisconsin Parks Stewardship grant to be applied for in 2021, Dzwinel said.

It’s possible some projects that are not recommended could be added, Dzwinel said.

“There were a handful of projects that would have received consideration had the pandemic not started in spring, including an employee engagement effort and compensation study,” he said. “Given the negative impact of the pandemic on the financial situation for many of our taxpayers and the still lingering economic uncertainty, the time was not right for these efforts.”