Dunn County approves $1.1 million for bus garage; WisDOT grant to cover 80 percent
By LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — If all goes according to plan, Dunn County will soon have a new building to house Dunn County Transit.
The Dunn County Board approved a budget amendment of $1.09 million at the February 20 meeting.
Building the garage will be contingent upon Dunn County receiving grant funding from the state Department of Transportation to cover 80 percent of the cost, according to information provided to the county board.
At a February 16 meeting of the county’s executive committee, Kent Conklin, manager of Dunn County Transit, said that preliminary discussions with WisDOT indicated that the agency would need to fund the grant for a transit facility over a two-year period.
During a review of the draft Transportation Development Plan on January 9, WisDOT officials said they would be able to fund the entire grant for Dunn County this year, he said.
If Dunn County did not want to build the transit garage this year, WisDOT would award the grant money to another community, although there is no guarantee that WisDOT would have the money next year for Dunn County, Conklin told the executive committee.
The Dunn County Board previously set aside land for the transit garage next to the Dunn County Highway Department on state Highways 12/29.
The value of the land — $100,000 — can be counted toward the county’s share of building the facility as long as federal money was not used to purchase the property.
Conklin told the executive committee that he is requesting approval from the Federal Transit Administration for an “in-kind local share” of $100,000 for the land, leaving Dunn County Transit to pay about $117,000 toward the new facility.
The Dunn County Board unanimously approved the budget amendment for building a transit facility.
A two-thirds vote was required to approve the budget amendment.
DCHCC
The budget amendment resolution also included $500,000 for consultant’s fees for remodeling the existing Dunn County Health Care Center as a health and human services facility to house Public Health, Home Health, Veterans Services, Human Services, UW-Extension and Facilities/Parks.
Hoffman LLC, the architectural firm that designed the new health care center, is currently in the design development phase for remodeling the old health care center.
Other business
In other business, the Dunn County Board of Supervisors:
• Approved on a second reading an amendment to the county’s personnel ordinance allowing all positions to be filled by promotion. Prior to approving the amendment, only certain positions could be filled by promotions.
• Approved for a first reading an ordinance adopting short segments of county highways as All Terrain Vehicle routes. The short segments connect routes already on private land or on town roads. Included in the proposed amendment are county Highways D, K, P, X, O, F, FF, N, V and Q. The county board is expected to consider the ordinance for a second reading and adoption at the March meeting.
• Approved a resolution supporting an amendment to the Wisconsin Constitution, which would prohibit any further transfer of funds from any segregated fund, including transportation and the Wisconsin Retirement System.
• Approved a resolution establishing a Town of Grant Agricultural Enterprise Area.
