Oconto County officials hope to smooth over the concerns of a citizen’s group in Oconto that objects to the construction of a law enforcement center in the heart of the city.
The Oconto County Board of Supervisors voted in September to build the center in a downtown residential area north of the courthouse and reaffirmed the vote in October, despite objections from Oconto Mayer Victoria Bostedt and former Mayor Don Nerenhausen.
Members of a citizen’s group, which included Nerenhausen, met Dec. 2 with Oconto’s Planning Commission, which is chaired by Bostedt, to discuss their opposition to the law enforcement center’s city-center location, saying other sites are better suited than the residential area the county has chosen.
They are concerned the law enforcement center will be an eyesore in the residential neighborhood, more land will be needed for parking and future expansion, and the city will lose property tax revenue, estimated by Oconto City Administrator Sara Perrizo as approximately $7,000 annually.
The commission called for the Industrial Development Commission, the Committee of the Whole and the City Council to look at the jail site issue and to open communications with the county.
County Board Chairman Lee Rymer said city and county officials are already conferring about the project and have discussed utilities, road right-of-ways, zoning and time lines.
“We do have an excellent relationship with the city,” he said.
The Oconto City Council in October passed a resolution supporting the construction of the law enforcement center in or near the city of Oconto but did not specify a location.
“We will continue to discuss the project with them,” Administrative Coordinator Kevin Hamann said.
Several alternative sites have been considered for the project, but none has all the advantages of the courthouse site, which offers proximity to the courts and reduces the scope of an off-site building due to the continued use of existing facilities, such as the 911 center.
Before finalizing the design for the center, the county will seek input from the city, neighbors and others in the community, Hamann said. Discussion will focus on parking, noise issues and the look of the facility.
“We’re going to try to make it fit in with the courthouse complex itself,” he said.
The county solicited two separate requests for proposals, one for design work and a second for acquiring the 14 properties, about 4.7 acres, on the block directly north of the courthouse.
Seven design proposals were received, and the Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee will interview three firms on Jan. 16: The Samuels Group of Wausau, Goldman & Associates of Atlanta (the company also has Wisconsin representation) and McMahon Engineers & Architects of Neenah.
Four proposals were received for property acquisition, and SRF Consulting of Madison and Taves Acquisition Services of Tomahawk are scheduled for interviews Jan. 16.
The Law Enforcement/Judiciary Committee is expected to recommend a selection of the firms at either the Jan. 23 or Feb. 20 County Board meeting. Construction of the law enforcement center is scheduled to begin in 2015.
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