Douglas County government leaders face a problem most families can identify with: finding storage space.

County Clerk Jamie Shew would like to move 160 voting machines out of a storage building at the Douglas County 4-H Fairgrounds and closer to his office in the downtown courthouse. Having the machines closer would be more convenient when it comes time for testing them and moving them to polling places, he said.

Douglas County maintenance director Bill Bell sorts through some of the many things lying around the sanctuary of the Public Works Administrative Building at 13th and Massachusetts streets. Douglas County commissioners are considering what to do with the sanctuary.

He’s had his eye on what used to be a sanctuary in a former church building where the county’s Public Works Department has its administrative offices at 13th and Massachusetts streets.

County commissioners say they understand Shew’s desire to move the machines, but they don’t want to spend an estimated $100,000 to renovate the church storage area. The sanctuary is not climate-controlled and that’s a requirement for the computerized voting machines. County maintenance director Bill Bell said a double doorway and ramp also would be needed, among other improvements.

“I’m hard-pressed to think it’s a good idea to spend any money to renovate or improve part of that building for any reason,” Douglas County Commission Chairman Bob Johnson said.

Commissioners Jere McElhaney and Charles Jones agreed.

McElhaney favors selling the property. He would like to consolidate public works offices and operations division on county property next to the jail at 3601 E. 25th St. The operations division now is at 711 E. 23rd St.

“Our public works department is expanding, and we can only expand so much at that location,” McElhaney said, referring to the 13th and Massachusetts office site.

Johnson, however, doesn’t want to sell the downtown property. Even if the old church and its sanctuary were to be demolished, the site could be used for something else, he said.

The old sanctuary houses several desks and filing cabinets, a few old computers and books. Public works also uses it for storage.

The storage building at the fairgrounds is filling up faster than expected, county officials say. In addition to voting machines, documents from district court and the offices of the sheriff and district attorney are stored there. The building is secured and climate-controlled.

Security clearance is required to access the records and the voting machines. People cleared to move or test voting machines aren’t usually cleared to access the records, and vice-versa. But the storage space situation isn’t at a crisis level, assistant county administrator Pam Madl said. Shew said he is considering other options for the voting machines.

At a recent meeting, Commissioner Charles Jones expressed his displeasure because preliminary plans for the new Dreher 4-H building at the fairgrounds do not include a basement. Jones thought the basement might be used to house the voting machines. A building committee said a basement was not feasible.

“I would really like to see us decide what we are going to do about storage and the sanctuary sooner rather than later,” Jones said.