photo by: Contributed

A rendering of the outside of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center with the renovations and addition.

Douglas County commissioners will review a resolution to approve a $55 million bond sale for funding the renovation of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and the construction of the new Public Safety Building.

County commissioners previously prepared an approximately $55 million bond sale – which is a type of debt – to finance the projects, as the Journal-World reported. Douglas County will use $25 million from cash reserves to also fund the construction. On Wednesday, commissioners will consider authorizing the sale of bonds to support the JLEC and Public Safety Building project.

Bond financing allows the county to borrow money for long-term infrastructure. The bonds will be issued to investors, with repayment over time, including interest. County staff have previously said the projects would be funded without raising taxes for residents.

In December, commissioners approved the total project budget of nearly $82 million, as the Journal-World reported. The debt plan was adjusted at the end of March to use less debt and more cash to support the projects. The $55 million number is down from previous plans to use $60 million in bonds for the projects. Additionally, the county increased the amount of cash for the project by $5 million, with previous plans calling for $20 million in cash.

County staff said that the additional $5 million in cash produces an estimated savings of $1.2 million in interest over the 20-year loan term and would lower the county’s average annual debt service payment by about $200,000.

The JLEC building, which houses the District Court, District Attorney’s Office, emergency communications, Sheriff’s Office, IT department, and maintenance staff, will be expanded on its south side to add more courtrooms, judges’ chambers, conference rooms, and other essential facilities. The Public Safety Building, located near the Douglas County Jail, will serve as the central hub for the Sheriff’s Office, 911 dispatch, and emergency management operations.

The next step for the bond issuance is awarding the sale of the bonds, which is scheduled to take place on May 7. It is at that point that the county will learn what interest rate the debt will carry. Money from the bond sale is expected to be available to the county on May 28.

In other business, county commissioners will:

• Consider approving a comprehensive plan amendment to Plan 2040 to update future development plans. This is a part of multiple items needing to be approved to allow a project, proposed by Tenants to Homeowners and a private developer, to develop over 14 acres of vacant land located near the southeast corner of Bob Billings Parkway and K-10 Highway.

The project plans to develop 120 units of affordable housing, which will include a variety of housing options like multi-story apartment buildings, row-house style buildings and duplexes, as the Journal-World reported. The County Commission will consider revising the plan for 5 acres of the land to be used for medium-density residential and neighborhood-scale commercial uses.

• Consider approving a revised site plan that adjusts the boundaries for the three phases of the Hamm-Eudora Quarry to optimize mining efficiency. In a memo to the commissioners, the applicant explained that the quarry contains various types of limestone, each with unique characteristics and uses, and some may have different marketing windows. Expanding one of the areas will enable the full extraction of these deposits before moving on to the next phase, which has materials with a quicker market.

The conditional use permit for the project was approved by county commissioners on Jan. 12, 2022. The current site plan is not seeking changes to the overall size of the quarry nor the many conditions it must meet in terms of its blasting, excavating, trucking and other operational details, a memo in the agenda said.

• Hear an update from the Emergency Communications Center and Bert Nash staff on efforts to identify additional call types that could benefit from a non-police/EMS response. The presentation will explore call types that potentially could be handled by the Bert Nash Mobile Response Team.

• Hear a presentation during a work session on the Familiar Faces Initiative – which aims to improve care coordination and outcomes for individuals with complex behavioral health needs who frequently interact with law enforcement, emergency services and other crisis systems. The presentation will also discuss recent efforts to enhance MyResource Connection, MyRC, a tool that improves data-sharing, interagency collaboration, and care coordination in the behavioral health system for individuals with complex care needs and frequent government interactions.

In 2024, efforts were centered on improving care coordination and evaluating outcomes for high-risk individuals, using MyRC analytics. During the session, staff will share how these efforts have increased MyRC’s effectiveness in supporting vulnerable community members.

• Hear a department overview of Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical. There will be no action following the presentation, which is for informational purposes only.

The County Commission’s work session will begin at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the Douglas County Commission meeting room at 1100 Massachusetts St. The business meeting will follow at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will also be available via Zoom.