photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners meet on Wednesday, July 22, 2026.

Douglas County’s capital improvement fund balance has grown significantly in recent years, and the county is preparing for a large wave of spending over the next two years.

The 2027-2031 Capital Improvement Plan outlines plans for transportation investments, bridge replacements, and long-term courthouse and other upcoming building projects. At the start of 2026, the administration CIP fund held nearly $66 million, while the Public Works CIP fund had $19.7 million. Combined, the county’s CIP fund balance totaled $85,713,318 – an increase of approximately $55 million compared with the beginning of 2021.

On Wednesday, county staff presented the projected expenditures for the CIP over the next five years. The county’s expected to spend the largest amount of CIP funds in the first two years of the plan. The county estimates it will spend $35.3 million in 2026 and $37 million in 2027, before declining to $16.9 million in 2028, $14.3 million in 2029, $12.5 million in 2030, and $4 million in 2031 as major projects are completed.

However, many those numbers are likely to change. Chad Voigt, the county’s Public Works director, said individual project costs often change over time. Voigt said he had to make several cost reestimates for projects due to changes in prices, such as asphalt and labor costs increasing.

“As a project is like five or ten years out, it’s maybe less of a defined scope,” Voigt said. “If it gets within two or three years, we want to look at more of what (we are) really doing here and get a good estimate based on a more refined scope, and so we did some of that work too.”

As the Journal-World reported, there are multiple road and bridge projects planned over the next five years as well as renovation projects planned for the Douglas County Historic Courthouse.

The presentation on the CIP was given to county commissioners during a work session, and commissioners did not take action, as it was for informational purposes only.

IN OTHER BUSINESS, COMMISSIONERS:

• Approved a temporary business use permit for gas company Star Central Gas Pipeline to operate a temporary laydown yard northeast of the intersection of East 902 Road and North 1464 Road from July 27 through Oct. 31, 2026.

The site would temporarily store construction materials and equipment for relocating a 2.22-mile section of natural gas pipeline due to the K-10 Highway improvement project. To minimize impacts, trucks would be prohibited from accessing the site using North 1464 Road, and the applicant would be required to post warning signs where the temporary entrance crosses the Lawrence Loop trail and repair any traffic-related trail damage.

• Terminated the state of local disaster declaration for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Commissioners approved the declaration May 13 because the county was expected to host the Algerian soccer team as a base camp, bringing temporary increases in population, media, security needs, and demands on infrastructure and public services.

• Held an executive session for the purpose of consulting with legal counsel for Douglas County regarding pending litigation. No action followed the session.