County storage plans could impact facility in Waubeka

Changes could be in store for the Ozaukee County Highway Department garage in Waubeka once a three-month facility study is concluded.

The study, approved Feb. 18 by the county Public Works Committee, will look at the department’s three facilities in Port Washington, Cedarburg and Waubeka and take into account new or expanded garages proposed near the Justice Center in Port Washington and at Hawthorne Hills in the Town of Saukville.

“Over the past few years, we’ve begun trying to perform long-range planning to lay out future building maintenance needs,” Public Works Director Jon Edgren wrote in a memo to the committee. “Given the age of our buildings and continued growth in the size of trucks, we’ve begun to see potential space needs with our sheds.”

This is especially true in Waubeka, Edgren said, where the county recently spent $10,000 to upgrade a garage door to be able to fit a new plow truck into the shed.

Another garage door needs to be replaced for the same reason, and the building needs a new roof at a cost of $200,000 in the next two years, Edgren said.

Edgren had proposed a study of the three facilities for some time but it was delayed due to Covid-19 concerns. With the Sheriff’s Office looking at a garage near the Justice Center and the Parks Department considering another building at Hawthorne Hills, Edgren suggested the study be expanded to include those potential projects.

“I have no expected outcome for the Waubeka shop,” Edgren said in an email.  “My goal is that the study will tell us more of the condition and long-term viability of the Waubeka shop, and then we would make decisions on modifications, reconstruction or relocation in relation to maintenance costs, safety and other options.”

    The study will cost $21,600, Edgren estimated.