Bradford County reviews draft five-year capital improvement plan; library HVAC and road repairs highlighted

County staff opened a work session on the draft five-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), asking commissioners to review updates that add the 2930 fiscal year and new department requests. The plan carries forward previously approved chip-seal road projects that were not completed this year and lists additional chip-seal requests that will be presented for approval at a future meeting.

The presentation singled out three chip-seal road locations moved into the next fiscal year and an estimated $350,000 budget line to cover those sites. Commissioners pressed staff on whether already-approved chip-seal work could still be completed this fiscal year; staff said the projects were placed in next year’s CIP at the public-works director’s request but that moving them in the schedule does not necessarily prevent execution if the director is able to proceed sooner.

The board also heard from the library’s librarian, Kimberly, about failing HVAC equipment. "Out of eight units, three are down," Kimberly said, noting the outages affect the children’s area, a public meeting room and a new maker space. She said one air handler is incorrectly located above the women’s restroom and has caused ceiling leaks; in addition to HVAC replacement she expects ceiling repairs will be needed. Staff’s current quote for replacing the three commercial units is $200,000.

On the Cypress Run boat ramp project, staff said grant paperwork is ready and the county is prepared to submit the construction application. A member of the public warned the board that earlier engineering work had proposed channelization that might require dredging and wetlands permitting. Amanda, a county staff member, responded that the project has "100% approved plans," that water-management permitting is complete and that the Army Corps of Engineers had indicated a Section 404 permit was not required for the current design; she said the county planned to submit the grant by April 25.

Other local road concerns came up in discussion: commissioners and staff described washed-out shoulders and edge deterioration on several minor roads and asked public works to inspect specific segments and consider limerock shoulder repairs or other mitigations. Staff emphasized the CIP workshop is a planning exercise and that any specific chip-seal or road approvals would return to the board at future meetings for formal action.

The board did not take a vote on the CIP at the workshop; staff said a revised iteration of the plan will return to commissioners for further review and ultimate approval.