County outlines schematic design and timeline for new highway facility; budget target near $50M

Marathon County staff and consultants presented a schematic design and implementation timeline on Thursday for a planned new county highway facility intended to centralize maintenance operations, equipment storage and material handling.

Project leads described a facility that would include heated and unheated equipment storage, canopy storage, a three‑section salt shed for bulk salt, salt‑sand mixes and solar salt for brine production, repair shops, parts storage, offices and locker/meeting spaces. The schematic design phase is complete, and staff estimated an early “ballpark” budget in the $50 million range for apples‑to‑apples comparisons with similar facilities; that figure will be refined during design development.

County staff emphasized operational efficiency goals: heated truck storage to reduce cold startups and service times, adjacent brine production tied to a solar salt storage area, and repair/parts layouts intended to minimize vehicle moves during maintenance. Project manager said the design team visited comparable facilities in other counties to inform layouts.

Timeline presented: finish design development and construction documents through 2026, target bidding in fall 2026 with possible spring‑2027 site mobilization (to avoid winter construction), and substantial completion targeted by spring 2028. Staff noted long lead times for precast concrete panels (10–12 months) and intend to phase procurement accordingly.

Committee members asked practical questions about restroom locations, number of staff using the facility (roughly 30 daily and up to 50 in peak winter staffing), reuse or disposition of the old highway site, and procurement oversight given that the construction manager (Myin) may bid on some divisions. Staff said restroom access is planned via a locker area adjacent to heated storage and a single restroom by the salt shed; the county will maintain procurement oversight and use alternates in bidding to control scope and cost.

Staff emphasized that schematic design numbers are preliminary and that design development will narrow cost estimates and scope; the board will be asked to approve progression through subsequent phases. The committee asked staff to continue returning updates as the project advances.