Column: Marty McFly and his DeLorean go back to the future of the courthouse

By Dan Kontos

In the 1985 science fiction film Back to the Future, actor Michael J. Fox plays a teenage character, Marty McFly, who is accidentally sent back to the year 1955 in a time-traveling DeLorean.

While in the past, Marty inadvertently threatens his own existence when he accidentally prevents his future parents from falling in love. He is forced to reconcile the would-be couple and then somehow get himself “back to the future.”

Meanwhile, here in Portage County, during a Committee of the Whole meeting of the Board of Supervisors on January 31, another in a long line of presentations was made regarding the future of county facilities, dating back to the building of the current jail in 1990.

The hope was that with this latest push to seriously look at the needs of county government would finally overcome the fearful intransigence of the Board, and spur them on to solve a looming and unavoidable problem.

The issue, many of the current county buildings are inadequate, unsafe, inefficient, and in need of replacement. I’ve run through the litany of problems in the past with the current facilities that the county operates. From the jail, to the courts, to the entire County-City Building, the problems are legion. This isn’t up for debate, and you are free to read the studies and other background materials for yourself, but I know almost no one will. The bottom line is that something needs to be done.

The truth is that buildings age, needs shift, maintenance and construction costs increase year over year, and to stick your head in the sand is not a logical or viable option. The longer we wait, the more costs increase, and the more unrecoverable money is flushed down the proverbial toilet in maintenance, transport, and other band-aid costs just to keep the ship afloat.

If Marty McFly were to go back in time, and just be a bit off in his arrival date, say 1959 rather than 1955, he may have witnessed the ribbon cutting on the current courthouse building in Stevens Point. Now 64 years later, the County Board is faced with a decision, not whether the county needs to address its facility issues, but what is the best course of action.

Now you may be saying, but Dan, didn’t they already decide that we are in bad shape as a county, and something must be done? In that, you would be correct, several times over. But the results? In a word, bupkis (which is Yiddish for nothing.) Actually, it’s been less than nothing, because the county has spent a lot of money to identify, and then ignore the problem, over and over again. That’s your tax dollars burned just to avoid making the hard decisions.

Let’s not even mention the hundreds and hundreds of man hours by staff and officials wasted in meetings, discussions, and study sessions to put together multiple proposals that now only sit dormant on some shelf. I only say hundreds, and not thousands, of hours just to avoid being accused of being hyperbolic.

While some County Supervisors have recognized the need, and advocated for remedies, for years, too many have simply resisted the inevitable, making our current situation even more unpleasant and unpalatable. Hiding behind two-year election cycle excuses and a public referendum, the Board as a whole has frankly shirked its collective responsibility. This is a source of never ending frustration for the supervisors actually working for a solution and staff alike.

In the January 31 meeting, staff, consultants, and elected officials presented a high level overview of two possible solutions to the County’s space needs. In a nut shell, they consisted of a downtown version, building a campus adjacent to the current structures. The second would be a generic greenfield version that could be built on some to-be-named location with room to spread out.

The first phase of downtown project option would ring in at approximately $175 million, finished in late 2026. The balance to complete the project in 2046 (yes, I said 2046) would be an additional $200 million. The estimated cost for a median home owner for phase one (with a $178,600 home) would be an extra $145 over the projected 2024 tax bill.

The greenfield proposal would cost approximately $165 million for phase one, also completed in 2026. The balance to complete the project in 2040 would be another $125 million. The estimated cost for a median home owner for phase one would be an extra $135. There were lots of details and choices for both options, so check out the video of the meeting for more.

The presentation proper lasted approximately 90 minutes. The remaining 75 minutes was a trip back to the future, for sure. I know that I have seen this movie before.

While some supervisors made salient points and asked pertinent questions, others wandered far off field, inquiring about the need so many flux capacitors and how many gigawatts of power will be required for mass transit busses. If you didn’t get the movie references you have my apologies, but I couldn’t resist. I think you still get the point.

Stevens Point Mayor Mike Wiza made it abundantly clear that he personally will not support the cheaper and easier to build conceptual greenfield sight, reserving his support for the more convenient and accessible downtown location that would ostensibly support local businesses. It was a familiar refrain from the City, and while valid on a number of facets, it still tends to bog down the conversation, paralyzing any action by the Board. I told you, I’ve seen this movie before.

Does the new project need to be built in the City? Well, yes and no. Stevens Point is currently the county seat, and by law, the courthouse must be built within its corporate limits. So long as the City remains the county seat, then the answer is yes. Otherwise…

Some advocated for more time to “study” and “consider” their options, and claimed that any vote in the near future would be premature. To that I say that we have been studying this since 1995. If you haven’t bothered to study up by now, or sat in on any meetings, knowing this was a looming issue, I respectfully suggest you forgo your seat on the Board, and give it up to someone who actually wants to put the work in.

Look, I’m not saying which option you should support. I’m guarding against Portage County Syndrome. That is what I have warned about in the past. Namely, letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. In the end, this is a binary choice, and the County Board needs to make a decision. Downtown or not; the choice is yours. As County Board Chair Al Haga recently and correctly said, “We’re at the point now where doing nothing is not an option.”

In one of the final scenes of Back to the Future, Marty McFly is forced to drive his DeLorian straight at the courthouse at exactly 88 miles per hour, while being provided precisely 1.21 gigawatts of power, or he will not be able to return to the future where he belongs. Kind of feels like that again, doesn’t it?

So, with that, let’s meet in the opinion section to talk about all of it, boldly, honestly, and with a healthy respect for each other. Until then, God bless.