County seeks rural input on potential property swap with city

By Brandi Makuski

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Officials from Portage Co. government have scheduled a series of additional meetings outside the city to discuss a possible property exchange with the City of Stevens Point.

A joint announcement from the two entities in early March proposed Portage Co. transfer ownership of the Annex Building, 1462 Strongs Ave., and the Law Enforcement Center, 1500 Strongs Ave., to the City of Stevens Point.

In exchange, the city would transfer the Portage Co. Library, 1001 Main St., and the Aging and Disability Resource Center, also known as the Lincoln Center, at 1519 Water St., along with an unspecified 20-acre parcel of land in East Park Commerce Center, east of County Hwy. R and north of County Hwy. HH, to the county.

“Transfers of the library and ADRC would be in-name-only,” said Mayor Mike Wiza. “I doubt there would be any change to the functions in those buildings.”

The new land in east Stevens Point could be used to construct a new county government building, including courtrooms and a new jail facility, said Calvin Winters, the county’s procurement director, but he was quick to point out the idea was only conceptual at present.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions right now, we’re just interested in what the public thinks, and what people have to say,” Calvin said during the first public input meeting on the potential swap on March 28.

Portage Co. Board Chairman Al Haga said he’s “interested in the possibilities” acquiring land in east Stevens Point could bring the county.

“We could build a brand new county building out there, give our sheriff’s office the room they need, put all our government offices under one roof,” he said. “That would be an ideal situation, but we’ve seen time after time how difficult it is to get any consensus from this county board when it comes to building anything.”

Haga also called the Portage Co. Annex building “a jewel of the county” and hadn’t decided if property swap as proposed was an adequate one.

“That’s a really nice building, but you’ve got to make it worth our while,” Haga said March 18. “Is what’s been proposed worth losing the Annex? I don’t know right now, but I’m open to hearing the discussion and learning what the public thinks.”

Wiza said the property swap is “one of many options” the city and county had discussed internally as a possible solution for chronic space problems in local government offices. Poor layout, lack of security, and insufficient square footage have all been identified as concerns in the LEC, as well as the Portage Co. Courthouse, where both governments have many primary offices.

Upcoming meetings will be held 6-7:30 p.m. on the following dates:

April 26, Pine Grove Municipal Center, 5444 County Road W, Bancroft
April 30, Junction City Village Hall, 1001 Main St., Junction City
May 1, Rosholt Village Hall, 125 W. Grand Ave., Rosholt
May 7, Plover Village Hall, 2400 Post Rd., Plover
May 9, Lettie Jensen Center Community Room 487, N. Main St., Village of Amherst