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Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Commissioners reduce CIP, push back construction, renovations to 2030
The Lee County Board of Commissioners on Monday approved a drastically reduced 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Program that pushes back most projects to 2030. The move dropped county funding for the five-year schedule from $494,033,920 to $406,869,894 based on the recommendation from County Manager Lisa Minter. The CIP provides a master plan for projects covering the next five fiscal years. 'We voted to approve the adjusted Capital Improvement Plan to ensure the board can avoid immediate tax increases during the next fiscal year,' Commissioner Kirk Smith, the board chair, said in an email. Commissioner Taylor Vorbeck, who voted against approving the CIP budget, was dumbstruck at the decision. 'I'm trying to wrap my head around wiping a five-year plan clean,' she said. 'My view is this was a missed opportunity to have the tough, necessary conversations about how we prioritize investments in our county's future.' A public hearing on the CIP was held at a Lee County commissioners meeting last month, and they held a workshop Friday to discuss the revised plan. Projects that will be funded for 2025-26 are a new bus garage and maintenance storage building for Lee County Schools; the rehabilitation of the Emergency Services Training Center's driving track; a public safety warehouse for County of Lee Transport Services (COLTS); and expansion of the General Services office. Funding also remains for work at the Moore Manufacturing and Biotech Solutions Center at Central Carolina Community College as part of the initial agreement with the county. Most of the projects pushed back to fiscal year 2029-2030 or beyond are expansions and renovations of Lee County Schools' facilities, including the Lee County High School auditorium and additional classrooms and a new auditorium for Southern Lee High School. 'The auditorium at the W.B. Wicker School is underutilized and our board deems it appropriate that Southern Lee High School's music and theater programs can utilize this asset,' Smith said in an email. Lee County Board of Education member Alan Rummel attended the meeting and posted his thoughts on Facebook. 'We KNOW that Lee County is growing very quickly and schools are already becoming overcrowded, especially in high-growth areas. The School Board is already working on a redistricting plan, but that will only provide a little more time before additional capacity is needed,' he wrote. 'Now, all plans have been eliminated to address the known-coming growth. 'Without permanent expansion plans, mobile classrooms are likely to become common-place at most (or all) schools within the next several years. I'm told it takes around 3 yrs (sic) for a new school to open its doors after it's approved to begin architecture work ... you do the math on what that could [mean] for existing schools to find desks for students,' Rummel said. Construction of a new building for the jail and sheriff's office also was pushed back to 2030. The current facility has infrastructure problems and is overcrowded for inmates and the Lee County Sheriff's Office, according to Sheriff Brian Estes. The commissioners made the move as the county is looking for state and federal funding to replace the current facility, Smith said. Representatives from the offices of U.S. Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd have visited the jail, while U.S. Rep. Brad Knott toured the facility last week, Smith said. 'We have some preliminary work to do before we can start applying for state and federal grants in order to cover costs for a future law enforcement center,' Smith said. Plans for a new Emergency Services Training Center were pushed back, too. While unable to understand the rationale of approving the budget, Vorbeck said she could only speak for herself and her sense of responsibility to Lee County taxpayers. 'I believe this decision represents a significant setback in our long-term planning efforts. Rather than working through each proposed project and evaluating their feasibility and cost-effectiveness and alignment with the community priorities, the board opted to delay almost everything,' Vorbeck said. She questioned delaying projects to avoid a property tax increase, noting that each year work is postponed, the cost for material, supplies and labor rises. The CIP that was adopted last year holds little importance now and 'undermines' the trust Lee County residents have expected, she said, adding that a difference of opinions is a chance for discussion. 'But what I cannot support are the decisions that ignore the long-term consequences and place our community at a disadvantage for years to come,' Vorbeck said. 'My commitment remains to advocate for transparent planning, fiscal responsibility and investments that serve not just today's needs, but tomorrow's opportunities.'
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
County's 5-year CIP presented to Lee commissioners
County Manager Lisa Minter presented an updated capital improvement plan on Monday that is a blueprint for projects slated in the next five years. Beginning this year, the cost estimates will include only what the county is committed to providing, Minter said. She hopes the remainder will be paid with state and federal funds. Four new requests were submitted this year, she said. One is renovations to the Warren Williams Preschool at a cost of $4,673,965. The project is ineligible for state lottery funds, Minter said. Several projects were pushed back from the requested fiscal year including the work for Warren Williams Preschool. 'We pushed several projects back at least one year and moved to 2030 the renovations plans at Warren Williams,' Minter said. 'We have several projects and we pushed it out because this is a new project and didn't need to be put ahead of others.' Central Carolina Community College submitted requests related to the training center for emergency services and law enforcement. One is for construction of a new 16,000 square-foot training facility and another is construction of a modular tower for firefighter training, Minter said. The total cost of the two items was put at $7 million with $1 million coming from the county, she said. The third is the renovation of the asphalt training track. 'The driving track is in disrepair with cracks and heavily degraded areas in the turn. The project involves full-depth reclamation and asphalt resurfacing,' Minter said. The cost of that project is estimated at $1,340,922. The fourth request is to complete renovation and reconstruction of the O.T. Sloan Park pool bath house and the pool. The anticipated cost is estimated at $12,477,664. Projects that are already in the Capital Improvement Plan include renovations to several schools as well as an auditorium for Southern Lee High School.
