Estimates for the new county services building originally came in about $9.5 million over budget, but county staff have closed that gap. Instead of a new building, staff propose expanding the existing Silver Summit Justice Center.
The county council budgeted about $27 million for the project last year, and staff estimate expanding the justice center comes in under budget at $24.5 million.
Still, Summit County Manager Shayne Scott said he was disappointed by the cost of the downsized proposal.
He said the county has other needs he would like to see addressed. The initial plans for a new building—estimated around $36.5 million—included child care facilities, a larger council meeting hall and more administrative offices.
Now the justice center expansion focuses more narrowly on the needs of the sheriff and attorney’s offices, which have said they’ve long since outgrown existing facilities.
According to Scott, the plans staff will show the Summit County Council at its meeting Oct. 4 should last the sheriff and county attorney’s offices 30 to 50 years.
A standalone county services building would have gone in next to High Valley Transit’s new facility, which is already under construction. Mountain Regional Water is also bonding $18 million for a new facility at Silver Summit, and Recycle Utah is considering moving there, too.
The future of county services in Silver Summit is up for discussion at the Oct. 4 meeting to see if the county council prefers the downsized plans.
The full meeting agenda is below. Click here to attend via Zoom.
