A $6 million building planned south of the Flathead County Courthouse for the Agency on Aging and other county services tops a list of building projects planned over the next two years.

County commissioners will vote at 10 a.m. Monday on both the county’s proposed capital improvement plan and a $98.1 million preliminary budget for the coming fiscal year.

The two-story facility would be built along First Avenue West, south of the Earl Bennett Building. It would provide space not only for the Agency on Aging but also some Health Department services such as the dental clinic, plus space for the Maintenance Department, County Administrator Mike Pence said.

He estimated the Agency on Aging would use at least half of the new building. It would be built as a “bookend” building to the Earl Bennett Building, with the potential for construction of a third floor as space is needed.

A sky bridge similar to one used by Glacier Bank in downtown Kalispell is being considered to connect the two buildings, Pence added.

The capital improvement plan, a planning document for physical improvements to county facilities, earmarks $3 million for the south campus building in the 2015 budget with the remaining $3 million budgeted for 2016.

The commissioners this week signed a buy-sell agreement to purchase a home at 1121 First Ave. W. for $180,400 that would be removed to make way for the new building. There are three other homes in that area the county eventually would consider buying to make more room for future parking.

“We’ve communicated interest in purchasing them over time,” Pence said.

A year ago the county scrapped a $450,000 block grant application for the Agency on Aging even though seniors wanted commissioners to apply for the grant and proceed with a new building. Commissioners Gary Krueger and Pam Holmquist wanted more time to make a decision on where to relocate the Agency on Aging.

The county has rented a former auction barn on Kelly Road for 11 years to provide space for the Agency on Aging’s congregate meal program and myriad other services. With a growing senior population, the agency has long outgrown that facility.

Last October Alpine Business Center, which owns the barn-shaped building, offered to sell the entire complex of buildings at the Kelly Road site to the county for $900,000. That proposal came on the heels of an earlier proposal to locate the Agency on Aging at a proposed senior living community on U.S. 93 North.

Commissioner Cal Scott favored an architectural report that recommended a site north of the fairgrounds, and there was heavy support from seniors for the fairgrounds location.

The report, completed by Kenneth Huff of Architects Design Group, also studied a second site south of the courthouse. It noted that future expansion would be limited by the ability to purchase and demolish adjacent buildings for parking and future building expansion.

At the time, the report estimated it would cost around $2.28 million for the south county campus site or $2.37 million for the county property north of the fairgrounds. Pence noted those estimates were for an entirely different type of metal-building construction rather than a building similar to the Earl Bennett Building.

A $2.9 million renovation of the historic Flathead County Jail also is included in the capital improvement plan. The county has been doing preliminary work such as asbestos abatement. The renovation should begin by late summer or early fall, Pence said.

Once refurbished, the old jail will accommodate the Flathead County Attorney offices.

Other expenditures in the 2015 capital improvement plan — which totals $14.1 million — include $2.5 million for a liner expansion at the county landfill plus $500,000 in additional land purchases adjacent to the landfill for future expansion.

Capital improvements are rolled into the preliminary budget and approval of the preliminary budget authorizes county spending to begin July 1, even though final budget approval will be given in August.

The county has proposed a $98.1 million budget for the year that begins July 1. That compares with $81.2 million for the year that ends June 30. The

“Much of the difference is related to transfer transactions from one fund to another and not necessarily actual expenditure of funds,” Pence advised in a memo to the commissioners.

The upcoming budget includes a 1.5 percent pay raise for most county employees. Deputy county attorneys will get bigger pay boosts to be phased in over time. A salary survey found the Flathead attorneys’ pay was considerably less than the average pay for a deputy county attorney.

The only addition to the county work force will be one full-time employee in the Human Resources Department, Pence said.

The budget will be finalized once the county receives tax valuation figures from the Montana Department of Revenue by the first Monday in August.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.