Alpena County has a safety issue, a consultant told the county Board of Commissioners this week.

Right now, county courthouse operations are split between two buildings: the historic county courthouse on Chisholm Street and the annex building across the street.

That creates a safety issue as employees and courthouse visitors have to cross the busy road to conduct county business, officials from consultant firm Plante Moran told the county board this week.

The consultants recommended the county consider consolidating its courthouse operations into one facility, which could require 64,000 square feet of extra space and a $35.4 million price tag, News staff writer Michael Gonzalez reported in Wednesday’s edition of The News.

The county courthouse also has accessibility issues (there’s no elevator in the building) and other problems related to its age.

The county can’t afford to do that kind of work on its own right now and would likely have to sell bonds to raise money for the project, and that would mean a tax increase.

That could be a tough sell to a county populace already struggling because of high inflation.

As well, the county already is paying existing bond debt for a new county jail, a new airport terminal, and a years-old project to update county facilities with more modern, energy-efficient equipment. And, though it won’t be on the hook for the full financial investment because of partnerships with several area organizations, the county is considering building a new pool at the APlex.

The county should take Plante Moran’s recommendations into consideration, but should use great caution before making any big investments.

There is a light at the intersection where the courthouse and annex buildings sit, and people can cross the road safely there. The accessibility issues need to be dealt with, but could those be handled with a much smaller price tag?

The county started 2023 with a healthy $4.7 million in the bank, but much of its financial health right now comes from temporary federal money gifted to local governments to make up for losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. When that money runs out, the county could have to dig into its cash savings to cover all of its bills.

Now may not be the time to take on big debt to tackle facilities issues.