clay county commission 

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The estimated cost of Clay County’s new Substance Abuse Crisis Center has risen since the project was originally green-lighted in 2022. On Tuesday, the county commission voted to cover at least part of the increased price tag with funds held on reserve from the county’s American Rescue Plan allocation.

Commissioners voted unanimously to use $750,000 of the county’s $1 million reserve to finance the center. Originally estimated to cost $13.9 million, the 32-bed treatment facility will replace the county’s current 16-bed detox facility, now located in the Family Service Center. The call for bids will be issued on Feb. 20, with the bidding to close March 16.

Architectural firm Klein McCarthy shared a digital walk-through of the proposed facility in January. County administrator Steve Larson told the board this week that as of January, the facility’s cost is anticipated to now be $15.7 million, creating a funding gap of about $1.4 million.

At the start, the county already planned to use a portion of the $12.4 million ARPA grant received in 2021. The initial estimate of $13.9 million was funded through $7.5 million from that allocation, a $5 million grant from the state of Minnesota, and $1 million from the county’s share of the settlement of the state’s lawsuit against opioid distributors McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen, and opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson. (Clay County’s share of the settlement was originally expected to be $2.1 million, but may go higher.)

Facing the shortfall, the commission turned to the funds that had been reserved to address possible flare-ups of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related issues. The balance of the fund will be maintained for that purpose.

A gap of $650,000 remains, Larson noted, after the infusion of more ARPA money. He pointed to two contingencies that may cut the construction price; otherwise, that portion of the gap may be advanced from county reserves.