Bastrop County officials on Monday presented commissioners with a $28.5 million capital improvement plan that would boost facilities, roads and technology infrastructure in Bastrop County over the next five years.

The plan includes more than a dozen projects, including several that would expand law enforcement and court operations.

The bulk of the nearly $30 million expense — about $22 million — would be spent on new county buildings, beginning with a top-of-the-line communications and emergency operations center. It would house the county’s fledgling 911 dispatch department, as well as information technology offices.

Bastrop County Judge Paul Pape called the new emergency operations facility a top priority.

"All those departments need better facilities," he said. "They are all critical to all our operations."

Estimated to cost nearly $8 million, the new building would serve as a hub for disaster planning and response and is planned on Jackson Street, south of the Tax-Assessor Collector and Development Services building.

Other facilities improvements suggested in the plan include a new judicial court complex and law enforcement administration building surrounding the Bastrop County Jail. Construction of those facilities would allow jail operations to expand into the current administrative offices on Jackson Street, Pape said. The two projects together are expected to cost about $12 million.

The county is also considering about $500,000 to build AgriLife Extension offices at its planned emergency shelter at Mayfest Park. The $2.5 million shelter, funded by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant, is expected to be completed next year. Grant dollars would not cover construction of AgriLife offices, but county officials have said they are an important component to the facility, which will serve as a rural lifestyle center for the region, due to its proximity to Bastrop’s rodeo grounds.

In addition to the new buildings, the capital improvement plan directs about $5.5 million toward county roads, which would be divided among the four precincts. The money would be used to construct roads and bridges, acquire right of ways, install culverts and upgrade gravel roads to asphalt.

The plan also suggests $1.5 million go toward information technology improvements, such as upgrades to county routers, ports, phone systems and Wi-Fi, as well as fiber installation and new mobile computers for deputy squad cars.

All of the project plans are preliminary, and no funding has yet been directed toward any project.

"It’s sort of a road map for us as we go forward," Pape said.

The county issues certificate of obligation bonds every two years to pay for capital improvements outside its regular budget, Pape said. Certificate of obligation bonds are like emergency loans that don’t require voter approval.

As part of the five-year plan, the county will issue about $9.5 million in bonds every two years beginning in 2017 to pay for the improvements. The first round of bonds would likely pay for the communications center, AgriLife Extension offices and information technology upgrades. Additional bonds issued in fiscal year 2018 and 2020 would pay for the judicial court complex, law enforcement administration building and road improvements.

The plan and projects would be reviewed every two years, with room for adjustments, Pape said.

"It’s a living, breathing document," County Auditor Lisa Smith said. "It can be changed at anytime."

The plan was introduced at Commissioners Court for the first time Monday as a discussion item. It will likely return to commissioners on Dec. 27 for approval.