Commissioner T.C. Rogers balked a bit at the cost, asking, “this is $74,000 to take notes at a meeting to know what the sheriff and the coroner want?”
County Administrator Judi Boyko said “oh no it’s much more than that.”
“This is going to do preliminary architectural review and research, benchmarking, based on national trends ... based on the number of calls dispatch receives the number of autopsies the coroner performs,” Boyko said. “All of the activities that each elected office respectively conducts to be able to benchmark their definite space needs.”
In May, the county issued requests for qualifications to find architectural firms to design the two projects, consolidating Coroner Dr. Lisa Mannix’s operations — she has offices in the Government Services Center and leases space for the morgue — and expanding the sheriff’s 911 dispatch center.
The commissioners have hired KZF Design, Inc. to do architectural, engineering and other professional services for the two projects — the benchmarking project is the “launch” of the project — that will be located on the Princeton Road campus where the antiquated dispatch center resides.
Part of this process is to arrive at cost estimates, a 10-year-old estimate for the coroner’s operation is $3 million. Commissioner Don Dixon told the Journal-News previously the cost for both could total around $7 million.
Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Anthony Dwyer said what they have is old — there is “sunken equipment” to consider and they are relying on KZF to tell them the most efficient configuration, whether it be an addition or a new facility.
He said they are handling a huge volume of calls in a small, cramped space. Dispatchers answer emergency police, fire and EMS calls and dispatch to and for nine law enforcement agencies and 17 fire/EMS agencies in Butler County, among other duties from a dozen stations.
Last year they received 102,578 emergency 911 calls with an additional 147,515 incoming calls and 142,720 outgoing. They also monitored nearly 1.7 million “push to talks” which means emergency responders in the field are communicating with each other and the center.
“It’s a lot of activity,” he said.
“If you talk about the monies that are available in the county to do something that has a direct impact to the safety and welfare of the residents, this is it,” Dwyer said. “What would the people want? An effective 911 center when they need help.”
Coroner seeks more space
The coroner’s caseloads are also sizeable, in 2021 they had 772 calls and 409 total cases. Last year they received 1,322 total calls and accepted 449 cases. So far this year there have been 946 calls for service and 282 accepted cases.
The county has been leasing warehouse space since 2003 for the morgue — at a total cost of around $1.5 million including common area maintenance — and almost since Mannix was elected in 2012, she has been seeking space that could house both the morgue and the coroner’s administrative offices.
Mannix said during the pandemic it became evident the coroner’s facilities were inadequate for that type of crisis. The county morgue can hold 18 bodies, but the county as whole, including hospitals and funeral homes, only has 50 appropriate spaces.
In a mass-casualty emergency, the county coroner is responsible for finding storage space for bodies before they can be buried. Mannix told the Journal-News she wants to be prepared.
“I’d like to see that 50 number be ours,” she said.
By comparison, the Hamilton County Coroner’s Office tells the Journal-News they are set up to house 75 bodies in cold storage but it has square footage to add more.
Mannix told the Journal-News she is glad this moment is finally here.
“The bottom line is, how do we serve the citizens of Butler County better?” she said. “Clearly this will be an expense, I think of it more as an investment, both the true investment dollars that we’re not spending on rent but also in creating a facility that is capable and efficient going forward.”
The commissioners paid CBRE, Inc. $145,000 to do a space reutilization study, as they endeavor to right-size county government and enhance customer service for the taxpayers they serve.
Dixon told the Journal-News they could start on some other moves next year, such as relocating offices out of the old Administration Building at 130 High St. across from the Historic Butler County Courthouse.
He said they have discussed moving the Building Department and Water and Sewer out to the vacant Development Disabilities Board building on Liberty Fairfield Road.
For years they have talked about co-locating the auditor, treasurer and recorder in GSC because people often need all their services at once. The treasurer’s office is in the GSC the others are down the street.
“It’s all going to come together, you’ll see a lot of movement I think toward the second half of the year for moving around the departments and offices,” Dixon said adding there is a side benefit of selling the old administration building. “When we decide to sell it as an asset we don’t need it will bring a big price, several million dollars for sure.”
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