WARREN — Trumbull County commissioners took the first step to move the county coroner’s office and morgue to the former Trumbull County Combined Health District building at 176 Chestnut Ave. NE, Warren.

The office is located on the second floor of the Trumbull County Board of Elections Building, 2947 Youngstown Road SE, Warren. The county is leasing space at Trumbull Regional Medical Center for its morgue.

Last month, the commissioners voted to enter into a contract with Baker, Bednar, Snyder and Associates to provide the engineering costs for the new coroner / morgue office.

Trumbull County Coroner Lawrence D’Amico and his staff suggested the current office was cramped and possibly dangerous because there was only one entrance and exit at the 1,400-square-foot facility, according to a 2021 article in the Tribune Chronicle.

Also, being on the second floor of the elections board building has periodically presented problems for elderly and those with infirmities that need to obtain county records.

Trumbull County Building Maintenance Department head Bill Hart said there is at least one roof leak in one of the morgue’s offices. Water drips into a large bucket that has a hose attached to it, which drains into a restroom drain.

Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said although there have been discussions about moving the coroner’s office for several years, conversations picked up steam when the health district moved to Cortland.

“We were not planning this,” Cantalamessa said. “It has been happening rather organically. The county owns this space that, otherwise, may only have been used for storage.”

The health district purchased a former bank building in Cortland for $550,000. It spent additional money to renovate the building and purchase additional parking spaces beside the building.

The health district used its own funds to purchase the bank and do the renovations.

Now, the county has a large two-story building with a recently renovated basement on its hands.

In a meeting with Cantalamessa and D’Amico, Hart suggested the Chestnut Avenue location has significantly more space than the coroner’s employees have now.

Its first floor can be redesigned to have an area for members of the public to obtain records and to meet with staff. A morgue will be built in the building’s rear where a refrigerated unit for at least 10 bodies will be kept for autopsies and other critical operations of the coroner’s office.

Hart said D’Amico told commissioners that based on the county’s population of nearly 202,000 residents, a minimum of 10 spaces are needed for bodies.

Offices for the coroner and morgue staff will be located on the second floor of the building.

Hart said no decision has been made about what may be done with the building’s basement. It was renovated approximately seven years ago.

Commissioner Denny Malloy said the county wants to own its own coroner’s office and morgue, rather than continuing to lease the space.

“Although there may be a high upfront cost, the county eventually will save over the long-term because we will not be paying a monthly lease,” Malloy said.

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Commissioner Niki Frenchko during last year’s budget hearings questioned the compensation package given to the county’s forensic pathologist, Dr. George Sterbenz, whose salary increased from $218,000 to $234,000.

Frenchko said commissioners should not have provided such a large wage increase to Sterbenz, without looking at its total impact on the budget of the coroner’s office.

“There was ample time to address the writing on the wall last November, when I asked for the lease and expressed concern for the future of the hospital at the budget hearing,” Frenchko said. “Proper planning and forethought are dynamic alternatives to the county’s bad habit of managing from a position of crisis response.”

Frenchko questions the amount the county will actually save by moving the morgue.

During November’s budget hearings, D’Amico estimated the county had an annual lease cost of $33,000 for facility fees, which, at the time, he said was “pretty cheap.”

He said Steward, which operates Trumbull Regional, approached him in 2022 about renegotiating its lease agreement with the county, but those discussions were side tracked.

“We have not pushed the issue because our lease is pretty cheap,” he said during the budget hearing. “They threatened to raise our rates. They have not brought it up.”

Frenchko said she wants to examine the cost of maintaining the Chestnut Avenue building and its projected renovation costs.

“The county still should look at alternatives to ensure the health department is the best option,” Frenchko said.

She would like to see a cost-benefit analysis done, prior to any action being taken.

Have an interesting news story? Contact Raymond Smith by email at rsmith@tribtoday.com.