County Council originally authorized $1.7 million in ARPA funding in 2022 to expand the existing Coroner's Office located on Main Street. The primary expansion was to include more storage and freezer space, as well as a Sally Portt and examination area to improve the functionality of the space and address future demands of a growing county population
Once the bid proposals were received in Spring 2024 for the expansion work and exceeded $2 million, County Council expressed concerns about investing so much money in the existing older building of the Coroner's Office, plus other concerns for the amount of site work and limited expansion opportunities that would be available on the site within a decade or longer.
County Council tasked County Administration to identify a new site for a Coroner's office to undertake a new building construction and discontinue the expansion project.
County Administration has identified a new site off of Old Dixie Road and because of the change in scope to building a new facility, Council is being asked to authorize an additional $1 million from un-allocated American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
This additional ARPA funding will help to advance the Coroner's Office project with a new scope, but with the understanding that additional, non-ARPA funding may be required to complete the project.