County board opts to stay with Dr. Moore

After attempts to change from the current county coroner service, Steele County is on the path to leave things as is.

At their Aug. 25 meeting, the Steele County Board of Commissioners directed county staff to begin negotiations with Dr. Kellyanna Moore for a two-year contract as the county coroner. Moore has served as coroner since 2009.

The staff had earlier presented the board with three options, including two options to move from a local coroner to using the services of a medical examiner’s office. Those options involved an office that operated out of the Twin Cities; the other was out of Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

The action created a firestorm of controversy, especially with Moore – who had no knowledge of any potential changes.

The subject of the coroner contract was on the board’s work session agenda earlier in the afternoon.

At that meeting, County Administrator Renae Fry said the board had three options. Since there was little time remaining in the work session before the regular meeting was scheduled to begin, Fry said the discussion could be put on the next work session agenda, and she would give details of the discussions she had with the four funeral homes in Steele County.

Board Chair James Brady responded that “I’ve been here 12 years and never heard any complaints;” Fry responded that she was only going bring up funeral home preferences.

Commissioner James Abbe said he was “ready to vote now. I don’t need more information.” He said he had personally contacted all the local funeral homes.

Commissioner Greg Kreuger said he, too, had contacted the two largest funeral homes in the county, and he agreed with Abbe.

At that point, the board agreed unanimously to move the discussion to the board meeting agenda.

During the public comment section of the that meeting, resident Melissa Zimmerman brought up to an incident at this year’s Steele County Free Fair.

A man was found deceased Aug. 19 near a vendor booth at the Four Seasons Center before the fair opened for the day. The individual was later identified as Dean Vincent Longo of Tucson, Ariz. The event delayed the public opening of the area, and necessitated the presence of the county coroner.

If the coroner had to come from the Twin Cities or Rochester, Zimmerman asked, how would the delay have affected the fair?

During the official board discussion, Fry said the main concerns of the funeral homes were centered around the potential commute, as well as the cost if the body needed to be transported for an autopsy.

Fry also said the differences in cost between Moore and the medical examiner offices would mainly be that the medical examiners would bill at a flat rate, while Moore would bill the cost of an autopsy and staffing separately.

That, Fry said, could lead to a difference in cost from year to year.

When the coroner contract was first discussed at the July 14 work session, Fry raised concerns about contacting Moore directly, rather than having the local investigators call her.

In response to a question from the board at the Aug. 25 meeting, Fry said that the county had Moore’s direct number if needed.

Brady said he had talked with several funeral homes, and one had adamantly stated they had no problem with Moore and they probably do the majority of funerals for the county.

Abbe and Krueger agreed, saying they had similar discussions with funeral directors.

The commissioners agreed to renegotiate the length of the coroner contract from four years to two years.

Annex options

Also at the earlier work session, commissioners heard from representatives of SitelogIQ about options for space for the county’s Department of Human Services and Public Health.

Consulting firm Wold Architects and Engineering also provided a report.

Both firms inspected the building and provided estimated costs for two options: Gutting and reconfiguring the annex building or constructing an addition to the existing government center.

Wold presented two proposals for the existing annex building, with different interior designs, and one for an addition to the government center.

The SitelogIQ proposal also had three options: One for a full renovation of the annex; one for a partial renovation and building addition; and the third for the government center addition.

The SitelogIQ comparison had the cost for the full renovation at between $8.1 and $8.95 million; the partial renovation plus addition was estimated at between $9.2 and $9.9 million. The addition to the government center came in at $11 million to $11.75 million.

Estimates from Wold were similar, with $8.1 to $8.7 million for their Option 1; $8.3 to $8.9 million for Option 2; and $9.1 and $10.25 million for a government center addition.

The annex building was built in 1954, with an addition added in 1984.

As the end of the work session ticked to a close, there was little discussion on the details.

Fry told the commissioners it was important that they make a decision soon about either gutting and renovating the current annex, or add on to the government center.

They really need to make a decision at the next meeting, Fry said, so if any additional information was needed, she could contact both Wold and SitelogIQ.

Fry claimed the county would have enough bonding capacity for any of the options, pointing out that several of the county’s bond are scheduled to be paid off in the next couple of years.

Abbe voiced uncertainty about either option, saying he would like to reach out to local contractors.

Krueger didn’t disagree, but questioned if local contractors had the expertise to design the options.

Abbe suggested the county contact Mohs Contracting and several others in the area.

The others agreed; staff was instructed to contact local contractors for the commissioners’ consideration of the project.