JEFFERSON — Relocation of the Ashtabula County Coroner’s Office to the Old Courthouse should be completed by Thursday, said Rich Mongell, chief investigator-administrator.
The Ashtabula County Board of Commissioners is relocating the office from the State Road Occupational Medical Facility in Ashtabula Township. Mongell said the office has been at State Road since September 2000. Prior to that, it was in the Rogers Building, next to Ashtabula County Medical Center.
“We would have preferred to be at the hospital because that’s where the morgue is, but the hospital doesn’t have the room,” Mongell said.
The move to the courthouse will save the coroner’s budget $8,000 annually in rent payments. Commissioners budgeted $6,100 for moving expenses, including relocating Community Services. Ashtabula County Administrator Janet Discher told commissioners Tuesday that the move probably won’t cost as much as was budgeted, however.
Eliminating the county’s Information Technology Department opened the door for the relocations. The space formerly occupied by that department has become the new home for the county’s Community Services Department. The coroner is moving into the former Community Services area. The departments had to play musical offices to avoid the huge expense of relocating the network wiring that terminates in the former information technology (IT) office.
Mongell said the new location has both advantages and drawbacks. The new location is farther from the morgue; he said it’s not unusual for investigators to make two or three trips to the morgue daily when doing an investigation. On the plus side, it puts the operation near the Ashtabula County Sheriff’s Department and courts, and provides immediate access to the county’s IT and mail services.
The new space has two large walk-in vaults, one of which will be used to store the records going back more than 30 years. The other one will be used to hold evidence.
Each investigator will have his own office; Dr. Robert Malinowski and his deputy, Dr. Pamela Lancaster, will share an office. The new quarters will include a conference room, which will accommodate small meetings.
Mongell said the office hours have not been finalized. At the State Road facility, the public hours were 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Because of budget restraints, the coroner does not have a secretary, so if investigators are in the field, the office may be closed even during public “office hours.”
“We tell people if they want to see us, to call first,” Mongell said.
Mongell said families often want to stop in following an investigation and have their questions answered. The office also has frequent contact with funeral directors, insurance companies and police, fire and health care personnel, making public access necessary.
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