Morgue sites, funding under consideration by Dougherty Commission

Alan Mauldin Author email, The Albany Herald, Ga.
·2 min read

Apr. 12—ALBANY — Looking to fit a new morgue construction project into a tight budget, the Dougherty County Commission is leaning toward sites on publicly-owned land with infrastructure in place.

The top two sites meet those requirements and are located near the Public Works Department on Habersham Road on property already owned by the county.

The first of two options presented during a Monday commission meeting would situate the facility on the site where the former county sign shop is located. Under that option, the county would tear down the sign facility and rebuild on the location.

The second site identified is located between the Dougherty Emergency Medical Services and Public Works buildings.

The first option would cost an estimated $409,000, Assistant County Administrator Scott Addison told commissioners, while the second would cost an estimated $533,000.

The county has only $414,000 dedicated for morgue construction from special-purpose local-option sales tax funds.

While the second option offers very limited parking, a potential drawback, Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said it is not an issue as far as he is concerned.

The morgue draws few visitors, mostly law enforcement investigators photographing bodies in crime cases, he said, which generates little traffic. His office is at the Dougherty County Judicial Building, and he rarely spends significant time at the morgue.

"Concept B is my first choice," he said of the site between the EMS and Public Works buildings. "I'm just putting it out there, on the record, that is my first choice. It would be beneficial for me to be beside the EMS."

One benefit of that location is that the ambulance service already has a generator, which could be tapped in the event of an electricity outage to power the cooling units in the morgue, Fowler said. That would save the expense of installing a separate generating unit.

There also is the possibility at the location for parking in front of the morgue, Albany architect David Maschke, who was hired to design the facility, told commissioners.

Both locations offer suitable land for development of an Albany State University crime laboratory, if the university moves forward with a project it brought up to commissioners last month, Addison said.

"We don't have enough money specified in SPOST VII to build the morgue," Commission Chairman Chris Cohilas said. "We're going to have to pull the money from somewhere. It's going to come from roads or recreation or alley paving. Being judicious with our money is important as well."