JACKSON, Wyo. — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) on Tuesday voted to revisit the conversation about possible housing on the second floor of a planned coroner facility at its next meeting on Sept. 15.
The five Commissioners heard from Teton County’s Director of General Services Patrick McGaugh, as well as public comments from Russell Nelson and Katrina Clauson, the two candidates for County Coroner. Nelson and Clauson both spoke in opposition to the construction of housing above a new morgue, stating that the facility is a biomedical laboratory and specialized environment.
Commissioner Len Carlman began the discussion by asking McGaugh if he had done a search to see if other morgues around the country had housing attached or if it was a “peculiar feature of our tight housing market.” McGaugh responded that he had not completed a search of that nature, but stated there are currently people living above the funeral home in Jackson.
In his public comment, Nelson said to the BCC: “I would urge you to consider that there’s a little bit of difference between a funeral home and a morgue. A morgue is basically a biomedical, legal laboratory for investigating fatalities in the area.” A funeral home, he said, is essentially a postmortem facility that styles hair and makeup to “make you look nice for your funeral.”
“Housing above a new morgue facility would never be my first choice,” Clauson said. “Frankly, it feels like a last resort, but given the severity of our community housing crisis, it appears that we have reached the point where even options that would once have seemed unthinkable are now being seriously considered. … The morgue is not an ordinary government office or commercial building. It is a highly specialized professional environment, and more importantly a sacred space [where] deceased members of our community are entrusted to our care.”
As discussions progressed, support for housing among the Commissioners seemed to wane, and they shifted to an idea of building a second floor as a surplus space, without declaring what it could be used for.
“I’m actually leaning toward just going ahead and making this morgue a morgue, and let’s not think about the housing on it, and really push hard on whatever other options we have,” BCC Chair Mark Newcomb said.
Carlman agreed: “You summed it up well for me: ‘Let the morgue be the morgue'”
Due to the likely change in the space’s purpose, Carlman pointed out that the motion would have to be amended. As it stood on Tuesday, the motion specified a $61,000 service fee cost for architects to incorporate seasonal housing in the building plans. For this reason, the BCC voted unanimously to continue the motion and direct staff to bring back a new motion in two weeks that specifies “surplus space” and includes a revised cost.
