Trumbull County officials say 9-1-1 center, coroner and animal shelter need urgent relocation or repairs amid health and safety concerns

Trumbull County officials told the Board of Commissioners on July 23 that the county’s 9-1-1 dispatch center, the coroner’s work area and the county animal shelter face conditions the director and others described as unsafe or unsustainable.

Casey McDowell, director of Trumbull County 9-1-1, told commissioners the dispatch facility has experienced repeated sewer smells, ceiling leaks over dispatch consoles and an inoperable elevator that has blocked delivery and removal of heavy equipment. “When I ran water down those, we started getting severe leaks in the ceiling right over one of our dispatch positions on the dispatcher while she was working on the brand new equipment,” McDowell said. He added that staff have reported respiratory irritation and that firefighters had been called with gas meters to investigate odors.

The board said it will move the 9-1-1 operation off the current site. “9-1-1 will not be in that building. It’s gonna be a move,” Commissioner Richard Hernandez, president of the Trumbull County Board of Commissioners,…