Lancaster County Council hears update on new coroner’s office; project may need $1.3 million from fund balance

Lancaster County Council on Thursday received an update on plans to build a new county coroner’s office and mortuary facility, where county staff and the project contractor said the total project cost is now projected at roughly $4 million and a county fund-balance allocation of about $1.3 million will be required to complete the work.

The coroner, county project staff and Fern Creek Group — the design–build contractor — told council the project is about 40% through the design phase, that stormwater drawings are with DHEC and that Lancaster Water Sewer District has asked for additional sewer-route alternatives before approving connections. The presenters said that, if approved as currently modeled, the project would meet accreditation standards of the International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners and must be completed by the December 2026 deadline for the ARPA funds being used on the project.

Council members were shown the building’s program and site plan, heard options for sewer service and were told the parcel is technically within the Public Facilities Corporation, which could require separate action on use of the land.

County coroner Carla Knight Deese said the county received earlier ARPA funding for renovation plans and that, after further review, council member Harper recommended pursuing a new building. "In 2021, we were awarded the initial 1,770,000 in the ARPA funding for renovating the current location," Knight Deese said, and later told council staff now estimate the total project costs "close to $4,000,000." She said the county previously appropriated approximately $2,600,000 in ARPA funds and that the projected shortfall would require a fund-balance allocation of about $1,300,000.

Maria Hedgepath, president of Fern Creek Group and AMCON Construction, outlined the contractor team and past local projects and said the firm will push to use local subcontractors: "about 65% of the work ... will come from the tri counties of Chester, Lancaster, or York County, and about 80% will come out of the state of South Carolina." Caroline Falconberry, Fern Creek’s project manager, reviewed the building program: about 1,200 square feet of storage (for evidence and supplies), an approximately 1,100-square-foot autopsy suite with access to a 1,600-square-foot sally port, office space sized for projected staff growth, a 400-square-foot conference room, and a 100-square-foot IT room required by Lancaster County.

Contractors and staff told council the primary cost risk and recent increase stems from providing sewer service to the site. The design team said one existing plan would bore under Old Dixie Highway with roughly 710 linear feet of 8‑inch sewer pipe and about four manholes to connect to a nearby gravity-fed line, and that surveys and easements would be required. "That was the initial way to do it," a member of the project team said, adding Lancaster Water Sewer District has requested two additional alternates. Staff also discussed the possibility of an engineered septic system as a temporary or, with approvals, a long-term solution, but noted county code and Lancaster Water Sewer District approvals would be needed if water or sewer is deemed feasible and accessible.

County staff briefed council on a separate legal/ownership question: the project parcel was acquired as part of the 64-acre detention-center purchase funded by bond proceeds and currently sits within the Public Facilities Corporation’s purview; staff said that may require action by that entity to allow long-term county occupancy or a lease arrangement for the coroner facility.

No ordinance, appropriation or final contract award was voted at the meeting; council heard the update and asked staff to continue work with Lancaster Water Sewer District on sewer alternatives, to finalize DHEC stormwater approval, to continue pursuing required easements with affected landowners and to provide firm numbers for the requested fund-balance appropriation. The project team said it will continue design work and return with updates as approvals and estimates are refined.

County staff emphasized the project must meet the December 2026 ARPA project-completion deadline. Presenters thanked council for time and said they are working on options to reduce cost and to finalize routing and approvals for sewer service.

A separate procedural motion to approve the meeting agenda passed at the start of the session; no formal vote was taken on the coroner project itself.