Teton County delays architect contract for new coroner facility after debate over owner's‑rep costs

Teton County commissioners on Feb. 3 continued consideration of an architectural contract for a proposed new coroner’s facility after the coroner urged the board to limit outside management costs and the county’s project consultants defended their scope.

Dr. Blue, the county coroner (speaker 11), told commissioners the current coroner facility is “toxic,” unsafe and not respectful to the deceased and asked the board to fund roughly $175,000 for Plan 1 architectural fees to complete schematic designs. He also asked that the county avoid continuing to use an outside owner’s representative he called unnecessary and expensive for a roughly 3,000‑square‑foot project.

Josiah Nash, Teton County Facilities Maintenance Manager (speaker 10), explained the county has already incurred about $30,000 for a feasibility study and that the architectural fee before the board would amount to roughly $326,000 paid over multiple fiscal years; Wimber (the owner’s representative) had an approved $95,000 work order already in place, he said. Tom Ference of the owner’s‑rep firm (speaker 13) said his firm bills on a per‑work‑order basis and described the earlier cost estimates as conservative while explaining how soft costs and geotechnical work can add to total project budgets.

Commissioners questioned whether the project should proceed in piecemeal fashion without construction funding in hand, expressed concerns about incurring higher long‑term costs if the project is split between design and later construction, and debated the value of maintaining an owner’s representative on projects of this size. Several commissioners said they supported moving forward with design work but wanted clearer coordination among the coroner, county staff, the county attorney’s office and the owner’s‑rep consultants before authorizing further contract work.

Commissioner Pope moved to continue the item and direct staff to convene the coroner, county attorney, county staff and owner’s‑rep consultants to resolve outstanding contract questions and return with a recommendation. The motion passed 4–1, with Commissioner Gardner opposed. The commission specifically asked staff to refine budget estimates and to check contract language tying Wimber’s scope to later phases if Wimber’s role changes.

Next steps: staff will meet with the coroner and the owner’s‑rep consultants to clarify invoices and define whether the county should retain the owner’s rep through construction or limit their work to pre‑construction phases; the matter will return to the board at a later date.