Health board unanimously votes to leave Market Street building until it is repaired

The Owen County Health Board held an emergency meeting recently to find out whether or not the board feels safe remaining in the building located at 86 E. Market St.

“We need to decide do we stay at the 86 E. Market location without the wall being fixed and the other two departments in the same small space or do we ask for another location?” Health Board President Lyndsay Wilson said to introduce the topic.

“They told us we were more than welcome to stay there. However, they would be moving EMA and Veteran’s Affairs in there with us, in that small office,” Christine McBride, the health department’s office administrator said.

Health Officer Dr. Diane B. Wells said she wanted to provide a recap of how the health department got to where they are.

“I have no idea why we got to this place,” Wells said.

The current situation began in late October of 2021.

“We were told by a commissioner that the building was unsafe because it was bowing on the outside. A brick or some bricks had fallen. We were told by a commissioner we needed to evacuate the building and if possible see if we could arrange to have the old medical building, which would be this building, but there would be no money to support it,” Wells said.

McBride then called Gordon Wells to see if they could use the property located at 9 N. Crane Ave. The health department has been using the property with no lease and simply reimbursing Gordon Wells for the cost of the utilities used by the department.

Dr. Wells said that the commissioners wanted her to move the health department back into the building.

“I said well as a health department I can’t move back until I have a door that I can use to the street, and I have a building that is safe for people to work in,” Wells said.

The engineering study was completed by Keeler-Webb Associates and is dated Nov. 15, 2021.

The report found that the outer wythe of brick masonry was forced outward and upward due to corroded steel beams or lintels above the door and window openings.

“There was also severe deterioration of the mortar joints, particularly at the parapets, and the mortar was eroding out and falling to the sidewalk below,” the report reads. “There is a potential risk for some of the outer wythe of the brick to fall out onto the sidewalk, and therefore, the sidewalk should remain barricaded off. The inner two wythes of brick are likely (only minimally) affected but are hidden. At this time, we do not find that there is a significant risk to the occupants, however, this could change if repairs/renovations are not completed on a timely basis.”

“At that point, I assumed that the commissioners would undertake to repair the building structurally in some way and when it was repaired the health department would return to our previous operations,” Wells said.

She said she does not know if or when structural repairs will come or have came.

“I have not had any personal correspondence,” Wells said. “I have apologized to the commissioners by mail, by an email if I offended them in any way by saying that I can’t do what I can’t do.”

She said she asked two employees to reoccupy the Market Street building because she had heard it was being looked at by two departments.

“This is way too big for the health department,” Wells said of the Crane Avenue building.

She added that the Crane Avenue building is convenient for COVID testing, which will continue for the next two months. At that point, the health department will have fulfilled their obligation to the state. COVID vaccines will be offered for the next two years.

“It was never my intention to do anything bad for the health department. It was not my intention to have you come here and then not have a building to go back to. Nor do I want you to have a dangerous building to go back to,” Wells said.

She said that for approximately 50 years, the county has provided for the health department.

“There is good history that the county, ie the commissioners support the health department. I don’t know why all of the sudden the commissioners do not want to provide us a building,” Wells said. “I didn’t go looking for this fight whatsoever.”

She then asked if she could stop and say a word of prayer. In which, she asked for wisdom and guidance.

The health department’s budget is funded by a small portion of the property tax levy and the small amount of revenue from birth and death certificates.

Wells said it was never their intention to remain in the Crane Avenue building.

“Wait a minute, we were just waiting for them to take the barricades down, for the building to be safe, then we would go back. That was never even an issue. It was no expectation that we would stay in this building,” Wells said. “I was not thrilled with that. I did not like asking two people to go down there, but I did it mostly for a certain amount of squatter’s rights to say, ‘Wait a minute. This is our building.’ … Earlier in the turn of events when they said move back. It was like well I will move back when I have a safe building to move into, and I’m not at all happy about having two people there but I’m also not happy at the prospect of leaving as health officer leaving the health department in a pickle with that building taken over.”

“We just feel really displaced,” McBride said.

“I have taken the point of view that if the commissioners want to make a decision that impacts our department, they should do it in a public meeting and give me public notice. The idea that they should meet with someone on the street and say you’ve got to be out of here in two months or we’re going to bring somebody in. That’s not the way I expect my department to be dealt with,” Wells said. “I expect the commissioners to have a meeting and a vote to say this is what the commissioners want the health department to do. We want them to move back even though it’s not a safe building. We’re going to move two other departments into that building and they can just make it work. I will suck it up, but treat me like a professional, treat my department like we have value and go through the channels. I don’t expect to have someone walk into my department and tell someone what is going to happen.”

The health board voted unanimously, 4-0 to not have employees in the Market Street building and to look into both the timeline for repairs to the building and what other options there are for the health department.

This article originally appeared on Evening World: Health board unanimously votes to leave Market Street building until it is repaired