The Schuylkill County Commissioners are looking for a new home for the county coroner.

That’s because the future of the Simon Kramer Institute in New Philadelphia is uncertain.

A three-hour zoning hearing was held Tuesday evening for a change of use for the building, where the Coroner’s Office is located.

A buyer wants to remodel the building — including a new roof — to use the building as an arcade, restaurant, and for summer festivals.

But if the use is not changed, and the building’s sale falls through, the commissioners fear the building will go into foreclosure.

“We are waiting to see what happens with the sale,” said Commissioner Chairman Larry Padora at Wednesday’s commissioners’ work session.

“But if the building goes into foreclosure, we will have to move the Coroner’s Office. We are already looking at locations.”

Padora said the former Schuylkill Transportation System building is a possible location. Since the county already owns it, that would eliminate paying rent, as they are doing currently.

The present roof in the Simon Kramer Institute is leaking, causing damage to the upper floor of the building. But the Coroner’s Office is located in the basement, and has just been renovated.

New finance officer

The commissioners voted to hire a new director of finance.

Glenn Geissinger comes from Northampton County, where Commissioner Barron “Boots” Hetherington said he served as one of nine county commissioners in charge of finance.

Geissinger will be paid $97.500 per year, and fill a position that has been vacant for some time. He lives in Pen Argyl, but Hetherington said he intends to move to the area.

Row office consolidation

Several residents have been complaining for some time that county row officers are not reporting to their offices for work.

Padora explained under Pennsylvania law, the row officers are elected positions the commissioners have no jurisdiction over. The row officers can hire and fire their employees, who are county employees.

Melinda Deibert of North Manheim Township, questioned whether the county row offices could be combined, and some abolished — since the row officers don’t put the time in.

Deibert, a former county row officer herself, also asked when write-in ballots from the May 20 primary election will be counted.

Hetherington said in the May 20 primary, there were a lot of local offices which drew write-in votes, unlike next year’s election, which will be limited to governor, state senate and state representative races

Commissioner Gary Hess said there were 15,000 write-in votes in the county’s 125 voting precincts.