HOLLIDAYSBURG — The current provider of transportation and storage services for the county coroner’s office has withdrawn its contract, meaning the job will fall to the second-place bidder, despite objections by Coroner Ray Benton.

On Thursday, the Blair County commissioners voted unanimously to accept the withdraw of contract from Clear Creek Co., which provides the facility to hold the deceased while in the care of the coroner’s office.

Clear Creek owner Manny Nichols sent the commissioners a letter in early October giving notice of the company’s intent to end the contract, citing financial concerns due to “lower than anticipated volume.”

That lowered use left the agreement “financially unfeasible,” according to the letter read by Commissioner David Kessling.

The use of Forsht Livery Service in Logan Township will be a temporary measure, as the county will expedite the purchase of its own coolers to be placed in the coroner’s office, Kessling said.

The two new coolers that can store four bodies each will arrive sometime in March 2026, he said.

Benton said he’d rather the county stay with Clear Creek until the new coolers arrive.

Forsht Livery Service had previously provided transportation and storage services, but when the county sought a new agreement in mid-2024, Forsht lost out to Clear Creek.

Clear Creek was paid $365 per decedent for removal and transport to a storage facility within Blair County per the terms of the agreement.

Forsht had submitted a bid for $290 per decedent for the same service during the original bidding process.

Clear Creek, while more expensive, was picked over Forsht due to some issues with the facility.

Those issues were aired during Thursday’s commissioners meeting when Benton spoke during the public comment period.

In objection to the commissioners accepting the cancellation of the Clear Creek contracts — one for transportation and one for storage — Benton stated the issues he had with Forsht.

According to Benton, Forsht’s storage facility for bodies is located within a three-car carport and surrounded by junk vehicles and “most of the time is dirty.”

Forsht’s facility has been found to keep bodies outside of the allowable temperature range of refrigerated storage, Benton said, and there is no warning system if the temperature in the storage area rises above the legal range.

Benton said that the facility also lacks a functional security camera system.

After the meeting, Benton said that bodies are akin to evidence in criminal investigations and that maintaining a proper chain of custody is critical.

Without a quality security system, an unauthorized person could enter the facility and tamper with a body, jeopardizing the chain of custody, Benton said.

According to Benton, the facility is “deplorable” and “literally a junkyard.”

On the uncommon occasion he would have to take a family to identify a body at the facility, Benton said he would be “appalled” to show the family the conditions at Forsht’s property.

Before the contract with Clear Creek, when the county used Forsht for storage, Benton had received complaints from funeral directors about bodies being stored at improper temperatures.

“At one particular point, a funeral director found a body outside of the cooler, which is unacceptable,” he said.

Benton urged the commissioners to keep the people of Blair County in mind when making their decision, so that they can have a respectable place to store their relatives’ bodies.

“I would not put my family nor would I want to put your family in this location,” Benton said.

Benton said that Clear Creek staff had told him that they would be willing to continue storage of decedents under the previous agreement until the contract was set to expire in June 2026, while still canceling the removal and transportation contract.

Bill Forsht, owner of Forsht Livery Service, took the podium after Benton, saying that the cooler he installed on his property during the pandemic was intended to be temporary, but is still in operation.

“It is not the best facility, but it served a purpose,” Forsht said. “You’re going to get what you paid for, I don’t know how else to put it.”

Forsht said he will provide the county the best service he can for the money he is getting paid.

According to Forsht, he would feel comfortable investing more money into the facility if he had a two-year or longer contract, but it was not feasible since there is only six months remaining in the contract.

Forsht said he has had issues with temperature fluctuations in the cooler area in the past due to running out of the refrigerant freon, but he has since purchased more to prevent this from happening again.

According to Forsht, his facility has a functional security camera aimed at the entrance to the cooler area.

Kessling said the commissioners share Benton’s concerns about how the facility looked in the past, but “we have gotten assurances from Forsht that they are going to address some of those issues going forward.”

It is up to Benton to ensure Forsht’s facility is compliant with legal storage requirements, Kessling said.

Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.