Barring an unexpected about-face from the county board, the Wabash County Health Department will not be moving to the former WAVE building on West 3rd Street.

At their meeting on Tuesday, Wabash County Commissioners Tim Hocking, Rob Dean, and Scott West were unanimous in tabling the health board’s decision last week to move from its’ current location at 7th and Chestnut to the WAVE building.

The health board decided the health department had grown too big for its’ building and needed the additional space the WAVE building would provide.

But, Dean led the opposition to the idea with a long list of reasons ranging from saying the county could ultimately be responsible for costs that exceed early estimates to county employees at the courthouse needing raises. Dean said with sharp rises in building materials, it’s not a good time to build something. He also expressed concerns that the current construction project at Wabash General Hospital would create competition for the health department. Despite health department administrator Judy Wissel’s assurance that her agency and the hospital don’t offer the same services and therefore don’t compete with one another, Dean said his assumption was based on “common sense.” Dean also said he would like to let the public have an issue instead of just three members of the county board making the decision.

State’s Attorney Kelli Storckman was unable to attend the meeting, so commissioners tabled the issue.