Cost of mold woes to top budget discussion

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Cost of mold woes to top budget discussion

BLOUNTVILLE -- Sullivan County's Budget Committee will discuss Thursday

night how to pay for the removal of mold at East High School and more than

$1.3 million in additional school system expenses, County Executive

Venable said Monday night.

by RICK WAGNER

Bristol Herald Courier

Oct 8, 2002

BLOUNTVILLE -- Sullivan County's Budget Committee will discuss Thursday

night how to pay for the removal of mold at East High School and more than

$1.3 million in additional school system expenses, County Executive

Venable said Monday night.

Speaking after the County Commission's Administrative Committee meeting,

Venable said that he and Accounts and Budgets Director Larry will

work with school officials to come up with information to present to the

Budget Committee when it meets at 7 p.m. Thursday.

" What we'll probably do is spend two or three days getting all the

information we can to the Budget Committee, " Venable said.

A black mold problem at East High has led to the closing of the school

until the building is declared free of that toxic mold -- which Maintenance

Supervisor Joe Mike Akard said could cost " hundreds of thousands of dollars "

that is not included in the $77 million school budget for 2002-03. Akard

said the school probably will be closed for four to eight weeks and possibly

longer.

" Soon, we're going to have some answers, " Assistant Schools Director

Glenn Arwood said Monday afternoon of questions ranging from where school

will temporarily be held to the estimated cost of the remediation.

Akard said that contractors who toured the facility Monday " will come

back with a time frame and cost to do the work, " which includes tearing out

old ceiling tile, ceiling insulation and chiller pipe insulation, any needed

repairs to the chiller system, replacing the tile, insulation and pipe

insulation and testing to be sure no mold remains.

As for the other one-time expenses, Venable recommended in a letter last

month to the school board that the board and the commission work together to

find $1.3 million in needed funding.

So the approved budget -- made after about $3.7 million in cuts by the

board -- does not address an estimated $600,000 shortfall if the school

system shifts over to the Tennessee health insurance pool instead of staying

with the school's own self-insured program. It also does not include more

than $700,000 in mandates for this school year by the State Fire Marshal's

Office.

Venable said he had no new information on potential funding sources, all

of which he said the school system would have to pay back.

They include selling bonds and borrowing money from elsewhere in the

county budget, although County Attorney Dan Street has said that money can't

come from property tax revenue unless it was generated and earmarked

specifically for education.

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Rick Wagner may be reached at rwagner@bristolnews,.com or (276) 645-2518.