Town hall mold?

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Town hall mold?

By: T. Colleen

09/26/2003

Gerard Monaghan, the Planning Commission chairman, arrived at the planning department office Tuesday morning to find secretary Francis Pennington on the verge of a severe allergy attack because of what she believed were mold spores. He sent her home, closed the office and went to Mayor Gambino, demanding that the staff be moved and the problems at the office be addressed. Rain seems to worsen the situation, and on Tuesday there was a downpour that caused flooding in some neighboring towns, including Kent. , the secretary for the Community Planning and Economic Development Department and the grant writer for the Economic Development Commission, also works in the office, but she has been out sick for the last month. She took sick leave soon after a large storm flooded the office in early August, according to Ms. Pennington.This week's storm did not flood the office, Mr. Gambino said, but Mr. Monaghan's decision prompted officials to take action.The mayor met with the facilities staff, the personnel director and the health director Tuesday afternoon to come up with a resolution to the problem. The group decided to move Ms. Pennington into an office on the second floor, currently occupied by the information technology staff person, and to move Ms. 's work space into the former office of the mayor's administrative aide.The moves took effect Wednesday morning, and work to determine the cause and extent of the problems in the planning department office was to begin as soon as all the file cabinets and furniture was removed.Ms. Pennington recounted the story of last month's "monsoon" in a phone interview Thursday, saying she and Ms. had to work while maintenance workers did the "best they could" to suck up the water and dry the office with blowers and dehumidifiers, which were on all day for a few weeks.The smell in the room, especially after it was closed up for the weekend, she said, resembled that of a wet beach towel you find in your trunk at the end of the summer.She claims that mold has been growing under the carpet, but the mayor said the town's insurer, CIRMA, has inspected the office and found no black mold. Now the maintenance workers are to fully inspect behind the walls, under the flooring and in the office furniture to determine if any mold has taken hold in those areas.Mr. Gambino did not move the staff after the flooding last month because they did not ask to move, he said Thursday."That was not the first time," he said of the problems in that office, outlining the plans to reconfigure the sidewalk outside in the future. "I'm happy we are able to do this because I think that was a problem that was asking for a solution. We are acting on it right now."

©New Milford Times 2003