Mold Closes Neptune Beach City Council Chambers

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Mold Closes Neptune Beach City Council Chambers

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Moldy Drywall removed from Neptune Beach City Council ( Meenan

Photos)

NEPTUNE BEACH, FL

Council Chambers Temporarily Closed

Dirt removed from flower beds to treat walls

Council side office also closed during mold remediation

City Hall (right) Meetings temporarily moved to Police Department

(foreground)

11/10/2005 11pm report

By Meenan

First Coast News

NEPTUNE BEACH, FL –- In the name of safety, all meetings and work

normally done in the City Council Chambers is now taking place down

the block, after mold was discovered growing in the room's south

wall.

" It's a public facility and you have to protect the public and also

the staff that's in here, " said Neptune Beach City Manager, Jim

Jarboe.

" As you well know, in the old days nobody paid much attention to it,

but now we know that it could be a serious health hazard depending

on the type of mold that it is. "

The problem surfaced earlier this week when wallpaper began peeling.

A closer look revealed the mold growing on damp sheetrock.

The Council Chamber and a side office were quickly put off-limits.

" We didn't want to take a chance, " said Jarboe.

" What we had is a contractor come in and look at it and take the

sheet rock out and now it's being treated. "

To prevent a re-occurrence of the mold, they hunted down the

original source of the moisture. Their culprit was perfectly clear.

" We've isolated it to the windows, " said City Manager Jarboe.

They believe water was seeping in through the window casings, but

they wanted to be sure outside irrigation sprinklers weren't causing

dampness to seep in from below. A couple of tons of dirt had to go.

Thursday night the flower beds surrounding the south end of City

hall were dug up two feet below the surface.

" We wanted to make sure that it (the moisture) was not coming

through the walls at the bottom so we had to take that (dirt) out to

be sure. "

The outside walls will also be treated with a mold eliminator, and

with the Council room temporarily out of commission, business as

usual is taking place next door.

" We've had our meetings over at the Police Department, in the

training room over there, " said Jarboe.

The work is expected to be completed over the upcoming weekend.

Jarboe says the total cost of the mold elimination and drywall

repair will come to around $2800.

As for the inconvenience, officials say a little construction dust

and noise outweighs the potential for more serious, mold-related

health problems.

Created: 11/10/2005 9:43:58 PM

Updated: 11/11/2005 12:55:00 PM

Edited by Meenan, reporter