Mold Closes Tunbridge Offices

[Guest guest]

Has anyone tried to contact this Staff Writer to give them some info about

toxic mold. I tried to find an address for the writer but didn't find it. The

poor clerk needs to know how sick she might be and find the right Dr. to help

her. Most importantly she can't take any papers or office materials with

her!!!!!

Sue

Mold Closes Tunbridge Offices

Clerk Made Ill; Officials Work From Homes

By Corriveau

Valley News Staff Writer

_http://www.vnews.http://www.vnhttp://www._

(http://www.vnews.com/12292006/3694797.htm)

Tunbridge -- Anyone needing to do business with Tunbridge officials

during the next two weeks will probably have to drive from one

makeshift office to another, while a contractor cleans out the black

mold that infested the little-used basement of the town offices and

sickened the town clerk.

[Guest guest]

Mold Closes Tunbridge Offices

Clerk Made Ill; Officials Work From Homes

By Corriveau

Valley News Staff Writer

http://www.vnews.com/12292006/3694797.htm

Tunbridge -- Anyone needing to do business with Tunbridge officials

during the next two weeks will probably have to drive from one

makeshift office to another, while a contractor cleans out the black

mold that infested the little-used basement of the town offices and

sickened the town clerk.

Tunbridge Health Officer Betsy Stratton last week ordered the town

to close its 102-year-old office building in the middle of the

village, and a Barre, Vt.-based cleanup firm began gutting the

basement this week. In a notice posted on the locked front door,

Stratton referred to " air pollution from molds significantly

affecting the health of employees and the public. "

So, until further notice, Town Clerk McCullough and the town

listers are doing what work they can out of their own homes, while

Treasurer Anne Mallary is working in an office at nearby Tunbridge

Central School.

Judie , chairwoman of the board of listers, said that a couple

of weeks away from the town offices is " not utterly tragic " at this

time of year for her department. Nonetheless, " I really feel for

those people who would like to get a birth certificate or close on

their house, " she said.

McCullough appears to be the employee most sensitive to the kind of

mold that the town expects to pay more than $49,000 to clean from

the basement of the town offices and in the former town hall on the

other side of Tunbridge Congregational Church.

" For people with upper respiratory illnesses, people with things

like asthma, it can be deadly, " said Aubut, co-owner of

Advanced Basement Technologies of Barre, the company hired to

dispose of the mold.

McCullough declined to comment yesterday about her illness and

referred questions about the mold to the selectboard.

In her order, Stratton wrote that McCullough " has seen medical

professionals regarding her health, and it has been determined that

toxic molds in the building are making it impossible for her to work

in the town office building. "

Anyone entering the building -- including town officials -- must

wear a surgical mask and can stay for no longer than 30 minutes,

according to the health officer's order.

" Mold affects people differently, depending on your history of

allergies, " selectboard Chairman Shane Craig said last night. " The

treasurer showed no signs of it bothering her. "

said she noticed a stuffy nose and sought medical attention,

but said yesterday, " I don't have any kind of infection. "

The closing of the town offices also is forcing the selectmen to

hold their meetings at the parsonage of the neighboring Tunbridge

Congregational Church until Stratton decrees the offices safe.

" It's an unfortunate setback for everybody, " Craig said. " But

there's not much we can do until the work is done. "

When the company completes work at the town offices -- " Hopefully

within two weeks. Two to three, max, " Aubut estimated -- it will

start work on the former town hall, now a recreational and cultural

center.

Aubut said black mold thrives in humid, warm places. In the case of

the town offices, " they've had some existing leaking for a while

now, coming through their foundation. "

Craig confirmed that erosion at the southeast corner of the town

offices, which overlook the Tunbridge Fairgrounds, led to the leaks

in the basement. Craig and Mallary, the treasurer, said the mold did

not reach public records, most of which are kept in a vault.

Vermont State Archivist Sanford said he hopes, for

Tunbridge's sake, that the mold stays out of town records. He said

that in Milton, Vt., voters last month approved a bond issue of $3.5

million to pay for cleaning black mold from its elementary school.

The Vermont Department of Education will reimburse the Milton school

district for a little more than $1 million of the costs to gut parts

of the building, clean the structure and rebuild classrooms and

offices. Craig said the selectboard still is looking for ways to

recover at least some of the money the town expects to pay ABT.