Kingston council OKs $125,000 for mold cleanup

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Kingston council OKs $125,000 for mold cleanup

Kingston Daily Freeman - Kingston,NY

By Kirby, Freeman staff

http://www.dailyfreeman.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=18212287 & BRD=1769 & PAG=461 & dept_id=74958 & rfi=6

KINGSTON - The Common Council has voted to use $125,000 from the

city's fund balance to pay for the mold cleanup in City Court on

Garraghan Drive.

The recent vote by the council was unanimous, and Mayor

Sottile said he expects the job to take six to eight weeks.

In the meantime, City Court sessions are being held in the former

Ulster County Jail on Golden Hill Drive in Kingston.

Sottile had hoped to recoup the cost of the work from the state

Office of Court Administration, but officials there have told the

mayor they won't foot the bill.

Lacking a state reimbursement, the city could recoup money from any

contractors that might have been caused the mold problem during a

renovation project in the Garraghan Drive building that was

completed in 2002, Sottile said. It's possible, he has said, that

malfunctioning equipment used by a contractor caused the fungus.

Steve Finkle, director of the city's Office for Economic and

Community Development, has said the cause of the mold problem

probably won't be known until after the cleanup is complete.

Finkle and Mills, then the loan coordinator for the Kingston

Local Development Corp., served as the city's point men on the

renovation project.

Finkle has noted previously that neither he nor Mills is a

mechanical engineer and that they relied on the judgment and

expertise of the contractors because the city did not hire a project

manager for the renovation.

Sottile has since said it was a mistake not to hire a manager for

the project, which was begun under his predecessor, the late T.R.

Gallo.

The mold problem was identified in October 2006 in an engineering

report by ATC Associates Inc.

" Based on the visual inspection, air monitoring and the microbial

air sampling results conducted by ATC ... the first floor of

courthouse (judge's bench, storage room and security checkpoint) has

elevated levels of penicillium/aspergillus mold types, " the report

stated. " There are visible fungal reservoirs located with in the

courtroom and storage rooms. "

The report concluded the mold was coming from the ventilation system

for the judge's bench, storage room and security checkpoint.