Building cleanup costlier

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Building cleanup costlier

Princeton Times Leader*

Times Leader Staff Report

staff@...

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

http://www.timesleader.net/articles/stories/public/200808/13/4Sjj_new

s.html

Members of the Caldwell County Fiscal Court will put another $11,000

into cleanup efforts to get rid of a mold problem at the McCaslin

building on the corner of North Jefferson and West Market streets.

The appropriation, county officials said Tuesday, will drive the

total cost of the building's cleanup to about $27,000, but it should

also make the building habitable once again.

The building is currently sealed off as a microbial hazard.

In May, the county budgeted $30,000 to get rid of the mold problem,

caused by roof and wall leaks that allowed moisture to enter the

building and mold to grow.

In June, the court approved an $8,500 proposal from the Industrial

Maintenance and Construction Company (IMAC) to remove mold from the

building.

After that work was done, air inspectors with Summit Environmental

Services continued to detect high levels of mold in some areas and

traced them to some new sources of moisture.

" One thing kind of led to another, unfortunately, " said Summit's

Jeff Gough Tuesday.

One of the main sources of moisture entry is the stucco wall that

runs parallel to North Jefferson Street, where murals by local

artist Richie McKinney currently hang.

In July, the fiscal court voted to donate $8,000 to the " Let's Paint

the Town! " campaign, so campaign volunteers could repair the

building's exterior and prevent further leaks.

The inside of that wall also needs to dry and be sealed, IMAC's Rob

told the court.

In their initial cleanup, IMAC crew members wiped the building's

front office area with a biocide agent to kill the organisms living

there.

He presented the court with an $11,000 proposal to continue the

cleanup, more extensively.

Workers will remove the building's carpets and all the plaster and

sheet rock on interior walls of the building's east side, where the

murals hang.

The interior wall will be sealed and the entire building will be

recleaned with the biocide agent.

" Based on what they have told me, it does appear that this will

completely solve our problem, " said Judge/Executive Sherman

Chaudoin.

Sealing the building's exterior is expected to be complete in the

next six weeks, and the interior work would follow.

Once the building is deemed habitable, the county will attempt to

rent the office space to the state or other potential tenants.

Having it rented would allow the county to recoup some of the

expense of its renovation, said the judge/executive.

In other business:

• The court approved first reading of an ordinance removing Bill

Cravens Road from the county maintenance system.

A public hearing regarding the road drew no comments opposing its

removal.

Fred Hart, manager of Hart Farms, said the farm owned 100 percent of

the property on one side of the road, and co-petitioner Mark Cravens

and his wife owned 100 percent of the property on the other side.

The 0.344-mile dead-end road leads to no cemeteries, homes or other

areas requiring public access, he said.

Second reading of the ordinance is set for Aug. 26.

• The court authorized County Clerk Toni to advertise for

bids for optical scanners to read paper ballots in the upcoming

election.

was also authorized to proceed with converting a portion of

the old Court Square Shell station into a secure storage area for

voting machines.