WARREN County weighs action on mold-infested building

A county waste treatment plant also was damaged by flooding.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Mold is creeping up the walls of the Trumbull County Health Department, rain is dripping onto five workers' desks, and toilets on the second floor are leaking into examining rooms downstairs.
If the county-owned building weren't in the city, the health department could be asked to determine if its own offices are fit for human use.
"There is a lot of irony here," said Health Commissioner Dr. James Enyeart. "There sure is."
On Wednesday, county Commissioner James G. Tsagaris promised to move quickly to find a new home for the health department, after a group of employees showed pictures of soggy desks and water-soaked walls.
"You have to get out of that building," Tsagaris said. "As quickly as possible."
Health department workers have toured a number of buildings with rental space available. However, if the county decided to lease space for the department it would have to be done through competitive bidding, officials say.
Rent or buy?
Tsagaris said commissioners have not decided if they will rent space for the health department or buy a new building.
Commissioners have talked about finding a new location for the health department since toxic mold was discovered in the basement of the Chestnut Avenue N.E. building more than a year ago.
The basement was sealed with plastic and duct tape last year, but the expensive step of removing the mold was never taken.
Health department officials have not tested the toxicity of the new mold outbreak, which appeared about two weeks ago on walls near a second-floor bathroom.
Commissioners have also been asked to consider finding a new home for the county 911 center, which was still without power Wednesday as a result of extensive flooding.
"I know the county is broke, but right now we are preparing to spend a whole lot of money on that building," said 911 director Tim Gladis. "This would be a good time to think about moving before we put the money in."
Costs
Gladis said the cost of replacing waterlogged equipment at the 911 Center, in a former Hillside Hospital building, will likely run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The equipment was insured, he said.
Flooding also caused between $100,000 and $300,000 worth of damage to electric pumps at a waste treatment plant in Brookfield, said county sanitary engineer Tom Holloway. Damage there is also insured.
Flood water at the plant reached more than 3 feet in some areas, but the plant never had to be shut down, Holloway said.
"We made it by inches," he said.