GREENSBORO – Town hall staff and visitors have noticed a musty smell in the town’s basement offices during the past month or so. Those sensitive to environmental contaminants have reported their eyes watering and more so in the closed furnace room. One employee has reported health issues from working in the office.
Black mold spots on wallboard in the basement furnace room of the Greensboro Town Hall have been confirmed by Wesley Carpenter with Clean and Restore Restoration of Vermont, Monday, Sept. 9.
Last week, while waiting for the results of testing the week before by Wesley Carpenter with Clean and Restore Restoration of Vermont, town staff moved their offices up to rooms on the first floor.
During his first visit, on August 29, Carpenter spotted signs of black mold, advising Town Clerk, Kim Greaves, to move staff upstairs as a precaution. During that visit he took both air and surface samples, reported Greaves.
Greaves received verbal results of those tests Thursday, Sept. 5, as staff began to settle into the offices they had moved that morning and the day before.
The test results and a quote for remediation were in Greaves’ hands Monday, Sept. 9, she reported. It recommended remediation at a cost of less than $5,000 in a process that was expected to take a week, she was told by Carpenter. His company is available to do the work the second or third week of October.
Carpenter told Greaves the problem wasn’t as bad as he’d thought it might be and remediation would likely be relatively easy, requiring the removal of wallboard and cleaning.
Greaves said she’s been sharing what she learned with members of the select board. She hopes they can soon make a decision to authorize the work.
Residents may now enter the town clerk’s office from the rear door, on the side of the building where the recycling center is. The town clerk is in the first room on the right, where residents recently cast their primary votes. The town’s FEMA administrator and treasurer now have their desks in the Collier Room, on the left past the Giving Closet.
The town’s vault with land records remains downstairs where two humidifiers are at work, helping to lower the humidity. Doors leading to the basement furnace room are being kept closed as much as possible.
Greaves says it’s safe to be in the relocated town offices. Those with respiratory conditions that might make them sensitive to mold may have land records brought upstairs, she says.
The Greensboro Town Hall’s basement furnace room where black mold has been found in the corner behind ceiling tiles. The town has received a quote for remediation.
A copier repair person called by town staff several weeks ago to resolve a problem with recurring paper jams reported that high humidity was likely the cause of the problem, said Greaves. The repair person told her a sensor in the machine was recording high humidity of 85 to 90 percent.
EPA information about mold suggests that an ideal humidity range is 30 to 50 percent. Humidity above 60 percent can create an environment where mold will grow.
In addition to having no ventilation in the closed furnace room and an adjacent storage room where mold was also found, Greaves said a number of other things may have caused the mold to grow. A water leak in the furnace room several years ago was repaired, but nothing was done to dry the area. Evidence of water infiltration from outside was found by Carpenter in the storage room and several years of wet ground outside the building have likely not allowed the walls to dry fully during longer warm seasons.
Greaves indicates she plans to ask Carpenter for recommendations to improve air circulation and maintain an appropriate humidity in the town’s basement offices following remediation.
“Molds are part of the natural environment. Outdoors, molds play a part in nature by breaking down dead organic matter such as fallen leaves and dead trees, but indoors, mold growth should be avoided,” says the EPA website. “Molds reproduce by means of tiny spores; the spores are invisible to the naked eye and float through outdoor and indoor air. Mold may begin growing indoors when mold spores land on surfaces that are wet. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or moisture.”
