Mold forces Casco Town Offices relocation

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Mold forces Casco Town Offices relocation

By

Staff Writer

Scarborough,ME

http://www.keepmecurrent.com/Community/story.cfm?storyID=7649

CASCO (Aug 19, 2005): The business is up and running as Casco Town

Offices employees settle into their new home off 121 next to the

Casco Fire Station. A mold problem, discovered last January, forced

them to consider moving municipal operations to alternate location.

And now thanks to the community support and the carpentry skills of

Casco's volunteer firefighters, the municipal employees have a brand-

new building to conduct town business.

" I think it's great, " said Porce, an assistant town

clerk. " It's nice and bright and wide open. "

" There's a lot more room to be organized and help out the public, "

said Debbie Folsom, assistant to the Tax Assessor of the new

facility. " The reorganization process has been a lot easier than we

thought. "

The town had planned to move its offices into a new facility in a

few years, but, faced with substantial mold problem, had to step up

the timetable, says Town Manager Morton. Last January, when

investigating a mysterious leak, municipal employees discovered mold

in one of the office's meeting room.

" We went up inside the drop ceiling and it was in that space we

discovered the mold, " Morton said. " It was pretty disgusting. "

Specialists, brought in to assess the problem, believe that because

the building had no foundation, moisture from the ground had caused

the mold to form, said Morton.

The meeting room was closed off and though mold was found in other

locations, it was determined that it did not affect air quality in

those areas.

Morton and the Casco Board of Selectmen had been weighing the town's

options when Fire Chief Small suggested that he and the

volunteer fire department build the town a temporary facility behind

the fire station that could be later used for storage.

Morton and the Board agreed and the Saturday after voters approved

the project at Casco's annual town meeting, volunteers went to work

on the building and worked quickly.

" We had the main structure of the building up a week after the town

meeting, " Small said. " I'm very proud of what my members have

accomplished. It shows that volunteerism is alive and well in

Southern Maine. "

The new home will be temporary, however. A citizen building

committee met for the first time on Wednesday to discuss building

another facility in coming years. At that time, the current Casco

Town Office building will be converted into storage space for the

Casco Fire Department.

" This is wonderful, " said Morton. " It feels awkward not being in the

village, but other than that it's a wonderful facility. It will

serve us well until something else is available. "

On September 24, there will be a cookout behind the Casco Fire

Station to thank all the project volunteers as part of Public Safety

Day.

Based in Windham, Staff Writer can be reached at 207-

892-1166 or by e-mail at .