Mold Forces Sheriff's Department to Relocate

February 25, 2006

Columbia,SC

Video

Mold Forces Sheriff's Department to Relocate. Monts Reports.

This is going to be the temporary home of the Newberry County

Sheriff's Department.

(Newberry) - From the buildings to the grounds, big changes are on

the way for the Newberry County Sheriff's Department.

" It's not going to be anything near a Taj Mahal, it's going to be

very elementary, " says Sheriff Lee .

Last month, a consultant ordered the department to relocate after

half the building's full-time staff complained of respiratory

problems caused by mold inside their headquarters.

" You have to go through a routine just to try and breathe normal and

it's a miserable feeling, " says Major Danny Gilliam, who was just

diagnosed with asthma.

It's a feeling that, unfortunately, isn't going away anytime soon.

The temporary location, at the old National Guard Armory, is at

least a month from completion.

" What this is going to be is our Emergency Operations Center, " says

Sheriff , gesturing towards an empty maintenance garage.

The building needs air conditioning and lots of wiring, since it

will house not only the E.O.C., but the county's telecommunications

and the 911 center.

" It's going to be tight quarters, " says.

Outside, the administrative offices - which says they'll work

out of for two years - are still in parts, with the sheriff already

looking forward to leaving before he even moves in.

" We hope that we're not going to be here that long, that we'll be

back in our building or in another building, " he says.

The state is leasing the land to the department for a dollar a year.

In all, though, the move will cost an estimated half a million

dollars. Sheriff says the bulk of that is the cost of

rewiring the 911 center.

Monts, Reporter

Tony Santaella, Producer

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