West Long Branch workers sick of dealing with mold

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West Long Branch workers sick of dealing with mold

78-year-old building houses police

Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 09/8/06

BY CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS

COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU

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WEST LONG BRANCH — Bronchitis, upper respiratory infections, sinus

problems, pneumonia.

These are some of the ailments borough police say might be

associated with working at 95 Poplar Ave., the former borough hall,

which is mold-infested and filthy.

Even Police Chief Arthur N. Cosentino is worried about the health

impact and the damage to morale that working in the 78-year-old

building is causing his staff, which consists of 20 full-time

officers, four part-time officers, a records clerk and up to seven

dispatchers.

" They're working in a Haz-Mat zone, " resident Roy Ostergren said of

the police, who share the building with the municipal court and the

construction office.

Since 2003, when mold was discovered, the council has wrestled with

the fate of the building, but their discussions have frequently led

to more questions and studies.

Some police officers are literally sick and tired of the delays,

they say.

Police Officer Marlowe Botti, 24, said she is young and fit but

recently developed asthma.

She said the asthma came on after she spent an hour and 45 minutes

booking a prisoner in the mold-infested facility.

" I'm on three different inhalers, and nobody can tell me why, " Botti

told the council at a meeting Wednesday night. " There is a huge

possibility (her physician said) this is overexposure to allergins

and mold.

" We're getting tired of studies, " she said. " We're getting tired of

not being a priority. "

Geraldine B. Fawcett, Beechwood Avenue, said the time for studying

the issue is long past. If the council had decided years ago to

build a new facility, the cost would have been about $4 million, as

opposed to the $5.5 million estimated now.

" Let's end the studies, " she said.

While the council gave architect F. Trocchia Jr. informal

permission to prepare a conceptual site plan for a new building at

965 Broadway, where the current borough hall is located, the council

wavered on suggestions for temporary trailers for the Police

Department, mostly because of financial concerns.

Councilman J. DeBruin said such a trailer could cost the

borough $50,000, and Borough Attorney S. Baxter said the

council would have to adopt an emergency appropriation to pay for

the trailers, because they were not included in the budget.

" This has been going on a long time, " said Cosentino, who said he

has been treated for pneumonia and bronchitis. " The thing that

bothers me the most is officers are coming to me and complaining of

getting sick. . . . It has got to get done . . . We can't just keep

getting studies. "

Mayor Janet W. Tucci said the council is working toward a

resolution. Last month, officials reviewed Trocchia's report, which

presented three options.

Option one included renovating the Municipal Court and constructing

a two-story addition for the Police Department. The cost is $6.2

million, not including moving costs, civil engineering, remediation

of the mold and furniture.

Option two included building a small addition at 965 Broadway for

police and renovating 95 Poplar for the Municipal Court and

construction department at a cost of $6.5 million.

Option three, which the council had made a " priority, " would be a

new facility at 965 Broadway for all three departments at a cost of

$5.5 million.

" I think we're moving forward, " Tucci said. " I think you've got the

support of everyone up here. "

There have been at least four studies on 95 Poplar since 2002, the

latest of which was one by KSI Structural Consultants, Wall, that

determined the building was structurally sound. (These do not

include the current studies by architect Trocchia.)

KSI had determined the mold — thought to be caused by an underground

stream — was the result of runoff from the roof and the grade of the

land the building sits on.

Councilwoman Bettina Munson, who chairs the committee trying to

determine how best to handle 95 Poplar, said a recent air quality

study that measured the air in 18 locations in the building

determined there was not an elevated mold condition there. But the

results are only preliminary, she said, and she is meeting next week

with the inspector to go over results.

She added that this year has been a particularly bad one for people

who suffer from allergies, suggesting that could be the culprit.

Of the conceptual site plan authorized Wednesday, Munson

said: " We're at a stage where that's not a commitment, but it is

continuing the process. . . . There is a process. Please be patient

with the process. "

ph G. of Pinewood Avenue said that as a lawyer, he is

familiar with workers' compensation cases and worried that

conditions at 95 Poplar would increase claims and premiums.

" The police keep us safe, " he said. " It is our job to keep them

safe. "

Cpl. F. Haviland said he is experiencing sinus problems,

after working at 95 Poplar for more than 23 years. But he also is

concerned that the July 1 death of veteran dispatcher Norma A.

Tamburella, who died of cancer at 53, may somehow be linked to

building conditions.

" We're still willing to do what we have to to protect you, but you

have to protect us, " he said.