Mold topic of council meeting

[Guest guest]

Mold topic of council meeting

by Mathewson,

Altus Times - Altus, OK

http://www.altustimes.com/articles/2006/11/22/news/local/news02.txt

ALTUS - What, by God, would Moses and do about the black mold

taking over the Altus Police Department building?

It's in the book, and City Administrator Mike Nettles shared the

biblical precedent from Leviticus with the Altus City Council on

Tuesday night when the building's plague again dominated discussion

during the council's regular meeting.

A study of the building performed in 2004 by Precision Testing

Laboratories recommended that the building be cleaned, however

nothing has been done so far to fight back against the growing

problem.

" There's some mold over there that's not good mold, " Nettles said,

emphasizing that some molds - penicillin, for example - are, in

fact, good and beneficial. However, the black mold at the police

department holds the risk of causing or contributing to maladies

such as digestive problems, sinusitis, other respiratory problems,

eye irritation and rashes, and can be particularly detrimental to

young children and infants.

As part of his research, Nettles studied the Lord's instructions to

Moses and in the 14th book of Leviticus on how to purge

whatsoever house in the land of Caanan fell prey to the " plague of

leprosy. "

The priest, according to the scripture, " shall look on the plague,

and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow

strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the

wall; Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the

house, and shut up the house seven days: " It gets more complicated

as the chapter proceeds.

Councilman Don , who introduced the mold issue to the council

on Nov. 7, does not want to wait those seven days, and following his

appointment Tuesday night as chairman of a new " Mold Committee " - to

include councilmen Webb and Jerry Don Henry, Nettles and Mayor

T.L. Gramling - he called for a meeting of the new committee at 4

p.m. Monday at the police department.

" We've got a report here that's two years old that we have not done

anything about, " said. " We have people who are working in an

environmentally unsafe facility. "

While the mold problem is being dealt with, the police department

will need to relocate. And that, Nettles pointed out, will require

research by the newly formed committee to determine where to move

the police operation and how much it will cost to achieve the move

in a reasonable amount of time.

Altus Police Chief Mike suggested that the Community

Center would be a good location for the temporary headquarters.

Another possibility is the basement of the north fire station on

North Main, however the building is not currently in compliance with

the American Disabilities Act.

Another glitch in any pending move is that the company in charge of

the city's alarm system has said that the company would just as

soon " walk away " from the system rather than take on the job of

moving it to a different location, said.

Nettles hearkened back to the prior council meeting on Nov. 7 when

Gramling expressed his vision to build a new municipal

facility. " Maybe this was the catalyst to get this ball rolling, "

Nettles said, adding that the city cannot continue to allow

employees to operate in an environment that is not conducive to good

health. Also, Nettles said, the energy costs are high due to the age

of municipal buildings and because they are so dispersed throughout

town.

What's more, he said, the mold problem affects the city's ability to

attract employees, who may have second thoughts about working in a

risky health situation.