Question mark surrounds community services building

December 20, 2006

Sidney Herald-Leader

The prognosis for the Richland County Community Services Building's

mold and asbestos problems has Richland County county commissioners

analyzing the situation closely and considering possible solutions.

The Butte company that did a walk through of the community services

building Monday informed commissioners that the mold and asbestos

problems are a concern.

The Richland County Community Services Building is home to the

Richland County Health Department, the Office of Public Assistance

and the mental health office.

The mental health day treatment was recently moved from the building

to Central Elementary School because of issues in the area of the

building they previously inhabited. One of the adjacent rooms

containing mold caused enough concern for the move earlier this

month.

There is a need for performing some asbestos removal in the

building, which the Butte company had previously agreed to do.

However, the problem is compounded with the presence of mold in the

building. To solve the mold problem there needs to be an air

exchange system installed in the building, which would also require

re-wiring the entire building at an extra cost.

" The heating in the building is also bad, so it's like, where do we

start if we are going to try to solve the building's problems, " Don

Steppler, county commissioner, said.

Though the building did not get a clear bill of health from the

preliminary inspection, Steppler said it's not at a critical level.

" We're considering our options about where we can relocate the

offices in the building. We will be meeting with the school

officials to see if they have room for them, " Steppler said.

Though many of the services housed in the community services

building are provided by the state, the commissioners are unsure if

state funding could be obtained to help resolve the problems.

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