Good news
– taxpayers aren’t on the hook for fixing the mold problem at
the new $26 million Gilroy police station. Instead, it appears that
contractor SJ Amaroso Construction, which the city says allowed
sheet rock to lay unprotected during heavy winter rains, is on the
hook for the cost to replace the mold
y panels.
Good news – taxpayers aren’t on the hook for fixing the mold problem at the new $26 million Gilroy police station. Instead, it appears that contractor SJ Amaroso Construction, which the city says allowed sheet rock to lay unprotected during heavy winter rains, is on the hook for the cost to replace the moldy panels.
“They’re under contractual duty to protect their work,” Assistant Police Chief Lanny Brown said of the contractor. “We’ve made it clear to them that it’s on them … We are looking at this as a zero cost to us.”
The community is still paying a price: The decision to replace nearly 100 percent of the $26.2-million police station’s drywall pushes the move-in date back two months, to November.
The mold was discovered in January, and industrial hygienists and environmental engineers were called to inspect the site and conduct tests. They eventually recommended replacing nearly all the sheet rock and disinfecting nonporous surfaces that might have come in contact with the mold spores.
“We’re paying millions of dollars for a new building – we’re not going to put up with one mold spore,” Brown said recently.
That’s certainly the right attitude and approach. Now let’s be diligent and keep our fingers crossed.
The long-shuttered San Martin courthouse stands as a testament to the dangers of moldy construction. That facility has been closed for years, workers claimed to suffer ill health, the county sued a contractor, endured a lengthy court battle and ever since the South County justice system has been housed in several portable buildings, all as a result of mold.
The city is absolutely right to take a hard line with the contractor and to protect residents, who are already footing a too-steep bill for construction of this police station.
The city is absolutely right to take a hard line on the protection of workers from mold, which, in the long-run also boils down to protecting taxpayers because it protects them from expensive worker’s compensation claims.
Even with these remedial steps, the city needs to check the new station for mold at whatever intervals industrial hygienists recommend for however many years they recommend. To protect employees and taxpayers, to cut off possible ill health and worker’s compensation claims, the city must be vigilant to ensure that the mold remediation is 100 percent effective.
The city cannot afford another messed up construction project. The Santa Teresa road widening project is turning into a lengthy nightmare for residents and, though the downtown streetscape is going along fairly well, there are many more potential pitfalls in reconstructing an older area than there should be for a new police station. Mold can be a nasty, pricey, persistent problem. Wipe it out now and make sure that thorough inspections document that there is not a single area where it’s growing in the building.
That will ensure worker safety and a long-term production from a very expensive public works project.
“They’re under contractual duty to protect their work,” Assistant Police Chief Lanny Brown said of the contractor. “We’ve made it clear to them that it’s on them … We are looking at this as a zero cost to us.”
The community is still paying a price: The decision to replace nearly 100 percent of the $26.2 million police station’s drywall pushes the move-in date back two months, to November.
The mold was discovered in January, and industrial hygienists and environmental engineers were called to inspect the site and conduct tests. They eventually recommended replacing nearly all the sheet rock and disinfecting nonporous surfaces that might have come in contact with the mold spores.
“We’re paying millions of dollars for a new building – we’re not going to put up with one mold spore,” Brown said recently.
That’s certainly the right attitude and approach. Now let’s be diligent and keep our fingers crossed.
The long-shuttered San Martin courthouse stands as a testament to the dangers of moldy construction. That facility has been closed for years, workers claimed to suffer ill health, the county sued a contractor, endured a lengthy court battle and ever since the South County justice system has been housed in several portable buildings, all as a result of mold.
The city is absolutely right to take a hard line with the contractor and to protect residents, who are already footing a too-steep bill for construction of this police station.
The city is absolutely right to take a hard line on the protection of workers from mold which, in the long run, also boils down to protecting taxpayers because it protects them from expensive worker’s compensation claims.
Even with these remedial steps, the city needs to check the new station for mold at whatever intervals industrial hygienists recommend for however many years they recommend. To protect employees and taxpayers, to cut off possible ill health and worker’s compensation claims, the city must be vigilant to ensure that the mold remediation is 100 percent effective.
The city cannot afford another messed-up construction project. The Santa Teresa road-widening project is turning into a lengthy nightmare for residents and, though the downtown streetscape is going along fairly well, there are many more potential pitfalls in reconstructing an older area than there should be for a new police station. Mold can be a nasty, pricey, persistent problem. Wipe it out now, and make sure that thorough inspections document that there is not a single area where it’s growing in the building.
That will ensure worker safety and a long-term production from a very expensive public works project.
