SEABROOK — Add Seabrook to the list of municipalities with serious moisture and mold problems in an important town building.
According to Town Manager Barry Brenner, the rains in late February and March did a lot of damage to Seabrook's 30-year-old Town Hall, which had buckets catching rain drops in several areas.
But the final straw came when rain leaked through the brick exterior on the east face of the building, soaking the town clerk's office. Worse still, upon investigation, what was found indicated this wasn't the first time water infiltrated the structure, Brenner said.
"The office was saturated," Brenner said. "When we opened up the wall to see how bad it was, they found behind it (the insulation) was wet; there was mold, and it went far beyond that office. It appeared the problem has existed for some time."
Realizing they had an emergency on their hands, town officials called in an industrial hygienist firm from Portsmouth, N.H., to find out just how bad things were.
The good news is that interior air quality tests indicate the air is not bad enough to force the closing of Town Hall and necessitating a move elsewhere, Brenner said.
"Based on the samples, the air quality isn't that bad, given the circumstances," Brenner said."
The bad news is that wall samples indicate dampness and mold are pervasive along the east, north and southern walls of the building and may have traveled to the west face as well. Wetness and mold have infiltrated to the exterior Sheetrock, the insulation and interior Sheetrock, with moisture levels high enough to require immediate attention.
"We won't know everything until we open up all the walls to see just how bad it is and see if all the walls need treatment," Brenner said. "But it appears that could be the case."
Cost and time estimates are still being worked on by the remediation team called in to handle the emergency, but it's expected it's going to be a pricey situation, Brenner said. The town's already spent about $10,000, but that's probably a drop in the bucket to how much it will come to when all is done, he said.
"The resolution is that the remediation company will take off all the interior sheetrock, then take out the insulation, then take out the exterior sheetrock," he said. "Everything will have to be bagged and sealed and disposed of. Then all surfaces will have to be cleaned and disinfected, then rebuilt. After that, we'll have to get into the heating and air conditioning vents and clean all that out as well. Then, we'll have to seal the outside of the building to make sure it doesn't happen again."
The town clerk's office has already been sealed off and its personnel and equipment moved, with an air filter drawing air out of the building, he said. Also moved immediately is the abutting tax collector's office and personnel.
"The town clerk's office has been moved over to where the welfare office was, and the welfare office has been moved to the Police Department," Brenner said. "The tax collector's office has moved to the special projects office, and that office has been moved temporarily upstairs into the selectmen's office.
And, there's going to be more disruption, as one by one the offices in Town Hall are moved in phases during this cleanup.
Seabrook Health Officer Paul Garand said there have been complaints by Town Hall employees about the air quality for some time, but the last series of storms brought the issue to a head.
"It's been a problem for a few years with people complaining of red eyes and breathing problems," Garand said. "But now we know what's going on, and we have to deal with it. You have to make sure everyone is safe."
Brenner said a briefing was conducted on Monday with department heads and any Town Hall personnel who wanted to be involved.
Although he's still awaiting estimates from the remediation company willing to move fast and handle Seabrook's health and building emergency, Brenner has a plan on how to find the money to pay for whatever it costs.
Selectmen will petition Rockingham Superior Court for permission to hold a special Town Meeting, he said. If permission is given, voters will be asked for their permission to transfer the needed amount of money from the town's $4 million reserve fund into the general fund to pay the bills.
"The purpose of reserve funds is to use them in emergencies of extraordinary circumstances, and that's what we have here," Brenner said.
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