By Katie Northcott, News Director
At its meeting on Thursday, March 5, the Coffee County Capital Outlay Committee directed the Coffee County Manchester Public Library to close temporarily.
Library Director Polly Vaughn appeared before the committee to ask for funds to address mold in the HVAC system. She said that county employees had been able to address leaks in the roof that had caused some of the mold problems, but that the city might need to hire a specialist to clean the HVAC system.
Vaughn said the library board decided to spend $2,700 of funds allocated to the library to investigate whether the mold could be the cause of employee health problems. At the committee meeting, Vaughn presented the mold specialists’ findings to the committee members.
Vaughn said that library employees had started to notice migraines, and one employee even complained of respiratory distress. She said the most affected employee is planning to file for workman’s compensation.
“I don’t think we have any choice, y’all, but to close [the library] down until this is rectified by the recommendations of the testing,” Committee Secretary Frank Watkins said.
County Maintenance Supervisor Rick Soucy said he wished that the Library Board had sought approval from the committee before conducting an initial investigation into the mold. He said the county might have been able to find a way to address the mold problem without closing the library.
Watkins made the motion to close the library pending the needed repairs. The motion passed 4-0-0-1 (Committee Vice Chairman Jimmy Hollandsworth absent).
The committee cited liability concerns as the reason for closing the library.
The library will be closed indefinitely. Soucy plans to obtain three quotes on the repair job and then seek emergency funding from the County Commission.
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