FOLEY – The Foley Police Department received some good news recently when the mold situation ended up being not as bad as the first findings led the department to believe.

“We were thinking we were going to have it all over — thinking we may have to evacuate the building because they would have to get all in the ceiling,” Deputy Chief Randy Bishop said.

“Most of it is surface mold, however, around the vents and in the ceilings. We have a little bit up in the ductwork but not enough that it is a major concern. We were happy about that. It is still a problem, but it is not nearly as bad as we were first led to believe. I am glad we caught it at the time we did,” he said.

Bishop brought in an investigator last month who confirmed there was mold in the police station, but the mold was not nearly as bad as everyone thought it was at first.

“We will have to do some cleaning, but I can’t start the cleanup until I get the air handling system operating the way it is supposed to be because the air handling system is the cause of the mold. Everything above this ceiling and it is where the return air goes. It is getting back there but I have 10 or 12 exhaust fans on the roof that are no longer working,” said Bishop.

Bishop is currently in the process of fixing the cause of the mold and then cleaning the mold that has accumulated in the Foley Justice Center. According to Bishop, air conditioning units, which weren’t functioning properly, are to blame for the mold accumulation.

“We have got to get that air moving in and out like it is supposed to be. Once I get that circulation going then we can call in a company or send out for quotes for the company to come in and do the remediation that needs to be done as far as the mold we have right now,” Bishop said.

Bishop said there are between 10 and 12 units on the roof of the justice center that need to be fixed. He said the units were almost eleven years old and considering how often the units are used to keep the justice center cool 24/7, he was not surprised the units needed repair.

Police chief David Wilson approached the council for approval to accept a quote from CMS Mechanical Services, LLC for repairs necessary to the air-handling units at the Foley Justice Center. The necessary work will cost $5,500.

“Once we know that it is circulating like it needs to be then we will start the mold removal,” said Bishop.

Bishop considers the police department pretty lucky because the mold situation could have been much worse, especially since it was found in the fall instead of in the middle of the summer when humidity in this area is extremely high.

“Luckily, this time of the year with the cool weather coming in it is fine. If we were going through this in June, July I would have to say we would really have to be moving on it to get these things working right. That is why I haven’t called the people to clean the mold up. Luckily right now as cool as it is the mold isn’t a big problem right now because you have to have the moisture to keep feeding it,” said Bishop.

Even though the problem is not a pressing one, Bishop wants to get it taken care of as quickly as possible. Since the council approved the repairs for the air conditioning system, Bishop plans to schedule the repairs with the company this week. He hopes to have the company working on the problem within the next two weeks so he can call someone to get the mold out of the building as soon as possible, hopefully never to return again.

“Then we have taken care of the problem that in the future will prevent it from growing again,” he said.