By Katie Northcott, News Director
Coffee County Maintenance Supervisor Rick Soucy said at the Coffee County Capital Outlay Committee meeting on Thursday, April 2 that bids for mold remediation at the Coffee County Manchester Public Library should be submitted during the week of April 6 through April 10.
Soucy reported that three companies had examined the mold inside the library and one out of the three had submitted bids. He expected that the other two companies would submit bids within the next week, and he planned to hire the company that submitted the lowest bid.
Committee Chairman Terry Hershman addressed community pushback on the committee’s decision to close the library to address the mold problem.
“We’re trying to get where we can get [the library] back open,” Hershman said. “It was a call that had to be made. We made the call to close it, and we’re getting the repairs done as quickly as we can. And the main thing is getting the inspections done so that we know it’s safe to open it back up.”
Find more reporting on the library closure here.
Hershman said that the mold remediation as well as the repairs being made to the roof and inside of the library are just a “Band-Aid” on the problem. He said the library will eventually need a new roof as the current roof is suited to a residential building, not a commercial building. As a result, the roof is suffering water intrusion that causes mold growth.
A company has been hired to provide a temporary fix to the library’s roof that will prevent water intrusion. Soucy said the company would begin work the week of April 6 through April 10.
Coffee County maintenance has worked to fix areas inside of the library that have suffered water damage.
