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Overcast and Breezy Rockville Centre police to move station to water department building
After weighing its options for several months in search of a new police headquarters, the village plans to move the force into the water department building as soon as possible.
The planned move to 142 Maple Ave. comes after an April air quality report from Baldwin-based Clean Air Testing Labs found “severe mold contamination” at the Rockville Centre Police Department’s headquarters at 34 Maple Ave., the Herald reported in October.
Though the report stated “the levels of contamination and the species that were detected can be life-threatening,” it also noted that there was “very little airborne mold spore contamination.” The report recommends that the building be closed during abatement, which is necessary to “create a safe working environment.”
The village’s Board of Trustees approved an agreement last month with H2M Architects and Engineers for preliminary designs for the new police headquarters in an amount not to exceed $22,500.
Mayor Francis X. Murray said the village has done surveys in recent years to see how it could cut costs by consolidating village buildings. “The water department was not being fully utilized, so we’re looking at ways to alleviate that problem,” he said. “…Now we’re getting a brand new state-of-the-art police station. The one they have now is way too small and it’s not adequate.”
The current police building will be torn down, he added, and will be replaced with a parking lot.
The village’s Board of Trustees voted in November to rescind bids amounting to roughly $2 million that had been awarded to construct a new police headquarters. Moving to a village-owned building will save taxpayers’ money, Murray noted. It is unclear how long it will be before the police department employees move to the new building, according to village spokeswoman Julie Scully.
Like the April mold report, a more recent one in October by Clean Air Testing Labs, recently obtained by the Herald, also found little airborne mold spore contamination, but discovered Cladosporium on many of the building’s ceiling registers through swab sampling.
“It is very important to mention that just because the air samples and the contamination in the duct work is minor, there is still considerable health risks from the mycotoxins that are being produced by the large areas of mold contamination that exist in the walls, ceilings and window sills,” the report said.
It added that the mold could be harmful to people who suffer from respiratory problems and others. “It is still our firm opinion that these premises be vacated as soon as possible,” the report said.
“It seems like they’re taking a very long time with this,” Jim Carty, president of the Rockville Centre Police Benevolent Association, told the Herald last month, before being informed about the potential move. “It’s coming up on nine months since we first found out there was mold in there.”
He said he has developed lung problems that his doctor said could be due to mold exposure, and has recently had trouble breathing. “I want to get out of there as fast as possible,” Carty said. “I want my members out of there as fast as possible, but we’re just waiting to hear. It’s been a long time.”
Police Commissioner James Vafeades had not responded to the Herald’s request for comment at press time on Saturday.
