Coff ee County Maintenance Director Rick Soucy during the May 7 Capital Outlay Committee Meeting said that mold levels found inside the Coffee County Manchester Library were minimal.

Soucy cited the mold testing company’s report, the document that was presented to the committee in March that along with reports of an employee made sick with respiratory conditions related to mold, resulted in the immediate closing of the library.

“The lab shows relatively low levels of mold spores in the indoor air samples, less than in exterior air samples and well below levels commonly found indoors,” the report said.

Soucy said that one swab from an air duct came back showing a zero-tolerance mold from the main lobby vent.

“Basically, that was caused by an ‘elevated mold spore count.’ Yes, it’s a problem. We identified it and we’re going to get it fixed, but I want everybody to know that the library is not completely overrun with mold,” Soucy said.

Capital Outlay Committee Chairman Terry Hershman could not offer a firm timeline to when the library would open, but offered that everything is being done as quickly as possible to safely reopen the library.

Soucy said the roof was repaired as of April 24. Maintenance staff inspected the building and no leaks were found.

Servpro was scheduled to begin mold remediation on Monday, which should take from several days up to a week.

Following that, the initial mold testing company will return to retest the facility for the presence of mold.

“I feel like we should have the original ones who did the testing to come back. They are a third party and have no ties to the repairs. They are going to be a good way to make sure everything is done the right way,” Soucy said.

New roof needed Hershman said that the work done to the roof is a temporary measure and a new roof is needed. That will also include replacing all the plywood decking due to damage.

Hershman said that the current roof was installed in 2010 using the wrong roofing material. That material is what he called “barn roof” that did not allow sealing where the panels overlap.

“The one that’s on there was made to leak. You cannot seal it. You cannot put mastic on it to stop it from leaking.” he said.

The screws that hold down the roof are backing out, which allow the roof panels to move in the wind and wallow out the holes further.

“The fix that we have now is working, but how long it is going to work, we can’t tell you that,” Hershman said.