T he Capital Outlay Committee took immediate action to close the Coffee County Manchester Public Library Thursday, March 6 after Library Director Pauline Vaughn presented members with test results showing elevated mold spores present at the facility.

Vaughn said her staff has brought health complaints to her, and one employee is filing a workman’s comp claim for mold related health issues.

Capital Outlay moved to shut the facility’s doors until the matter can be rectified.

The library has had chronic roof leaks, and the Coffee County Maintenance Department is currently working to repair water damage in several areas.

Vaughn presented the commission with the results and recommendation from a mold specialist the library had hired using library committed funds.

Recommendations from the firm’s suggestions included air duct cleaning, repairs to the leaks, a moisture collector on the HVAC unit and sealing the library in a negative pressure environment to prevent the spread of mold spores.

“None of us here are going to stand up and say that we are experts in mold remediation,” Commissioner Frank Watkins said. “I don’t want any of our kids getting sick … our citizens getting sick or any of our employees getting sick.”

The board tasked Maintenance Director Rick Soucy with obtaining three bids for treating the library for mold.

Soucy cautioned that mold testing companies can cherry pick their data source to give favorable results, but he also recommended closing the building out of an abundance of caution.

Soucy said that he has repaired the worst of the water damaged area, but he clearly admitted that he is not a mold expert and could not say how the remainder of the library has been affected.

“At the end of the day, we have to have a report on paper that says it’s clean and ready to go,” Soucy said. “I just wished the library board would have come to us. This is going to be a drastic change.”

He said that a small area at the Tullahoma Ambulance Station cost about $10,000.

The motion to close the library until further notice passed unanimously. County Mayor Dennis Hunt voiced support Friday of the action taken by the committee in a social media post.

“Coffee County Government takes very seriously the safety of our employee workplaces and the facilities frequented by the public,” said Hunt. “When our Capital Outlay Committee was presented with evidence of air quality deficiencies in our Manchester Library, they exercised prudence with their recommendation to temporarily close that facility. As Mayor, I have no reason at this time to disagree with their decision.”