Black mold cleanup at health building costs Bartholomew County $14k

Contractors for Bartholomew County found an unwanted surprise when working at the county-owned Fox Pointe Drive building that houses the county health department.

The contractors were making repairs and renovations to the entrance area at the medical office suite, but in the course of that work, they discovered a black mold infestation that had spread throughout the area and needed removing. County maintenance supervisor Rick Trimpe said that the mold appears to have originally formed in the area of a water leak in a bathroom before the county bought the building. The mold spread up the wall, into another room and into the underside of the building.

County Commissioners President Larry Kleinhenz said the county decided to pay to have the contractors clean up the mess including treating the underskirting and crawl space at a cost of over $14,600. Trimpe said that the county has insurance that he expected to pay on the claim, but the county’s deductible is $10,000.

Commissioners retroactively approved the expenditure to clean up the mold along with just over $18,000 for the other remodeling work.