Mold found at Bloomfield Police Department; officers move

BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- The Bloomfield Police Department moved to a new home last week.

When an air conditioner recently failed, Mayor Donna Medlin and Bloomfield police chief Tim Zych assumed they would call in a repairman and go about business as usual. That's not how it worked out in the end.

After removing the unit, the repairman discovered heavy concentrations of mold.

Medlin said the air conditioner had not been draining properly, and it appeared it could have been that way for many years.

A special meeting of the Bloomfield Board of Aldermen was called.

"Rather than take a chance [of someone becoming ill] while we were trying to decide what to do, we decided that the best course of action was to move them into city hall, effective immediately," Medlin said.

Construction was underway late last month to prepare the building for the added department.

The police department now will be in what was the city collector's office. Additional doors are being installed to better secure the department from the rest of the building.

"I believe this is a great move, but it's important that the police department have everything they need," Medlin said, noting the department needs two offices to continue functioning as they do at the current facility.

Zych will be given Medlin's office as part of the move.

"He needs an office," Medlin said. "I can be mobile pretty easy and we have room when I need a place to work."

Medlin said the main concern for the department, the board and herself is to ensure the health of employees and people who visit the office.

Zych said while he wishes the move could have been under better circumstances, he's pleased to be moving into a smaller facility.

"We spend an enormous amount of our budget just to heat and cool that building," he said, adding the monthly cost is between $600 and $1,000. "The building isn't very energy efficient."

Despite being pleased about the move, Zych acknowledged certain aspects of how the police department functions will have to change.

There were concerns about adequate privacy for interviewing victims, but the additional door to seal the police off from other parts of the city office should be adequate, Medlin said.

Zych said since the mold was discovered, Stoddard County Sheriff Carl Hefner has been "very gracious," offering to help in any way possible, including allowing use of sheriff's department interview space when it is not in use.

Effective immediately, city court will be in the city hall basement in the board of aldermen chambers.

As of now, there is no plan to perform testing to determine the type of mold that is growing within the duct work in the basement. Instead of spending the money for testing, the mayor said aldermen decided to simply err on the side of caution.

Medlin said she was grateful for how well the board and various departments have pulled together during the ordeal.

"I really think it's going to be a blessing in disguise for both the police department and the taxpayers," she said, noting it should save the police department a considerable amount of money in the coming year.

In 2012, Stoddard County had to spend approximately $300,000 for the removal of mold from the Justice Center when workers discovered similar HVAC problems.

Medlin said the city of Bloomfield couldn't afford to undertake the same type of operation to keep doors open.

"We're just grateful we had this as an option," she said.

Pertinent address:

Bloomfield, Mo.