Results on mold tests forwarded

Mold test results from the building that houses Jay County Community Corrections will be forwarded to the building’s owner and the county health department.
Hoosier Microbiological Laboratory, Muncie, conducted the tests on five rooms in the corrections office, 120 N. Commerce Street, Portland, and two places in Purdue Cooperative Extension office, 126 N. Meridian St., Portland.
The commissioners said community corrections employees noticed a small patch of mold in the office, which led to the testing.
The commissioners also were planning to have the extension office tested after the Feb. 28 flood. While a contractor had suggested at the time that the county rip out a section of drywall in the office immediately after the flood, commissioner Milo Miller Jr. at the time wanted to wait and have the building tested after attempts to clean it up and dry it out.
HML’s report cites normal “background” readings for commercial properties at less than 2,500 spores per cubic meter. Two rooms in the corrections office tested above 2,500 — the break room results returned at 3,552 spores and the training room at 2,688 spores.
The remaining three rooms were below the 2,500 level at 2,270, 2,180 and 2,061.
Both sites in the extension office were within the acceptable range around 1,500 spores.
The report listed readings between 2,500 and 10,000 spores per cubic meter as “possible contamination,” so the commissioners decided to forward the results to the owners of the building where the corrections office is located, Todd Penrod and Mitch Sutton, as well as to Jay County Health Department environmental officer Dave Houck.
In other business today, commissioners:
•Were informed by Jay County Surveyor Brad Daniels that one of his department’s trucks was damaged by the tornado that struck the Bryant area on Tuesday.
Daniels said the truck was parked at an employee’s home and the tornado hit a nearby garage, which collapsed on top of the truck. Daniels said the county’s insurance agent is investigating the damage.
•Signed an emergency claim for $8,900 to MRDC, Muncie, for juvenile detention services. The commissioners signed a contract with MRDC last month for 100 beds at $89 per bed per day. That rate will also be charged for any usage over the 100 beds contracted.
•Signed a resolution to give about .25 acre of land in Bearcreek Township to the Friends of the Limberlost. The commissioners discussed the transaction with the group’s president Dave Cramer last week. The land is located just east of U.S. 27, about a quarter mile south of the Jay-Adams County line on the south side of Limberlost Creek.[[In-content Ad]]