LITTLETON — The Littleton Police Department has been moved to another building in town due to the resurgence of mold after two years inside its refurbished building.
The department announced on Wednesday that its office had moved from its original location at 117 E South Main St. to the Town Center at 127 West South Main St., Suite A.
On Thursday, Police Chief Phillip Trivette said the reason for the move was due to mold resurfacing inside the building.
On Aug. 29, 2020, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held for the department’s blue-brick building as it underwent renovations due to a mold problem that was said to cover the walls and furniture. During the remodeling, the Littleton Police Department was stationed at the Town Center.
According to the Herald article on the event, former town Commissioner Gerleen Pitchford said the town purchased the building in October of 1945 for $2,000. Pitchford said the project to restore the building was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with a grant loan of $100,000. She mentioned former Congressman G.K. Butterfield (D-1) presented a $266,000 check to help get the remodeling started. Also, during that event, USDA Rural Development Area Specialist Monica R. Thornton said the Town of Littleton received $395,000 in assistance from Rural Development and was part loan and grant.
Read the Herald article headlined “Ceremony for refurbished Littleton Police Department building” at bit.ly/3DHQgUL.
Trivette said the issue of the mold returning has been going on for months since last year, close to August, and has been discussed at some of the town’s regular meetings. When asked which company was responsible for the renovation of the building, he said Turn-Key Contractors Inc. out of Rocky Mount. Trivette said they have spoken with the builders and the possibility of a lawsuit.
“We don’t know if any of it is even their fault,” Trivette said. “We’re still going through all the process and everything.”
Police Commissioner David Lynn Moseley said after the project was completed, there were no problems with the building until a couple of months later. Moseley said one of the officers reported mold forming on some boxes in one of the rooms and called the contractors back. He said the contractors told the town that the mold was already on the boxes and not from the building. Moseley said after a year and a half later, the problem started to become noticeable.
“We notice stuff put on the wall won’t stay on the wall like they’re stuck to the wall, comes unstuck and falls on the floor,” he said. “And then there’s a stain behind where it was because of moisture. Any metal file cabinets — anything against any exterior walls it developed rust from the moisture in the walls, we started seeing it real bad.”
Moseley said floors began sagging in various spots, and mold began appearing on the backside of everything that contacted the wall.
Robbie Davis, co-owner of Turn-Key in Rocky Mount, spoke with the Herald and said it was four months ago that they went up to Littleton to check on the issue. Davis said his company has been in business for 38 years and has done work in the area during that time.
“We went back up there and went through the whole thing with them, and if they determined we hadn’t done something right, please let me know,” he said. “And I hadn’t heard a word out of them. It was USDA funds in which we do a lot of work for USDA. And, you know, if I got any responsibility, I want to know about it, but I hadn’t heard a word from them.”
Charles Dawson of Charles Dawson Construction Services Inc. said he was the project manager for the Town of Littleton and told the Herald that the town had the roof on the building replaced before he and the contractors became involved.
“The best we can determine from our engineers is that the roof had several leaks in it, and water was running down inside of the perimeter masonry walls for a long time,” Dawson said. “Eventually, mold started going into wall cavities, and they started coming through the new sheet rock that had been put in.”
Moseley provided background information and said the town council had the roof replaced in about 2016 due to present leaks and water damage, and growing mold issues led to the building being condemned and unsafe near 2018. That is when the town moved forward with renovation plans and getting USDA financing. Dawson had said the roofing project was not part of their project and was before them.
Commissioner Moseley said the town has had inspections, engineers, architects, contractors, insurance adjusters and SERVEPRO assess and investigate this issue. He said SERVEPRO found that the air quality reports found areas of the building unsafe for occupancy. Moseley said the contractors involved with the renovation project found that everything was done correctly within the scope of the job that was ordered in the design.
He said the roof’s warranty might no longer be in effect and, in theory, that rain may be getting into the walls somehow. Moseley said the town filed a mold and mildew claim and the insurance adjuster said it could not be claimed because of ongoing exposure.
“If it didn’t come from a sudden storm and within two weeks when it happened, they would cover it,” he said. “But because it’s not from storm damages and continued, they say there’s a maintenance issue.”
Moseley said the insurance adjuster’s theory regarding the issue may be due to a previous adjoining building.
“But the insurance adjuster’s theory was it’s possible that water is entering the exterior walls and where it was never properly sealed for whatever reason, and that’s where he thinks the water is coming in.”
Moseley clarified and said the insurance adjuster and engineer speculate the water is coming in the walls through either where the rubber roof turns up and not overlapping the ridge cap or down each wall where the line of bricks from the adjoining wall was not properly sealed.
The town has been making payments of $11,159 each October since 2020 and has $166,000 left in the balance.
Moseley said the town has a rental agreement with Josh and Kathy Pair in the new space for approximately $500 for the police department.
“It’s very accommodating for us, and they’ve rented us an office space and is reasonable on the lease,” he said.
Moseley said Chief Trivette is also the town’s code enforcement and is working on ways to condemn the building. Additionally, he said the town asked the USDA director if the loan could be forgiven.
“And at this point, they said they can’t,” Moseley said.
However, he said the USDA said they could possibly offer assistance if the town presented plans. Moseley also said Sen. Thom Tillis was contacted about the issue and hopes legislators will assist.
The cost of the repairs to the building from Dawson Construction Services Inc. comes out to $121,681.
If anyone needs police assistance to call the non-emergency dispatch at 252-583-1991.
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