Mold Found at Comal County Jail; Remediation to Cost $102K

 

Comal County Judge Sherman Krause tells KGNB News that the mold was found throughout the duct work of the jail itself, the Sheriff’s Office, and the adjacent building that sits in that same area next to the jail.  Those buildings are more than 25 years old, and have already had to have the plumbing replaced with new copper pipes.  That project cost the county roughly 560-thousand dollars, and Krause says the mold remediation will cost another 102-thousand dollars.

 

At this Thursday’s meeting, commissioners are expected to exempt themselves from the normal procedure of going out for bids for such an expensive project.  Instead, they want to hire Fresh Air Certified Mold Remediation right away so they can get that mold removed as quickly as possible.

 

Chief Deputy at the Comal County Sheriff’s Office, Brent Paullus, tells KGNB that as that work is done, inmates and staff will have to be shuffled around, and in some cases, it’s possible that inmates will have to be temporarily transported to the Guadalupe County Jail Facility while crews clean the air ducts in the jail facility.

 

County Commissioners will discuss the issue further at their Thursday meeting, which is set for 8:30am in the Commissioners Courtroom on the Main Plaza.

 

Of course, the County Jail was also the focus of last week’s special workshop in Garden Ridge where Commissioners and the public heard a full presentation on the space use study at the County Jail.  And although that report didn’t mention any of the mold problems outlined in this report, it does discuss several options for Commissioners, including building a brand new jail/sheriff’s office complex.  If you missed last week’s meeting, you can still see the full report on the county’s website, http://www.co.comal.tx.us/.

 

For the full report, including comments from County judge Sherman Krause and Chief Deputy Brent Paullus, just click the Audio Clip link below.