ONEONTA _ Air quality and other concerns at the Oneonta Public Safety Building have prompted firefighters and police to ask the Common Council for a closer look at the 30-year-old structure.
Third Ward Alderman Erik Miller said Tuesday that a planned project to renovate Oneonta City Court may be adjusted to deal with issues brought in June by firefighter Michael Mancini and police Lt. Dennis Nayor.
The building at 81 Main St. houses the court and police and fire departments.
Mancini, president of the firefighters' union, and Nayor presented their concerns to the Board of Public Safety on June 16. At that meeting, Nayor said he suspected poor air quality was giving him sinus infections, and he showed the board a blackened air filter he installed in his office for two weeks. Nayor also said computer monitors are always covered by a dark film.
Mancini said Tuesday that in addition to air-quality concerns, there are leaks in the roof, and there have been problems with the heating and air-conditioning systems.
"It just keeps adding up," he said.
Mayor John Nader said city's part-time housing rehabilitation specialist Bruce Amadon was coordinating with a firm to clean out the ventilation areas and conduct testing.
"I asked them to move on this immediately," Nader said.
Police Chief Joseph Redmond said workers were expected inside the building today.
Miller, chairman of the council's Building and Technology Committee, said a state Office of Court Administration-funded project to enclose an atrium at the building's main entrance and create more office and storage space on the second floor is in the planning stages.
The city is reviewing 13 proposals for the design phase of the project, which Miller said is estimated at about $15,000.
The city could expand the scope of that engineering work to include an examination of air quality, as well as the prospect of mold, but the city would likely have to fund that work, Miller said.
A study three years ago found no mold but indicated the potential for growth was a concern, Miller said.
He said the matter will be discussed at a Building and Technology Committee meeting at 5 p.m. Thursday.
"No one is talking about replacing the building," Miller said.
Officials: Building is getting old
Redmond and Fire Chief Robert Barnes said Tuesday the building is aging.
"It's a 30-year-old building. They are going to have to start looking at it," Redmond said
Barnes said the flexible ventilation ducts are unable to be fully cleaned during periodic maintenance by an outside company that cleans the system.
"I think that's the primary issue," Barnes said. "Debris is dropping out of it."
Barnes also said the Common Council has been apprised of the problems with the building over the last few years.
"It should have been no surprise to the Common Council," he said.
Mancini said he would prefer that a separate building evaluation be done, especially because funding for the atrium project is connected to the state Office of Court Administration.
"In my opinion, the Band-Aid approach needs to be stopped, and (the building) needs to be looked at from top to bottom, front to back," Mancini said.
It is important, he said, because it is the only municipal building occupied on a 24-hour basis, and it has a minimum of 12 people inside it at any given time.
"It's a busy building, and time is starting to take its toll," Mancini said.
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