Flagler County has notified three parties that it intends to seek damages after discovering mold and water intrusion in a recently purchased building.
BUNNELL — Flagler County has signaled it plans to seek damages over black mold and water intrusion discovered this week at a building it recently purchased in Palm Coast to provide temporary space for the Sheriff’s Department.
County officials had hoped to use the 8,000-square-foot former Sears outlet building as a Sheriff’s Office substation for the next two years while construction is under way on a permanent district office.
By chance, two of the three parties put on notice Thursday over conditions at the former Sears building also played a role in the county’s 2013 purchase of the former hospital building in Bunnell that later became the now-abandoned Sheriff’s Operations Center.
The Bunnell property was abandoned after numerous deputies said the building was making them sick. The same real estate broker and the same company that performed the inspection of the property were involved in the sale of both the former hospital and the former Sears building.
Officials were counting on the former Sears building, which they purchased for $1.125 million in March, to house the Sheriff’s Palm Coast precinct. Currently, that substation is located at City Market Place, but the rent on that property will soon increase from $77,000 to $120,000 a year.
The county had also hoped to move the precinct into a former bank building it purchased in May 2018, but renovations to that structure have taken too long to make a quick enough move and avoid the rent hike.
Now, the plan to use the former Sears building appears to be dead. This week, county workers found the water intrusion and mold while renovating the building on Palm Coast Parkway. All work on it has stopped.
County Attorney Al Hadeed sent notice of intent to recoup costs for the former Sears building to: the former owners of the building, James and Andre’a McIntyre of the Darnell Group; the broker who handled the sale, Margaret Sheehan-Jones; and the company that inspected the building prior to the purchase, Universal Engineering Sciences.
In his letter to the building owners and the broker, Hadeed wrote that the county would pursue claims over “failure to disclose the existence of water intrusion into the building” by both parties.
“The evidence on site shows unmistakably that the water intrusion was of long-standing,” Hadeed wrote. “The water intrusion damaged the sheet rock and rusted metal parts within the building and in some places rusted through. The degree of water intrusion, its volume and repetition have created substantial, hazardous black mold.”
He added that the building is “unsuitable for occupation.”
In his notice to the McIntyres, Hadeed wrote that the county could seek punitive damages from the owners in addition to damages and cancellation of the sales agreement.
In his notice to Sheehan-Jones, Hadeed admitted that the county didn’t know whether she knew of the conditions he had outlined. Still, he wrote that the county believed it was her duty “to be aware of the suitability of the building for public governmental purposes.”
In an email to The News-Journal, Sheehan-Jones said she was unaware of any problems with the building.
“When I visited the property with several representatives of the county prior to the sale of the Sears store, the store was still operating and the space was full of inventory,” Sheehan-Jones responded by email. “I had no knowledge of any issues with water intrusion at the property and the seller did not disclose anything to me that would have raised any concerns.”
She pointed out that no water damage on the walls was visible to either her or the county staff members present at the time of the visit.
“It is unreasonable to suggest I had a duty to disclose facts that I did not know about or had any way to discover,” she continued.
She also pointed out that information that has been released shows that staff had to remove walls to discover the issue.
“I look forward to receiving all of the information the county has regarding this issue and am confident the truth will be shown,” she wrote.
Hadeed’s letter also reminded Sheehan-Jones that she handled the sale of the Bunnell former hospital that eventually became the Sheriff’s Operations Center. That building, evacuated in June 2018 over health concerns related to suspected “sick building syndrome,” has been a headache for county officials over the past year.
The county has made no allegations or sought redress in the purchase of that property, so the purpose of Hadeed’s reference is unclear beyond a suggestion that Sheehan-Jones should have been alerted “to present only properties to the county, including this one, which are suitable for consideration for public use.”
In the notice sent to Universal Engineering Services, Hadeed wrote that the county intended to pursue damages and a refund of all fees. The county had hired Universal, an independent consultant, to evaluate the former Sears building prior to closing the deal.
In its report on the former Sears building, dated Dec. 12, Universal did list damages to the stucco finish on the building’s exterior and the gutter and downspouts, as well as some minor damage to steel sheathing areas, but found no evidence of moisture infiltration. It did suggest repairs.
The report also suggested repairs to insulation, but found “no evidence of excessive deterioration” of interior sheet rock walls, ceilings or floor coverings.
In his letter to Universal, Hadeed said the report did not identify or address “evidence plainly evident to the county’s employees.”
“Had you identified what was plainly evident, the County Commission would have chosen other alternatives to the purchase,” Hadeed wrote.
County staff had estimated that it would cost about $40,000 to convert the structure into a sheriff’s substation. The county closed on the property on March 29.
Universal also performed the inspection on the former hospital in Bunnell at 901 E. Moody Blvd. that went on to become the Sheriff’s Operations Center. In that case, the company reported “many areas of water intrusion” and mold throughout the structure. Still, the county spent $6.5 million to purchase and renovate it.
Neither the McIntyres not Universal Engineering Sciences could be reached for comment Friday.
The trouble with the Sears building adds to headaches county officials already have over the Sheriff’s Operations Center, which Sheriff Rick Staly evacuated in June 2018 after employees began to exhibit symptoms of “sick building syndrome.” In February, a lab analysis confirmed the presence of black mold at the Bunnell site, supporting the sick building claim.
The 70 deputies who were working out of the Bunnell property remain displaced. Sixty of them were relocated to the nearby Kim C. Hammond Justice Center in Bunnell. The other 10 were moved to the Sheriff’s Office jail administration building.
The construction of a permanent district office on Palm Coast Parkway next to the public library is hoped to help alleviate the problem, but it won’t be complete for two more years. That office would also eliminate the need for a separate Palm Coast precinct. County officials had hoped the former Sears building would fill in that gap.
Having spent the past year dealing with the fallout from problems at the Sheriff’s Operations Center, Staly made his position clear Wednesday regarding the former Sears building.
“I’m not going to put employees back into a mold-infested building,” he said.
source https://www.news-journalonline.com/news/20190517/flagler-to-seek-damages-after-mold-found-in-former-sears-building
Damage Mold 