ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, May 24, 1996 TAG: 9605240045
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: PULASKI
SOURCE: LISA K. GARCIA STAFF WRITER
The odor of mildew hung in the air Thursday at the Sheriff's Office, olfactory evidence of the leaky roof that let a May 15 storm soak the building's interior and this week caused most of the employees to pack up and leave for drier quarters.
Pulaski County Sheriff Ralph Dobbins said the flat roof has been a problem since the county and inmates built the building in 1982. The building was designed so a second floor could be built right on top and the roof was never meant to be permanent, he said. Lack of money in the county budget prevented the second floor from being built to date, but patchwork has been done over the years to repair leaks.
"The smell of it - the aroma of the mold and mildew - is not healthy to breathe," Dobbins said. "When people come in they comment on the odor ... it's kind of embarrassing. It's not a place we're proud of right now."
Normally a few waste paper baskets could handle the drips, but nearly 2 feet of snow sitting on the roof this winter and a heavy rain last week caused the problem to escalate, according to Dobbins.
"You might work like this in Disneyland or Water World, but not here," Dobbins said.
Over the the last few days 60 of the 68 employees boxed up and moved computers and other equipment to eight empty offices on the first and second floors of the courthouse after an agreement was reached with Joe Morgan, county administrator. Morgan would not comment about the roof and referred all inquiries to Dobbins.
Dobbins said he does not blame anyone for the problems but is glad employees will be out of the way as workers begin renovations in the next month. Dispatchers will remain behind for now unless technicians can figure out a reasonable way to move the roomful of radio equipment, he said.
For now, the ceiling above dispatchers is ringed with plastic tarps to re-route any water.
Water damage over the years resulted in rusted steel-door frames, soaked carpet, mildewed walls, disintegrated ceiling tiles and bowed rafters. Those repairs will be made as well as the flat roof's replacement with a peaked roof at an estimated cost of $25,000, Dobbins said. Inmate labor will be used for the painting, but a contractor is handling the structural repairs.
Dobbins said last week's storm moved the relatively minor leaking from one side of the building to the middle area; right on top of the 911 dispatch equipment.
Dispatch is "the heart of this place; if it goes, were gone," Dobbins said.
Once dispatchers heard the water thumping against the ceiling tiles of the drop ceiling, they quickly covered the radio equipment and put trash cans under the leaks. No water entered the equipment in that area, but it soaked a nearby evidence room and the electronic and phone control panels as well direct alarms for banks and the jail that cover one wall, Dobbins said.
"They used a hair dryer to dry it out," Dobbins said of the panels now covered with plastic.
Dobbins said he expects his office to be whole again in about three months when repairs are complete.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. Sheriff Ralph Dobbins in the evidenceby CNBroom where the control panels for the 911, telephone, alarm and
electrical systems are covered with plastic sheeting. color.