County Office Building Gets Written Up For Poor Conditions

Inspection By State Department Of Labor And Industry Cites Possible Risks, Prompted By Complaint

By Luther Johnson


A state agency issued Page County a citation following an inspection of the county office building on South Court Street. The inspection found possible risks to both employees and the public.

County officials are in the process of addressing the violations of Virginia’s Occupational Safety and Health Laws.

“We have e-mailed a copy of the citation to all occupants of the building,” said Henry Mikus, the county’s director of public works.

The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry cited five concerns the county needed to address:

• Pigeons nesting in the attic, creating large amounts of waste that can infiltrate the building, and not providing proper personal protection equipment for maintenance workers that may enter the area.

• The presence of asbestos inside the building, such as asbestos wrapped pipes in the basement.

• Entrances to areas where asbestos may be present was not properly signed.

• No asbestos awareness training had been provided to employees that perform housekeeping and other mechanical operations.

• Walls on the second floor had the presence of lead paints, which had chipped and formed piles.

Mikus said the inspection was done following a complaint about the conditions in the building.

The offices and public areas of the building are kept to the first floor, with the upper area of the building remaining empty.

On Monday, the county expected to have an asbestos survey of the building done, according to County Administrator Mark Belton. Once the survey was done, he said, the county would have it cleaned up, along with the lead paint.

Asbestos training for employees is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 10, while county workers would be ensuring all public spaces in the building that had openings where anything from the attic could seep down would be covered and sealed.

The issue of the county office building has been long discussed by the board of supervisors, with no clear plan of action determined.

“It’s not to say the supervisors are being wishy-washy,” said Belton, citing that on the six-member board, four have to come to an agreement before action could go further.

“Right now, no four share the same opinion,” said Belton.

Currently the supervisors have $2.3 million set aside in a county office building construction fund, with an estimated $3.5 million needed for the project. The actual cost, however, still depends on which plan the supervisors vote to move forward with.

The office building is leased from the school board. In the deed, it is stated that should the county vacate the building, the property would revert back to the school board. Belton said this causes legal issues supervisors are concerned about, while considering options.

One option the supervisors have discussed would be to build on the empty lot, across from the courthouse, purchased in 2003 at a price of $120,000. The old school building would then be torn down, and the space used for parking.

Another option utilizes the Atwood property purchased in November 2007. The 9 acres cost the county more than $600,000, and would be used to build a new office complex and potentially a new facility for the Luray Rescue Squad.

Supervisors have also considered the option of renovating the current building, with no new estimation of the cost involved.