Fixes OK’d at Main St. site

Health issues may be tied to building

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors on Monday approved up to $170,000 in fixes to the building at 197 S. Main St. where some employees have reported suffering respiratory problems potentially tied to the century-old structure.

Two supervisors said they had concerns about whether the work to completely seal off the unimproved portion of the building would make any difference in reducing the health issues faced by employees, or open a Pandora’s box of new problems to deal with.

“Some of it makes perfect sense to me, to proceed on right away, and others don’t make any sense to me at all,” District 2 Supervisor Russell McCloud said, citing the $120,000 recommended expenditure to clean, test and completely seal off the used portion.

“My perception is that there’s a belief that somehow that will stop something that’s being transmitted, maybe insulation or something, across the interior space to the exterior, but I don’t know (if) that would happen; that doesn’t make sense to me,” he said.

He added that he knows the testing for asbestos and lead will have to be done when the county moves ahead with the plan to build a new Board of Supervisors auditorium and other offices in that section, but “as long as it’s undisturbed, there’s no possibility of that coming into the environment, so I don’t get that.”

General Services Manager David Hylland said “more than a dozen” workers have made complaints about trouble breathing, irritated throats and related maladies, and several measures have already been taken in an effort to eliminate the possible causes.

“But the issues seem to be continuing, so we’re try-

ing to take a very holistic approach to the building, trying to look at all possible sources that could be contributing to the issue,” he said.

He said there are no mechanical connections between the used and unused portions of the edifice through the air circulation system, but the unfinished portion “isn’t airtight by any means,” so dust, fibers and other substances from the unimproved section could get through the cracks around its doors, especially since the side of the walls facing into the space had not been sealed.

“We’re at a point where we need to cover all of our bases, and that area is one that is in obvious need of attention to some degree to address some of the issues that we’re dealing with,” he said. Old carpet piled up in one spot needs to be thrown away and stairwells need to be cleaned, for example.

Hylland said he’s still waiting on final results from air quality testing done inside the building last month, but one “area of concern” had been elevated levels of particulates and other irritants in the occupied portion, which were much higher inside the elevated part.

District 4 Supervisor and board chairman Tony Reyes said he’s worried that too much work within the unfinished section before the county was ready to begin construction in earnest would create more problems than it would solve. “I’m just a little reluctant because when you open up a door like this and don’t know what’s on the other side, it’s difficult to -- you may find out there’s something serious going on, we may have to go in there to fix it.”

He also said that the Board of Supervisors contingency fund recommended to fund the improvements was generally reserved for “emergency” situations, and he felt the funding should come out of the county’s capital improvement funds.

“Obviously it’s an emergency for the employees who work over at 197, and it’s an emergency for us, therefore. But I don’t find that this meets my standards for using the emergency fund. Normally it’s for something we didn’t expect, which we can’t find money for anywhere else. To me it’s not an issue of whether it needs to be done or not. It needs to be done. It’s where the money needs to come from,” he said.

Martin Porchas, District 1 Supervisor, said the interior should have been sealed off to begin with, and “if you’re going to find something, you’re going to find it. We obviously found that when we started working on that building. There’s no turning back.” Officials said the additional sealing of the unused space was not part of the original construction plan.

The $4.2 million renovation project began when the purchase of the building, across the street from the main county administration, was approved by the Board of Supervisors in June 2013, and the construction contract awarded to LPC Construction in June 2015. Construction began shortly afterward, and the county treasurer’s, assessor’s and recorder’s offices and elections department began relocating there in fall 2016.

District 5 Supervisor Lynne Pancrazi emphasized the welfare of the employees working in the building and members of the public doing business there need to come first. “If that means we need to use the contingency fund to get things fixed, then that. I’m sorry, you can’t go into an old building, seal all the windows up and not have issues arise that need to be worked on.

“Whatever we need to do to make that a safe and healthy environment for employees, and a safe and healthy environment for residents, we need to do it. That’s what the contingency budget is for, for things that we find that we haven’t put in the budget.”

McCloud said he agrees the employees’ health is paramount, but the board also has to protect taxpayer dollars, and “I just question whether it’s a good use for taxpayer dollars. Much of it is, much of it is a nobrainer. I’m just not so sure we’ve shown we need to do all of that work on that interior space. Wouldn’t it be extremely unusual for someone to enter that area during the workday?”

Pancrazi responded that Information Technology employees go into a room within it where computer equipment is stored daily, as well as anyone who has to work on the building’s HVAC system. There is also an exit in the space which is used by Election Services employees, which would be walled off under the planned scope of work.

The other items included in the plan are replacing part of the sidewalk behind the building to prevent leaks into the basement ($34,800) and an HVAC system for the room containing the county’s new early ballot sorting machine, which creates more heat when in use than can be managed by the current HVAC system.

District 5 Supervisor Darren Simmons asked how long construction on the project would take, which Hylland said would be two or three months.

The board eventually voted to approve the $170,700 expenditure, to be funded by available capital improvement funds, and then by contingency if the CAP money wasn’t adequate.

On Monday the board also:

• Chose the current board chairman, District 4 Supervisor Tony Reyes, and vicechairman, District 2 Supervisor Russell McCloud, to retain their roles for the 2018 calendar year. The chair presides over board meetings and represents the county at public functions, and the vice-chair fills in when the chair is absent.

• Authorized funding for a Paid Time Off/Vacation buyback program for county employees for 2017, at a projected total cost of $327,500.

• Approved requests for regular or occasional commuting vehicle usage for 2018 by 27 county employees. These include seven from the human resources department, five each from the health, housing and facilities management departments, three from county constable precincts and one from the emergency management department.

• Accepted a Ford F-150 truck donated to the sheriff’s department by the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, with an estimated value of $74,176.

• OK’d distribution of $16,403 in community program funding from the Quechan Indian Tribe, to be divided evenly between the Salvation Army and Amberly’s Place.

• Held work sessions for updates on the energy audit on county facilities being performed by Siemens Industry, Inc. and Arizona Association of Counties legislative proposals for the upcoming session.