There are continuing issues at the sick, former Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell, but they are repairable, or treatable, a moisture and concrete evaluation report to the county concludes even as it lists a series of problems.
sick building syndrome
Out of Patience, Sheriff Demands County Action on Space Needs: ‘This Situation Cannot Continue’
The sheriff’s letter to the county commission chairman echoes the same urgency and call for action that the sheriff used just over a year ago to compel the county to provide a healthier space for employees than the troubled Operations Center.
To Sue or Not to Sue: County Wrestles With Sheriff’s Space Needs at Courthouse
Despite a county commission vote ordering its administration to find more space for the sheriff at the county courthouse, the county administrator and the county attorney have demurred.
County Calms Bunnell’s Anger Over Sheriff’s Move to Palm Coast, Disarming Threats of Lawsuit
Sheriff Rick Staly’s and County Manager Jerry Cameron’s joint appearance before the Bunnell City Commission on Monday went a significant distance to disarm the city’s threats of a lawsuit and calm its anger over the sheriff’s move to Palm Coast.
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: County’s Just-Acquired Sears Building for Sheriff Has Water Intrusion and ‘Substantial Mold’
Flagler County officials discovered today the $1.1 million Sears building they just agreed to buy is plagued by water intrusion and “substantial mold,” just like the sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell.
Tom Bexley: There Really Is No More Room For Sheriff’s Operations in the Courthouse
Flagler County Clerk of Court Tom Bexley, weighing in on the space issues with sheriff’s operations at the courthouse, says clerk operations would be fragmented and jeopardized if further accommodations were made.
Flagler Commission Approves Pair of Buildings For Sheriff’s Temporary Use It Opposed 6 Weeks Ago
The Flagler County Commission approved a pair of metal buildings for $240,000 totaling 4,000 square feet to accommodate evidence storage and crime analysis now that the sheriff is without an operations center.
Judge Delays Sheriff’s Employees’ Compensation Hearings Over Sick Building, But Further Compromise Is Eluding Them
For the second time in four months, a judge agreed to postpone what was scheduled to be a set of final hearings in workers’ compensation claims of 35 Flagler County Sheriff’s employees who say their health was damaged while working at the Sheriff’s Operations Center in Bunnell.
Deadline Comes and Goes And Still No Breakthrough on Alternative to Sheriff’s Operations Center
A month ago the Flagler County Commission agreed to a 15-day deadline to come up with a compromise on interim space for the Sheriff’s Operations Center, when the sheriff and the clerk of court were not agreeing on using courthouse space to that end. The deadline has long lapsed, with no new proposal on the table.
Sheriff’s Employees Were Not Imagining It: New Report Finds Mold From Water Intrusion at Sheriff’s Operations Center
The result of wall cuts and analysis below floor tiles pointed to extensive water intrusion and the discovery of black mold in two locations, among other problems, and no indication that the building may be re-occupied any time soon.
Employees Will Sue Sheriff Over Sick Operations Center, and the Sheriff Is All For It
The law firm representing 27 Flagler sheriff’s employees served the sheriff notice of a lawsuit for negligence over the Operations Center, a move Sheriff Rick Staly is supporting.
County Rebuffs Sheriff’s Request for ‘Critical’ Evidence Storage Space in Latest Operations Center Snag
County commissioners don’t want to spend money piecemeal on short-term solutions for the sheriff’s exile from the Operations Center, but the sheriff says space needs are critical.
Sheriff’s Sick Building: How To Hire A Savior
To break out of its leadership lethargy on the future of the Sheriff’s Operations Center, Flagler County government should find an obsessively independent project manager untainted by local politics or current administrations.
With Judge’s Help, Sheriff’s Insurance Carrier Corners Employees Over Workers’ Comp Claims as Fate of Building Looms
Some 30 Flagler County Sheriff’s employees have been in a dispiriting battle with their own agency’s insurance carrier and the judge ruling on their workers’ compensation claims, portending little hope that they may prevail.
Asbestos Found in Window Caulking at Sheriff’s Future Palm Coast Precinct; Opening Delayed
Modest amounts of asbestos were found in the building the county recently bought and is renovating into a Palm Coast substation for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Validating Mold Fears, CDC Points to ‘Water Intrusion’ And Calls For Look Behind Walls at Sheriff’s Operations Center
An interim CDC report on the sheriff’s possibly sick operations center appears to vindicates fears that mold may be growing behind walls and within the building’s “envelope.”
Flagler Ready to Pay $1 Million To Fix Sheriff’s Building? Bogus Claim, County Says
County Commission Candidate Dennis McDonald says Commissioner Dave Sullivan told him it would take $1 million to fix the Operations Center, a claim Sullivan says is false.
Sheriff Asks For Semi-Permanent Solution Away From Comatose Building As Issue May Linger Up To a Year
In a workshop initially mean to to hear the latest analysis of previous air testing, Sheriff Staly asked county government to work out a semi-permanent solution to his staff’s evacuation from the troubled Operations Center.
New Review ‘Rejects’ Report Finding Sheriff’s Building Safe But Also Lays Out Steps To Re-Occupancy
Sheriff Rick Staly asked retired scientist Robert Sweeney to review previous reports on mold testing at the Operations Center, judge the work’s quality and make recommendations.
Sheriff Says If It’s Up To Him, ‘I Will Be Advocating That We Never Reoccupy The Operations Center’
Sheriff Rick Staly made the startling statement in response to Commission Chairman Greg Hansen saying the decision to reoccupy will be left entirely up to Staly. But Hansen was speaking out of turn.
Sheriff Lashes Into County Administrator Over “Disregard” of Security Protocols in
Operations Center
Sheriff Rick Staly is blaming County Administrator Craig Coffey for potentially jeopardizing the sheriff’s crime-fighting by improperly sending cleaning crews through secured areas of the evacuated Operations Center.
Sheriff Staly on Operations Center: “I Will Not Tolerate Blaming Victims of This Building, My Employees”
Sheriff Rick Staly delivered a 2,000-word statement on the troubled Operations Center during Monday’s workshop on the matter. The full text is reproduced here.
Combative Statements and Threats of Litigation Belie Claim of Unity Meeting on Sheriff’s Operations Center
A Flagler County Commission workshop on results of air testing at the Sheriff’s Operations Center was tense and combating as sheriff’s employees questioned the county’s sincerity.
Doubt and Mistrust From Sheriff’s Employees Against County’s ‘All Clear’ on Operations Center
Sheriff’s employees are neither ready nor willing to return to the potentially sick operations center: a report on the building’s air still doesn’t explain why 27 employees developed problems.
Sheriff’s Potentially Sick Building Testing Done in 1 Day, Results Not Expected Until July
An environmental engineer Flagler County government hired to test the Sheriff’s Operations Center gathered some 30 air, soil and other samples in a one-day testing spree at the building.
Sheriff’s Office Completes Evacuation as Length of Nomadic Exile Remains Uncertain
The Flagler Sheriff’s Office completed its relocation to the courthouse and its old administrative building pending analysis of the potentially sick operations center.
Sheriff’s Operations Center Will Evacuate To Courthouse and Old Administration Building
The move out of the troubled building began as testing is scheduled in mid-June, but an environmental engineer cautions against expectations of black-and-white answers.
Ex-Sheriff Jim Manfre on Troubled Operations Center: How We Got Here
Former Sheriff Jim Manfre, who completed his term in 2016, offers his side of the history of the acquisition of and subsequent issues with the potentially sick Sheriff’s Operations Center.
In Her Own Words: Flagler Sheriff’s Detective Reveals Anguish and Fears Over Sick
Building in Plea For Urgency
An internal sheriff’s investigation uncovers a three-page letter Detective Annie Conrad wrote Sheriff Rick Staly, urging that employees’ concerns of a potentially sick building be taken seriously.
Calling It an Unsafe “Albatross,” Sheriff Demands Immediate Relocation Out of Sick Building For Dozens of Employees
Unequivocally referring to the Operations Center as a sick building, Sheriff Rick Staly made the demand for alternate space to County Administrator Craig Coffey, who pushed to buy the old hospital in 2013 and convert it.