Pocono Mountain Regional Police face higher costs due to water at headquarters

July 30, 2014

A more than $150,000 mold remediation project at the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department headquarters has revealed deeper water issues that might continue to push costs higher.

Police commission members met for a special meeting Tuesday night to consider new approvals with a representative from Strunk-Albert Engineering, the company hired in April at a $156,618 cost. Police and officials first contacted Strunk-Albert to do a walk-through of the space in the fall after noticing mold in the basement.

The remediation process, which began about six weeks ago, has displaced the commission from its typical meeting space. Members met at Tobyhanna Township on Tuesday.

The evidence room is also in the basement and was not part of the original cost estimate, which Constructional Project Manager John E. Stevens, of Strunk-Albert, said was because the company did not initially get access to inspect it. The board approved an additional $3,850 to address the evidence room mold issues.

But interim police chief Chris Wagner said the department prepped in advance of the work and moved storage items out of the rooms in the basement. He also told the commission that evidence is in sealed bins, and some was moved, so activities in the room will not be a problem.

"It's been a minimal intrusion into our daily operations," Wagner said after the meeting.

The final cost of the project will be at least several thousand dollars more than first projected and will take longer after engineers and contractors discovered additional water issues after opening up the space.

Mount Pocono police representative Roy Gross, a longtime commission member, expressed frustration that a membrane the commission paid extra for at the time of construction did not apparently prevent water from entering.

"Well, I think we were sold a bill of goods on that supposed extra defense," he said of the membrane, adding that one of his main goals at the time of construction was a dry basement.

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Pocono Mountain Regional Police face higher costs due to water at headquarters