No action could translate into a more open discussion of the situation. If a settlement is not reached between the county and the builders, the question of who is responsible for the moldy building sitting vacant on Highway 219 will go to trial Sept. 28.
The council, excluding Councilman Edgar Baker whose construction company is the defendant named in the suit, met with construction attorney Frank Smith for more than 30 minutes on the issue.
W.E. Baker and Son Construction built the Sheriff’s Office on Highway 219 in 2003 as a lease arrangement with the county. Baker was not then a councilman.
When the Highway 219 Sheriff’s Office was purchased a short time after it was built, several leaks and moisture problems in the building were noted and requested to be fixed. The moisture problem continued to grow and the county began doing mold studies on the building in December 2005. It was discovered by at least four independent studies that the building contained harmful mold.
County leaders declared the building unsafe and moved employees to its current temporary location in modular trailers on Wilson Road in April 2006.
To recover damages relating to what the county terms defective construction of the Sheriff’s Office building on Highway 219, county council retained Smith.
On Aug. 31, 2006 County Council filed action against councilman and contractor Edgar Baker and his company W.E. Baker and Son. Baker’s company purchased the land, designed and constructed the facility due to the county not wanting to take out a loan to build the building itself. They then leased the building from Baker before purchasing it.
In October 2006, W.E. Baker and Son filed an action against various subcontractors.
The litigation is scheduled to go to court in September, and for the past month the council has discussed the issue in two executive sessions.
Baker says he does not have any knowledge of the executive session discussion from Wednesday night and has no comment about the case.
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