THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 12, 1995 TAG: 9507120380
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY JENNIFER CHRISTMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SOUTHERN SHORES LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
The Southern Shores Town Council voted Tuesday to move police from their seemingly ``sick'' station into temporary headquarters by the end of the month.
The action followed an emergency meeting Friday, in which Southern Shores Police Chief Danny Beasley told the council members that he and other officers suffered allergy-like symptoms while working in their station.
An alternative location has not been decided, although the council mentioned the possibility of having police work out of mobile trailers that could be placed near the station.
Beasley said he has mixed reactions about moving.
``We are really in a Catch-22 situation, quite frankly,'' Beasley said Tuesday at Southern Shores Town Hall. ``I don't really want to leave right now. It's our busiest season of the year, and I'm not really crazy about up and moving.
``But when you have employees suffering, you have to take care of them.''
On Friday, Beasley told the council that officers suffer from congestion, headaches, sore throats and shortness of breath.
In spring 1994, a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system was installed because officers had been complaining of similar symptoms as far back as 1992. The system and the duct work were the suspected causes of the sickness.
The council has hired Leighton Turner, a certified industrial hygienist for the Virginia Beach-based Oshealth, Inc., to investigate the station.
Turner, who examined the station Monday, told council member Gerald Beshens that a thorough examination could take between four and six weeks.
``This problem is going to take time,'' Beshens said. ``It will be a month or longer until we get a report as to a determination of the problem. And that is not a guarantee that the problem will be identified.
``There are occasions where after exhaustive testing and analysis, they just never seem to find what the problem is.''
Turner will give the council cost estimates and procedural details of the testing on Thursday. In the meantime, Mayor Pro Tem Carl Berntsen said, the council made a good decision by agreeing on a temporary move for police by July 31.
``We don't want to be too hasty,'' Berntsen said. ``We want to protect the employees, but we don't have enough information to make a permanent decision right now. I don't think we can consider the long-term until we know what we are dealing with.''
Beasley told the council that arrangements will need to be made soon because the police move will be complicated. An alternative site must provide adequate space, parking and communication links.
``It's hurricane season, and it's my busy season,'' Beasley said. ``I can't afford to be in limbo right now. We still have an operation to uphold.
``We still have to respond to the call.'' by CNB