Carbon County officials have signed a declaration of emergency for one of its buildings after mold was discovered in a rear portion where election equipment was stored.

The county commissioners signed the declaration on Thursday after tests came back of the area with the suspected mold, located in a part of the county elections office at 44 Susquehanna St., Jim Thorpe.

According to the declaration, the issue was reported to the commissioners on July 28. The employee said there had been water infiltration and suspected mold in multiple locations along the base of an interior wall of the office. The rooms in question are where the election equipment is stored, as well as where election ballot counting occurs on election night.

The county hired professionals to complete an air quality and microbial testing early last month to determine the next steps needed to rectify the issue.

On Aug. 7, the board also approved a quote in the amount of $9,784.77 from ServPro of Carbon County and Pocono Pines of Allentown for microbial remediation services pending the results of the report from the samples taken at the site.

The declaration states the report showed that microbial spore levels were elevated and “serious in nature, requiring immediate relocation and cleaning of election equipment, structural drying, microbial remediation and interior repairs.”

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said Friday that because of the immediate need for the work, the declaration allowed the county to bypass the normal bidding process and hire a company to take “immediate corrective action.”

JMSI Environmental Corp was on site Thursday to assess the situation, Ahner added, noting work includes installing a moisture vapor mitigation system.

“I feel a system like this should have been in the original plan because the mold was probably brewing since the building was built,” he said.

The county expects work on the remediation to begin by Sept. 8.

In the meantime, Ahner said Tuesday morning that the elections office staff remain in the front half of the building because no mold was found in that area and all equipment has been moved and secured in the current conference room in that building.

That also means that all meetings and tax appeal hearings that normally are held in the conference room at 44 Susquehanna St. will be relocated to the second floor conference area in Planning and Development until further notice as the first floor conference room must remain locked to ensure the election equipment’s integrity remains intact.

Other departments within that building were not affected by the mold.

Ahner said that the county hopes the remediation will be completed by mid-October, but are working on other plans for election night in the event the room they normally count in is not yet complete.