Mold-Filled Lavallette Lifeguard HQ Could Spur Lawsuit

Lavallette lifeguard headquarters. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

Lavallette’s new lifeguard headquarters on Philadelphia Avenue has a severe mold issue and is unusable, officials said.

“Shortly afrer the summer, employees started to recognize that we had a problem with mold in the building,” said Mayor Walter LaCicero. “We discovered there was a lot.”

The borough hired a home inspector to examine the building, LaCicero said, explaining that the inspector “found it was one of the worst cases of mold that he’s ever seen.”

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The contractor that performed the work, as well as the architect and engineer behind the project were all “put on notice,” the mayor explained. The borough council met in a closed, executive session after the regular council meeting Monday night to discuss the issue further.

“My money was green, it was good money that went out, but we got something bad back,” said LaCicero. “Aside from that, we can’t say a whole lot because it may well involve some litigation.”

A $386,960 contract to replace the headquarters building was awarded late last year to Wallace Brothers, the same firm that built the new municipal building. The project experienced issues from the start, officials have said, including a behind-schedule opening that left lifeguards in trailers for much of the 2016 season. The borough had previously been considering suing for liquidated damages due to the scheduling issues.